Going for GOLD
By Craig Sesker MADISON, Wis. – Alyssa Lampe has
always been known for wrestling an aggressive, relentless style. The offensive-minded Lampe can light
up a scoreboard in a hurry when she steps onto the mat to compete in women’s freestyle wrestling. “I know I can compete at this level,”
Lampe said. “I’ve improved my mental toughness, and I’ve matured and devel- oped a lot.” That improvement and progression has
been evident over the past three years. Lampe broke through to win her first
Senior World medal, a bronze, in 2012. She followed that performance by adding a second World bronze last year at 48 kg/105.5 lbs. Even with those successes, Lampe
faced a huge battle just to make her third straight World Team and fourth overall at the U.S. World Team Trials on May 31. Lampe came out strong in the best-of-3
finals series against past Junior World champion Victoria Anthony, taking a big lead before prevailing 10-6. But Anthony, fifth at the Senior Worlds
at 51 kg/112.25 lbs. in 2013, came back strong to pin Lampe in the second bout. “That was a little bit of a blow to my
ego,” Lampe said. “I had been confident the whole time, so I just had to let that one go and recover, and come back strong to win the third one.” Lampe showed an amazing resolve by controlling the explosive Anthony 5-0 in the third and deciding match to make the World Team. “It was exciting, very exciting to come
back and win this,” Lampe said. “She was fifth in the World last year, so she’s obvi- ously a very tough wrestler.” U.S. National Coach Terry Steiner likes
the path that Lampe is following. “Alyssa is starting to mature and come
into her own,” Steiner said. “She has been there for a while technically, but right now mentally she is really into it. She is doing all the little extra things that you need to do to be the champion. She’s very focused right now.” Lampe, 25, is hoping to continue the
strong U.S. tradition at the lightest women’s weight class. Clarissa Chun, who lost to Anthony at the Trials, is a past World champion and
26 USA Wrestler
Two-time World medalist Alyssa Lampe defeated Victoria Anthony in the finals of the U.S. Open and U.S. World Team Trials this year. John Sachs photo.
Olympic bronze medalist. Chun edged Lampe to make the 2012 Olympic Team, but Lampe has owned the 48 kilo weight class in the U.S. since then. “I always have thought if I could take
48 kg domestically, I had a good chance of winning a World medal,” Lampe said. “It is definitely a great weight class again this year.” Lampe, ranked fourth in the World, was
asked how much better she is now head- ing into September’s World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. “I think that match in the second round (against Anthony), that would have dev- astated me before,” she said. “But I’ve grown and matured. I can come back from a match like that and come back to win. I’ve become a lot stronger mentally.”
“Alyssa is starting to mature and come into her own. She is doing all the little extra things that you need to do to be the champion. She’s very focused right now.”
- Terry Steiner U.S. National Coach
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