Welker and Kilty Earn World Bronze Medals on Wednesday

Wednesday at the 2024 World Championships was a memorable day. At some points, it was memorable in a positive manner, and other times it was the opposite. 

The day finished with a pair of young American women earning world bronze medals with Macey Kilty (65 kg) and Kylie Welker (72 kg). Both wrestlers earned medals at the U23 World Championships a week ago and also made the senior team. Welker was a U23 world champion, while Kilty claimed a silver medal. 

Kilty took the mat first and found herself in an early deficit against Russian Valeriia Suvorova. The Russian earned a point via step out and, shortly thereafter, scored a takedown with a double leg and transitioned into a gut wrench. Just over a minute into the match, Kilty was in a 5-0 hole. 

Late in the first period, Kilty would hit a turning point. She scored with a leg attack and moved into a leg lace - turning Suvorova three times. Her five-point deficit turned into an 8-5 lead at the break. 

In the second period, Kilty avoided an errant double leg attempt from Suvorova and locked up a leg lace. Three turns later, the bout was finished. Kilty reeled off 16 straight points en route to her second Senior World medal. 

Welker ran through an arm spin attempt in the first period from Alexandria Anghel (Romania) to earn her first takedown. Later in the opening period, a shot clock violation on Anghel gave her a 3-0 lead. 

The final period saw Welker stopped a shot from Anghel and spun for two points of her own. Anghel was able to make things interesting with a takedown from a throw-by late in the period; however, she couldn’t get any closer to scoring and Welker was the winner - to the tune of 5-2. 

Welker’s bronze medal gives her at least one medal at all four international age groups (U17, U20, U23, Senior), a feat that Kilty accomplished in 2023. 

The third member of the women’s freestyle team in action on Wednesday, Areana Villaescusa, wrestled for a bronze medal at 55 kg, but lost in heartbreaking fashion. Villaescusa was leading France’s Tatiana DeBien 3-0 as the pair approached the final minute of the bout. A pair of late takedowns from DeBien stunned the American - the second coming with only :22 seconds remaining in the contest. 

We’ve already mentioned that the day started with a shutout victory from Russian Abdulrashid Sadualev over David Taylor at 92 kg. Since Sadulaev made the gold medal match, Taylor can participate in repechage. 

In addition, a pair of decorated Americans also were knocked off early in the tournament and are out of the medal hunt. James Green (70 kg) and Jordan Burroughs (79 kg) both suffered crushing defeats. 

Green was up 4-0 on Georgia’s Akaki Kemertelidze, but surrendered the final ten points of the contest to lose 10-4. 

Burroughs won a pair of hard-fought matches before advancing to the quarterfinals against an old foe in Mohammad Nokhodilarimi (Iran). He defeated the Iranian in the World finals in 2021 and 2022. Unfortunately, the power went off in the arena and we don’t have the specifics of the bout, but Nokhodilarimi won 6-4. 

Nokhodilarimi went on to lose a shootout with Georgia’s Avtandil Kentchadze 14-8 in the semifinals, which eliminated Burroughs from medal consideration. 

We’ll have to stand by to see if Burroughs makes any decisions regarding his career in the coming days. 

The final American in action on Wednesday was Vito Arujau at 61 kg. Arujau advanced to the semifinals where he clashed with rising star Masanosuke Ono of Japan. Ono rolled to a 12-0 tech fall, which knocked Arujau down to a bronze medal match tomorrow.