KLIPPAN LADY’S OPEN

[JSTILES]

KLIPPAN, Sweden – The United States won five medals in the Senior division of the Klippan Lady Open, which was held on Saturday and Sunday.

 

Sunday featured the repechage rounds and medal matches.

 

Capturing silver medals for Team USA were be Sara Hildebrandt (Granger, Ind./King College) at 55 kg/121 lbs. and Julia Salata (Canton, Mich./King College) at 67 kg/147.5 lbs. Both won two matches on Saturday to qualify for Sunday’s finals.

 

Hildebrandt was pinned by World champion Sofia Mattsson of Sweden in 2:54 in the gold-medal bout. Salata was defeated in the finals by Svetlana Babushkina of Russia, 0-6, 1-4.

 

Three U.S. wrestlers bounced back from losses on Saturday to claim bronze medals on Sunday: Erin Golston (Lake in the Hills, Ill./New York AC) at 48 kg/105.5 lbs., Haley Aguello (Lockport, Ill./New York AC) at 51 kg/112.25 lbs. and Jessica Medina (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) at 51 kg/112.25 lbs.

 

Golston, a two-time Junior World champion, won her bronze medal by default over Fredrika Pettersson of Sweden.

 

Augello, a 2011 Cadet World champion, beat Stine Mared of Sweden, 1-3, 1-0, 2-0 in the bronze-medal bout

 

Medina, a two-time U.S. Senior World Team member, dominated Violetta Ponomajova of Latvia, 6-0, 5-0.

 

Two U.S. Senior athletes placed fifth with losses in bronze-medal matches: Jennifer Page (Orangevale, Calif./Titan Mercury WC) at 63 kg/138.7 lbs. and Anastasia Lobsinger (Martinez, Calif.) at 72 kg/158.5 lbs.

 

The United States placed a strong second in a field featuring a number of international powers. Russia won the team title with 20 points, the United States in second with 15 points and Norway in third with eight points.

 

On Saturday, the United States won three medals in the FILA Cadet division (ages 15-17), including two individual champions, Marina Doi of Kingsburg, Calif. at 38 kg/83.75 lbs. and Regina Doi of Kingsburg, Calif. at 40 kg/88 lbs.

 

The two day medal total for the United States was eight, with more than half of the 15 participants claiming a medal.

 

This was a special opportunity for U.S. athletes, as wrestlers from three age-group National Teams participated in the tour: Senior, FILA Junior and FILA Cadet. Funding for the FILA Junior and FILA Cadet athletes was developed by participation in the new FILA Cadet and FILA Junior National Team programs, which includes education and training opportunities.