By Evan Knaff

The second half of our Women’s World Team was finalized this past weekend in Lincoln as part of an exciting day of wrestling. Congratulations to the following women for earning a spot on the 2019 Senior Women's Freestyle World Team:

53 kg - Sarah Hildebrandt

55 kg - Jacarra Winchester

59 kg - Alli Ragan

62 kg - Kayla Miracle

76 kg - Adeline Gray

53 kg - Sarah Hildebrandt vs Katherine Shai

Hildebrandt, the reigning World Silver medalist came into Final X fully expecting to win, and did just that, defeating Katherine Shai in two matches. 

In the first period of match one, Hildebrandt went on the board first off of a shot clock violation on Shai, and 1-0 was the score at the break. In the second period, Hildebrandt scored a takedown late off a throw by and that was that: match one went to Sarah 3-0. 

In match two, we saw a few more points on the board. Hildebrandt went on the shot clock about halfway through the first period, but managed to avoid giving up a point by getting a clutch takedown with 2 seconds left on the shot clock to go up 2-0. Sarah then worked Shai’s legs for three leg laces to go up 8-0. There was some strong wrestling and a good scramble in the second period, but no more scoring, so that first period score was the final, and with that, Sarah Hildebrandt made her third World Team. 

55 kg - Jacarra Winchester vs Dominique Parrish

At 55 kg, the returning World Team member, Jacarra Winchester, reclaimed her spot with a 2-0 series victory over Dominique Parrish. 

In match one, Winchester wasted no time, scoring a takedown within the first ten seconds. Parrish followed with two deep shots, but was unable to finish on either. Jacarra got another takedown on the edge, then scored another two after a restart to go up 6-0. Jacarra scored two more points on another takedown, then finished off the tech fall in the first period with yet another takedown. 

The second match would be a little bit closer, and Parrish made the improvements to go the full six minutes. Winchester scored the first takedown on a re-attack after a flurry of attacks from Parrish. Parrish escaped a dangerous quad pod position and scored a step out point to make it a one point match. Jacarra got two more takedowns on the edge, then scored one in the middle of the mat and tried working an arm bar to no avail. Late in the second, Parrish scored her only takedown of the series, but it wasn’t enough, and Jacarra took match two to make another World Team. 

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59 kg - Alli Ragan vs Lauren Louive

After making the team last year then missing Worlds due to injury, Alli Ragan wasted no time proving the spot was indeed hers again. 

In match one, Ragan scored a few takedowns but was unable to turn Louive from top. That changed after her fourth takedown, where she proceeded to gut wrench Louive and secure a first-period tech fall. 

Match two was more of the same, with Alli scoring a takedown out of the gates. She scored again off of a reattack and then stuck a boot in from top to help her get two points off of exposure to go up 6-0. After a restart, Ragan scored a quick takedown and transitioned into a leg lace to finish off her second tech fall of the day. With these wins, Alli is headed back to Worlds, where she hopes to improve on her past two runnerup finishes. 

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62 kg - Kayla Miracle vs Mallory Velte

After coming up short last year in this series against the same opponent, Kayla Miracle left no doubt that the spot was hers this year. 

Match one was all Miracle. In the first period, Miracle scored four off a feet to back fireman’s carry. Kayla would score another takedown with under a minute to go in the first, and that would be it for the first period. In the second, Velte scored a very quick takedown right off the whistle to make the score 6-2. However, those would be her only points of the night. Miracle scored four points off of two non-control exposures of Velte, followed up by a nearside cradle where she almost pinned Velte, but still got the necessary two points to secure her tech fall. 

In match two, we had less scoring, but the same end result. Miracle scored a fairly quick takedown in the first 30 seconds of the match. After a restart, Kayla managed to shoot Mallory out of bounds for one. Miracle remained on the offensive the rest of the period, but Velte managed to prevent her from scoring any more. In the second, Miracle, in on yet another shot, ran Velte across the mat and out of bounds for a takedown. Miracle took plenty of shots throughout the rest of the period, but Velte’s defense stayed solid. Unfortunately for the Bronze medalist, her offense couldn’t get going, and she fell 4-0 to Miracle, who made her first Senior World Team. 

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76 kg - Adeline Gray vs Precious Bell

Adeline Gray showed her dominance yet again, winning both her matches in under two minutes each. In match one, we had a slow first minute, followed by an exciting second one after a restart. Gray scored off a single transitioned to a double, then scored two more from exposure. After two more off an arm bar tilt, Gray almost managed to accomplish the elusive pin from a tilt, but Bell was able to scramble out of it. During said scramble, Gray was able to catch Bell and stick her to end the match early. 

In match two, Gray showed she had more ways to win. Bell came out firing, taking a single leg shot and working to score. Instead, Gray rolled through and got two off exposure. Bell hung on to the leg for seemingly too long, as Adeline was able to take her through for two more. She followed that up with another arm bar tilt for two. After a shot by Bell, Gray countered for a takedown of her own and ended match two with a trap arm gut for a 10-0 tech fall. With the wins, Adeline is heading back to Worlds to defend her World title. 

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And that’s all folks! With no special wrestle offs being required for the women’s side, our full ten-member team has been finalized and we know who we’re sending off to Nur-Sultan. This may be one of our most stacked women’s teams ever, and they should all be able to contend for medals in September.