CHASING OLYMPIC HISTORY The first U.S. Olympic woman champ?
by Richard Immel Everyone remembers the first. People recognize there is something
special about accomplishing a monumen- tal feat for the first time, reaching that ever-elusive goal and setting the standard by which future generations can attain to reach. Wrestling has been around for cen-
turies in some fashion or another, but women’s wrestling is still relative new to the world of sport. Women’s wrestling did not catch on a global basis until the late 1980’s and many defining “firsts” have occurred since that time. For the U.S. in particular, a handful of
women have set the standard by being the first to accomplish something great. Afsoon Roshanzamir became the first
U.S. World medalist in 1989 when she won bronze. Three years later Tricia Saunders became the first women’s freestyle World champion in U.S. history.
Saunders was also the first woman to be inducted as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2006. The 1999 U.S. women’s freestyle
squad won the team World title in Boden, Sweden. Again, the first to do so. In 2004 in Athens, Greece, Patricia Miranda, Tela O’Donnell, Sara McMann and Toccara Montgomery became the first women wrestlers to represent the U.S. at the Olympic Games. That very year, Miranda won a bronze medal at 48 kg to become the first female Olympic medalist for the U.S. Hours later, McMann made the finals at 63 kg to take silver and become the first Olympic final- ist in U.S. women’s wrestling history. Heading into the fourth Olympic Games
to feature women’s wrestling one thing remains for the U.S. women’s program to achieve, an Olympic gold medal. Who will be the first Olympic Champion
from the U.S. in women’s freestyle wrestling? Four impressive women have earned
the right to chase this dream in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil come August as members of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team: Haley Augello at 48 kg, Helen Maroulis at 53 kg, Elena Pirozhkova at 63 kg and Adeline Gray at 75 kg. Three of these women have already
won at least one World championship on the Senior level, and all four have claimed a title as best in the World if age group World Championships are included. This fierce foursome has combined for 13 past Senior World medals. Both Maroulis and Gray won World championships in Las Vegas, Nev. last Sept. and are ranked No. 1 in the World by United World Wrestling. “Winning the gold last year was incredi-
ble. I remember just hearing the anthem and my thought was don’t relax now. This is going to be Rio. You want to hear this anthem again and get the gold for your country all over again. It was a really motivating experience. With that said, that was last year, this is this year, so I’ve got to fight for it all over again,” said Maroulis. Maroulis is the owner of a 58-match
Haley Augello is stepping up to the challenge of becoming an Olympic champion. Tony Rotundo photo.
win streak that spans all the way back to Sept. of 2014. Her last loss came to Chiho Hamada of Japan in the semifinals of the 2014 World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Following that loss,
World champion Helen Maroulis is ready for all challengers. Photo by Tony Rotundo.
she began her current win streak by defeating Poland’s Katarzyna Krawczyk by technical fall to win a World bronze medal. Wrestling nearly perfect over the past
two seasons, Maroulis has become one of the most exciting wrestlers worldwide regardless of style. She now owns three World medals, one in every color, four WCWA women’s college national titles and six U.S. World Team berths. All that remains is the pinnacle of Olympic glory. “I took last year’s Worlds just as seri-
ously as the Olympics, so to me this is nothing new,” Maroulis said. “I don’t think you can start preparing for the Olympics three months before it. This is something you have better been preparing for years before. I know it’s going to be challenging emotionally, physically and mentally. “I’m excited for that because every time
that has happened before I have always come out stronger, so I’m just really trust- ing in the process. I’ve got a great team behind me, a great country behind me, and I’m ready to represent the USA in Rio.” Maroulis will have to battle in perhaps
the most top-heavy women’s Olympic brackets of all-time. 53 kg will feature the winningest wrestler in women’s wrestling
Continued on page 6 USA Wrestler 5
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