U.S. women win six gold medals at Dave Schultz Memorial International

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Six U.S. women walked away with gold medals at the 20th annual Dave Schultz Memorial International on Friday night at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. The finals featured five different countries, including the U.S., Japan, Korea, Norway and Puerto Rico. College teammates at Campbellsville, Kayla Miracle of USA and Grace Bullen of Norway went head-to-head in an international battle for gold at 62 kg. 2017 U23 World Team member Miracle got to her offense quickly, leading 9-0 early in the second period. At the 3:45 mark, Miracle was awarded a pin over Bullen, who won bronze at the 2017 Junior World Championships, competing for Norway. With the win, Miracle was named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler. “In my first two matches of the tournament, I didn’t feel like my normal self. I wasn’t firing off shots, Miracle said. “With Grace, I knew she’s really offensive and really explosive. I knew I had to keep moving. She likes to keep her ties close, and I don’t like that. I like to keep my one tie on the side and so that’s what I tried to control.” Miracle is a two-time Junior World bronze medalist for USA and a 2012 Cadet World silver medalist, while Bullen is a 2014 Cadet World champion and also competed at the Senior World Championships in Paris this summer. Three-time World champion Adeline Gray was back in a big way in her first competition since the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, winning gold at 76 kg. Gray took on 2017 World Team member and 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials champion Tamyra Mensah, who bumped up a weight. Mensah put up a fight against the World champ, but it was not enough as Gray claimed her third DSMI gold medal with an 8-0 win. Forrest Molinari upset 2017 U.S. World Team member and three-time WCWA champion Mallory Velte in the 65 kg finals. Scoring a takedown in each period, Molinari was able to edge out her familiar foe with a 4-2 decision. Velte and Molinari have a wrestling history that dates back to their high school and college days. Molinari will represent the U.S. at the U23 World Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, Nov. 21-26. Two-time World Team member Victoria Anthony was the first gold medalist for the U.S. on Friday night, turning in a dominating 8-0 performance over 2016 Junior World champion Miyu Nakamura of Japan at 50 kg. “I’m always excited when I get to wrestle a Japanese girl because we all know they’ve steadily been No. 1 in the world,” Anthony said. “I just tried to hold center and start picking off points. I really wrestled defensively. I scored on downblocks and reattacks, which was actually pretty cool because I don’t normally wrestle defensively.” It was Anthony’s third gold medal at the event. A pair of college freshmen met in the 55 kg finals. Puerto Rican Gabriela Ramos-Diaz of Wayland Baptist defeated 2015 Cadet World champion and 2016 Cadet World silver medalist Ronna Heaton of Grays Harbor in a 10-6 battle. Ramos-Diaz was a 2017 Junior Pan American bronze medalist. At 72 kg, two-time U.S. National Team member Julia Salata picked up her first Dave Schultz Memorial International title, defeating 2017 Junior World Team member Alexandria Glaude, a junior at McKendree University. At 59 kg, Lauren Louive put together a perfect 3-0 record in round robin competition. In her final match, she met up with 2017 WCWA All-American Koral Sugiyama. The two battled until the end, but it was Louive, who came out on top with a 7-4 win. Louive improves on a fourth-place finish from the Dave Schultz Memorial International that was contested earlier this year. At 53 kg, Sarah Hildebrandt took home silver, falling to two-time Junior World champion Yu Miyahara of Japan, 10-4. Winning bronze for the U.S. were Erin Golston at 50 kg, Whitney Conder at 53 kg, Samantha Klingel at 55 kg, Dominique Parrish at 57 kg, Alexis Porter at 65 kg, Randi Beltz at 69 kg and Victoria Francis at 76 kg.