Turner Wins Second U17 World Title as American Women Shine

The only day of the U17 World Championships that contained nothing but women’s freestyle was an excellent one for Team USA. Morgan Turner was one of the stars of the day as she staked her claim to one of America’s best women ever at the age-group level. 

Turner posted a 6-1 victory over Japan’s two-time U17 Asian champion Yu Kataoka. It represented her third U17 world medal and her second of the gold variety. Since the Cadet/U17 World Championships returned in 2011, no American woman had won multiple gold medals. We’ll get to it later, but one of Turner’s teammates could join that elite company on Friday. 

In the 49 kg gold medal matchup against Kataoka, Turner got on the scoreboard first with a sweep single. Her Japanese opponents fought it with a hard whizzer; however, Turner was eventually able to step over her back and lock in a leg for two points. 

The second period saw Turner add to her lead, countering a short offense attempt from Kataoka for a takedown and two more points. With under a minute remaining in the contest, Turner kept the heat on and scored a third takedown on a low leg attack. At the end of that sequence, Kataoka got to her feet and earned a step-out point against the American. That would be the only scoring for the Japanese wrestler - Turner finished off the 6-1 win a few seconds later. 

Turner’s time being the only American woman to win two U17 titles might last a full 24 hours. Maybe less. Taina Fernandez made the 61 kg finals and put herself in position to win back-to-back gold medals. Fernandez needed less than :40 seconds to take Miranda Kapanadze (Georgia) down, lock in an arm-bar and secure a fall in the semifinals. Fernandez’s toughest test on Thursday came in a 13-6 win over Russian Zalina Totrova. Standing between Fernandez and back-to-back world championships is India’s Yashita. Yashita is battle-tested with close wins throughout the tournament. She had wins by four points, two points, and criteria, before a 5-0 shutout in the semis. 

Joining Fernandez in tomorrow’s finals is Epenesa Elison at 53 kg. Elison earned her finals berth after a methodical tech fall over Kazakhstan’s Farida Abdrakhmanov. Elison struck time and time again with a sweep single - four times in total, along with a leg lace for a 10-0 victory. Like Fernandes, Elison’s toughest bout thus far came in the quarterfinals. Elison jumped out to an early 6-0 lead on Hungary’s Mariia Zhytovoz; however, Zhytovoz was able to cut the lead to one point at the break. 

In the second period, Elison re-established herself with a picture-esque ankle pick for four points. She would go on to win 12-7. 

Also coming away with hardware on the day was Madison Healey at 43 kg. Healey and Egyptian Mareim Abdelaal were in a relatively tight bout before Healey got a takedown in the second period and quickly moved into an arm bar. The officials had a difficult time determining whether or not to call the fall, but eventually put Abdelaal out of her misery from the brutal pinning combination with :30 left in the bout. 

Healey grabs the bronze medal and her only loss of the tournament was 1-1 to the eventual champion, Rachana of India. 

The final American to claim a bronze medal on Thursday was Ella Poalillo at 73 kg. Poalillo was up 2-0 in the second period against Georgia’s Anna Godelashvili and nearly got a fall after securing a takedown and reaching for the head. Seconds later, she locked up a nasty arm bar and finished the job for the fall and a bronze medal. 

Two more American women will wrestle for the bronze tomorrow. Maisie Elliott at 40 kg and Jaclyn Bouzakis at 46 kg. Both advanced to the semifinals on Wednesday. Elliott will face Germany’s Finja Strauch, while Bouzakis’ opponent will be determined after a round of repechage. 

American Results

40 kg

Quarterfinals: Masie Elliott over Preeti Yadav (India)  6-2

Semifinals: Shokhista Shonazarova (Kazakhstan) over Masie Elliott  9-0
 

43 kg

Bronze Medal Match: Madison Healey over Mareim Abdelaal (Egypt)  Fall 3:30
 

46 kg

Round of 16: Jaclyn Bouzakis over Yuting Yuan (China)  7-4

Quarterfinals: Jaclyn Bouzakis over Kasish Gurjar (India)  12-4

Semifinals: Hanano Oya (Japan) over Jaclyn Bouzakis  6-4
 

49 kg

Gold Medal Match: Morgan Turner over Yu Kataoka (Japan)  6-1

53 kg

Round of 32: Epenesa Elison over Kanita Spahija (Kosovo)  12-0

Round of 16: Epenesa Elison over Maria Vandoulaki Vandoula (Greece)  Fall 1:06

Quarterfinals: Epenesa Elison over Mariia Zhytovoz (Hungary)  12-7

Semifinals: Epenesa Elison over Farida Abdrakhmanov (Kazakhstan)  10-0
 

61 kg

Round of 16: Taina Fernandez over Zichen Dong (China)  10-0

Quarterfinals: Taina Fernandez over Zalina Totrova (Belarus)  13-6

Semifinals: Taina Fernandez over Miranda Kapanadze (Georgia)  Fall :36
 

69 kg 

Round of 16: Cassandra Gonzales over Gereltuya Amarsaikhan (Mongolia)  11-0

Quarterfinals: Manisha (India) over Cassandra Gonzales  Fall 1:51
 

73 kg

Bronze Medal Match: Ella Poalillo over Anna Godelashvili (Georgia)  Fall 2:36

Friday’s Gold Medal Matches

40 kg: An Nakanishi (Japan) vs. Shokhista Shonazarova (Kazakhstan)

46 kg: Hanano Oya (Japan) vs. Janka Sillei (Hungary)  

53 kg: Epenesa Ellison (USA) vs. Jiaqing Jiang (China)

61 kg: Taina Fernandez (USA) vs. Yashita (India) 

69 kg: Min Zhao (China) vs. Ayla Sahin (Germany)
 

Final Medal Round Matches

43 kg

Gold Medal Match: Rachana (India) over Xin Huang (China)  3-0

Bronze Medal Match: Inzhu Bakkozha (Kazakhstan) over Raniia Rakhmanova (Russia)  8-0

Bronze Medal Match: Madison Healey (USA) over Mareim Abdelaal (Egypt)  Fall 3:30

 

49 kg

Gold Medal Match: Morgan Turner (USA) over Yu Kataoka (Japan)  6-1

Bronze Medal Match: Polina Bochkareva (Russia) over Azema Kalidinva (Kyrgyzstan)  6-6

Bronze Medal Match: Komal Verma (India) over Anhelina Burkina (Belarus)  8-3
 

57 kg

Gold Medal Match: Madkhiya Usmanova (Kazakhstan) over Moni (India)  6-5

Bronze Medal Match: Alina Baroeva (Russia) over Marta Mankowska (Poland)  6-1

Bronze Medal Match: Sayuki Tanada (Japan) over Sophie Ritter (Italy)  4-4
 

65 kg

Gold Medal Match: Ashvini Vishnoi (India) over Mukhayyo Rakhimjonova (Uzbekistan)  3-0

Bronze Medal Match: Lilia Ermokhina (Russia) over Anujin Erkhembaaatar (Mongolia)  9-2

Bronze Medal Match: Feenja Hermann (Germany) over Alexandra Moisei (Moldova)  4-2
 

73 kg 

Gold Medal Match: Wenjin Qiu (China) over Kajal (India)  8-5

Bronze Medal Match: Eylem Engin (Turkiye) over Deborah Garcia Pacheco (Mexico)  9-1

Bronze Medal Match: Ella Poalillo (USA) over Anna Godelashvili (Georgia)  Fall 2:36