Alli Ragan headlocks her opponent at the 2013 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Tony Rotundo photo. Continued from page 12
at the highest level. “At the World Cup, I went three and one with the match I lost being a close one, and it made me realize I can compete with these Senior-level girls,” Ragan said. The experience catapulted Ragan to completely commit to the sport, but more importantly she committed to herself. “I realized this is what I want to do and really focused to put all of my strength into my wrestling,” Ragan said. “I think that has helped make the difference for me.” After winning the 2013 Women’s University National Championships held in Oklahoma City last April, Ragan was afforded the opportunity to compete at the World University Games where she picked up a silver medal against some of toughest competition the world has to offer. U.S. National Women’s Coach Terry Steiner attributes this international experience to Ragan’s much improved success on the mat.
“Over the last year, she has gained a lot of good international experience and I think she realizes that she can be very suc- cessful at the Senior level,” Steiner said. “Her recent experi- ences have given her a lot of knowledge that you can only get by being in there, getting overseas and wrestling that foreign competition.”
Utilizing her new-found confidence, Ragan catapulted herself
to a World Championships berth at 59 kg/130 lbs. for the U.S. She advanced to the World quarterfinals before dropping a tough 3-2 decision to Japan’s Ayaka Ito. Ragan will not be satis- fied until she reaches the top of the medal stand.
“It was definitely a crazy experi- ence to wrestle for the USA in the World Championships, but it was awesome. I can take last year’s experience, learn from it and do better this year.”
- Alli Ragan “It was definitely a crazy experience to wrestle for the USA in
the World Championships, but it was awesome,” Ragan said. “I can take last year’s experience, learn from it and do better this year.”
While experiencing all this international success Ragan is still balancing a life as a senior student-athlete for the nation’s top- ranked King University and Head Coach Jason Moorman. King will be looking to win its first team national championship this January with Ragan at the helm of a talented group of young American stars, many of whom have made Junior-level world teams of their own.
Ragan plans on graduating in the coming months with a Bachelor’s degree in education with a business and coaching minor before heading to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs to focus full-time on her dream of becoming a World and Olympic champion.
13 USA Wrestler
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