Augello was dominant, with two pushouts and two turns for a 6-2 win.
Haley Augello counters a Victoria Anthony shot in the 48 kg finals at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Mark Lundy photo.
Iowa was tears; I didn’t want to come back here. But it’s kind of like win a bat- tle, take a bite, win a battle and have a lit- tle piece of dessert. Just stop and change your perspective and just appreciate where you are and how far you’ve come on the route you want to go,” she said. Kelsey Campbell, now competing at 58 kg, showed once again how she rises to the occasion under pressure, winning her second straight Olympic Trials held in Iowa City. In the Championship finals, Campbell stopped three-time World Team member Alli Ragan, 2-1 and 2-1 to win the weight class. Of the Olympic Trials champions, Campbell may have been the most emotional after overcoming a tough four-year cycle to rise to the top again. “I don’t’ know if this is what I would rec- ommend, that this is the easiest route. But for some reason, I am wired in such a way. I have these tough outcomes, but I am better for it. I don’t know why it is like that. I really didn’t know what was going to happen. I knew what I could control and focus on,” she said. In Greco-Roman, Spenser Mango has made every U.S. World and Olympic Team since 2008, but his streak was halt- ed by 2013 World Team member Jesse Thielke in the semifinals, when Thielke beat Mango in an 8-0 technical fall. Mango left his shoes on the mat in retire- ment. In the finals, Thielke battled U.S. citizen Ildar Hafizov, a 2008 Olympian for Uzbekistan. Thielke was dominant, 10-0 in bout one and 9-3 in bout two. “I’m so dedicated, determined, obsessed every day. I don’t think I’ve slept in a month and a half because it’s all I think about. I know it’s my time. I’ve put in the work, put in the time, doing things different than I had done before and it all came together. Greco is my pas- sion. I live for this. It’s my favorite thing to do in the whole, wide world,” he said. Making a second U.S. Senior team in
Greco-Roman was Joe Rau, who com- peted at the 2014 Worlds at 80 kg, but has moved up to 98 kg this year. Rau, a Div. III champion for Elmhurst, defeated three-time U.S. World Team member Caylor Williams in an exciting series that went all three bouts. The explosive Williams pinned Rau in bout one in 1:37, but Rau battled back for a 5-2 win in bout two and a 6-5 win in bout three. “It feels great but it’s not over yet. I still have to qualify this weight for the Olympics. I am happy for tonight, but tomorrow it is back to work,” said Rau. Making her first U.S. Senior team, after winning a Cadet World title back in 2011, was Haley Augello. After winning a WCWA College title for King Univ. in 2015, Augello took an Olympic redshirt, went to the Olympic Training Center and dropped down to 48 kg. In the semifinals, she beat two-time World bronze medalist and current No. 1 Alyssa Lampe, 7-6. It took three bouts in the finals series against two-time Junior World champion Victoria Anthony. In bout one, it was Augello, 6-4. Anthony rallied in bout two for an 11-6 win. In the deciding bout,
“I feel happy but don’t feel like my goal has succeeded yet. Now it’s time to quali- fy the weight. I feel happy but also excit- ed for the future. I will keep competing and keep following the dream,” she said. Also on her first U.S. Senior team is another athlete on Olympic redshirt, Tamyra Mensah, a WCWA champion at Wayland Baptist Univ. who also went to the Olympic Training Center. Mensah beat 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Randi Miller four times in the last year. Mensah faced Brittany Roberts, who knocked Miller off in semifinals, in the finals series at 69 kg. Mensah was strong, beating Roberts 8-1 in both matches, to take the title.
“I couldn’t even put it into words. It’s amazing, I want to cry but I’m trying not to. I was surprised by how well I did, how aggressive I was, how many shots I was able to get to. I watched a video last night that one of my coaches sent me; it was (Olympic champion swimmer) Michael Phelps’s coach talking about the mentali- ty. My confidence came from that, it helped me a lot,” she said.
Winning a wide-open weight class at 66 kg in Greco-Roman was young star RaVaughn Perkins, who needed all three matches in the finals series to top Patrick Smith and win the Olympic Trials. Perkins beat 2012 Olympian Ellis Coleman in the semifinals to face Smith. Smith won bout one, 2-0, and Perkins got the tiebreaker in a 2-2 tie in bout two. In the clincher, Perkins used a big 4-point toss in a 9-2 victory.
“It feels good. It has been a tough cou- ple years in my life, but I feel amazing. I came to Colorado Springs and my coach- es Momir Petkovic and Matt Lindland helped me get on top. They never gave up on me,” he said.
FLASH: Maroulis, Cox, Augello earn U.S. Olympic Team
berths by reaching finals at Mongolia Olympic Qualifier As USA Wrestler went to press, three U.S. stars punched their ticket to the Rio Olympics at the World Olympic Qualifier in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, April 22-24. Helen Maroulis won four dominant matches to win the 53 kg weight class in women’s freestyle. She clinched the berth with a pin of Lilya Horshina of Ukraine in the semifinals, then scored a technical fall over Maria Prevolaraki of Greece to get the gold medal. Maroulis was a 2015 World champion up at 55 kg. J’Den Cox won five straight bouts in his first major event for Team USA. His 5-2 semifinal victory over Umidjon Islamov of Uzbekistan punched his ticket to Rio. He brought home the gold with a 6-0 win over Pedro Ceballos Fuentes of Venezuela. Haley Augello powered through her half-bracket in Mongolia with three straight technical fall victories. She secured the Olympic berth with a 10-0 technical fall over Mariya Livach of Ukraine in the semifinals. Her only loss came in the finals against Hyon-Gyong Kim of North Korea, 9-2. Features on Olympians Maroulis, Cox, Augello and other Olympians who qualify in
the Turkey Qualifier will be included in the June 2016 edition of USA Wrestler. The final World Olympic Qualifier is in Istanbul, Turkey, May 6-8.
21 USA Wrestler
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