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are so many great resources here, from sports psych and sports medicine to the cafeteria. It’s really a great experience.” Maroulis’ second World Championships appearance and fifth-place finish wasn’t what she wanted. Just being there wasn’t enough.
“This year, I just wanted to go after it and I wasn’t going to respect anyone, no matter how many titles they had and wrestle my best,” said Maroulis. “I planned on winning, I planned on medal- ing. That didn’t go as planned, but I felt I was really aggressive. I took risks and went after opportunities.
“I guess that comes with maturing as a wrestler and a person,” she said. Maroulis alludes to Saori Yoshida of
Japan. Yoshida pinned Maroulis in the quarterfinals of the 2011 World Championships. Yoshida has won two Olympic gold medals and nine World titles. “It didn’t go the way I wanted,” said Maroulis, halfway laughing. “I didn’t think it would end with me getting pinned in the first period. I think I could change things around and have the belief in myself to be an Olympic champion.” But neither the match with Yoshida or the loss to Sweden’s Ida-Theres Nerell at the World Championships dampened Maroulis’ spirit. After turning 20 a few days after she finished up wrestling in Istanbul, time was spent preparing for the Pan Am Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. Maroulis upset Tonya Verbeek of Canada in the finals of the Pan Am Games. Verbeek was second to Yoshida in
Istanbul and is a two-time Olympic medalist. Wrestling each opponent was quite dis-
tinct. “Wrestling them felt totally different,” said Maroulis. “They’re tough, but tricky in their own ways. With Yoshida, I felt off- balance. Verbeek – it felt like I was run- ning into a brick wall.” “I never won Junior Worlds, I was there four times. Besides Mongolia, I hadn’t won an international tournament, although I’d placed at every single one. I needed to win. I felt that I was ready enough at that level.” As Maroulis sets her sights the 2012 Olympic Trials in Iowa City, she knows she can’t slack in a weight class as deep as 55 kg. Staying on top isn’t easy.
At the weight alone, Maroulis is pushed
by past World teamers Tatiana Padilla, Leigh Jaynes and Kelsey Campbell – all
20 USA Wrestler
Maroulis qualified for her first Senior World Team in women’s freestyle wrestling as a 17-year-old in 2008. She is now looking to make her first U.S. Olympic Team in 2012. Tony Rotundo photo.
ready, able and driven. Padilla is a two-time World bronze medalist.
“If I think about it, it’s a lot of good peo- ple, but I’m not trying to focus on just staying on top,” said Maroulis. “I’m trying to focus on moving forward. I don’t want to enter the Trials or the Olympic Games or enter anything unprepared. “We want medals and if I get gold, I want to make sure that I’m the best wrestler – not that I just had a good day – but physically and mentally,” said Maroulis.
The rest of the journey won’t get bor- ing, she says. Every year of this Olympic
cycle has presented Maroulis with a dif- ferent set of goals and obstacles. 2012 and beyond will be no different. “I love the battle, said Maroulis. “I think to me, wrestling feels like an art and you go out there and you have all these tools and you want to put things together each match. It’s not always just shooting a basketball, but it’s throws and trips. It’s never going to get old. It’s never going to get boring.”
It seems Maroulis has crammed a life- time of choices into the past four years, but perhaps the best choice made came 12 years ago was signing back up for the sport of wrestling.
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