Taking the mat on Thursday for the U.S. are World silver medalist Alli Ragan (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids), Olympian Haley Augello (Lockport, Ill./New York AC), Olympic Trials champion Tamyra Mensah (Katy, Texas/Titan Mercury WC) and two-time World Team member Victoria Anthony (Tempe, Ariz./Sunkist Kids).
“We feel good about this group. They have to come out and perform. They have to come out and compete hard,” said U.S. Women’s Freestyle National Coach Terry Steiner. “We talked about it last night, that nobody is going to give us anything. We have to come out here and earn these medals. If we can get in the right frame of mind, by approaching this as an opportunity to showcase your skills, that is what we really want to do.”
Currently ranked No. 3 in the UWW World Rankings at 60 kg/132 lbs., Ragan will kick off her fifth World Championships as the No. 1 seed against two-time University World medalist and World No. 20 Gabriella Sleisz of Hungary. Ragan is this year’s Pan American champion and reigning silver medalist at this weight class.
In her first World Championships, Augello will see Thi Hang Vu of Vietnam, who is a two-time Asian medalist and 2012 Junior World bronze medalist. Augello was the U.S. Olympian at 48 kg/105.5 lbs. in Rio.
World No. 5 Anthony is set to battle Korea’s Miran Cheon in the first round at 48 kg. Cheon’s only listed international result is an eighth-place finish at the Junior Asian Championships. Anthony finished in fifth place at the 2013 World Championships and is a two-time Junior World champion.
Entering as No. 10 in the World, Mensah will take on 2015 Junior World bronze medalist Alla Belinska of Ukraine. Mensah remains undefeated on the year with gold medals at the Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix and Grand Prix of Spain.
The first day of women’s freestyle competition will begin at 10 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET) on Tuesday. Medal matches are scheduled for 7 p.m. local time (1 p.m. ET).
Complete brackets for the World Championships, as well as a live stream of the event, are available to U.S. residents at Trackwrestling.com.
U.S. women’s freestyle draws for Thursday
48 kg/105.5 lbs. – Victoria Anthony, Tempe, Ariz. (Sunkist Kids)
Vs. Miran Cheon (Korea), Eighth in Junior Asian Championships
53 kg/116.5 lbs. – Haley Augello, Lockport, Ill. (New York AC)
Vs. Thi Hang Vu (Vietnam), Two-time Asian medalist, 2012 Junior World bronze medalist
60 kg/132 lbs. – Alli Ragan, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids)
Vs. Gabriella Sleisz (Hungary), Two-time University World medalist
69 kg/152 lbs. – Tamyra Mensah, Katy, Texas (Titan Mercury WC)
Vs. Alla Belinska (Ukraine), 2015 Junior World bronze medalist