September 11th - Reflection by Terry Steiner

Action Recap
53kg Whitney Conder defeats FRA 6-0
75kg Adeline Gray defeats CHN 11-10
53kg Whitney Conder defeats MGL 4-4
58kg Alli Ragan defeats KZG 7-6
75kg Adeline Gray defeats TUR by fall
53kg Whitney Conder falls to Mattsson of SWE technical fall
58kg Alli Ragan falls to Icho of JPN in the quarterfinals technical fall
75kg Adeline Gray defeats JPN 2-1
75kg Adeline Gray defeats EST 5-1 in the semifinals
58kg Alli Ragan defeats UZB 10-0 in repechage
53kg Whitney Conder falls PRK 8-2 in repechage
58kg Alli Ragan defeated by BLR 4-4 Bronze Medal Match
75kg Adeline Gray defeats BRA 2-1 Gold Medal Match
Team record 9-4

Day 2 Reflection by Terry Steiner

Let's start with our world champion. Adeline had a tough road to the finals.  Every tough opponent drew into her side of the bracket so our mindset was one match at a time.  Looking at the whole bracket was overwhelming.  Adeline did a good job of staying focused on the moment; one match at a time one opponent at a time.  We knew it was going jt be tough.  Starting out against china, we dug ourselves a hole that really showed how special of an athlete and human being Adeline is.  As a coach, you want to know that athletes in your program can deal with adversity. Situations like her first round match with china that turn people into legends.  So kudos to Adeline on the heart she showed and kudos to her gold medal:
Alli had a great performance.  She came in and fought, opened up, and put herself in scoring situations that you need to in order to medal at this event.  It was a very controversial call that we as coaches in hindsight should have challenged.  Alli did everything she needed to do but get her hand raised.  Alli has shown a lot of progress in a short amount of time.  I see alli continuing in that fashion as we move forward.  Alli Ragan is going to be a force to be reckoned with at this weight class.
Whitney Conder competed as hard and smart as I've seen her compete. She made some tactical changes during the course of the match and even though she didn't get into the medal match she put us in a position as a team to be where we are at with her win over Mongolia.
Overall we showed as a program that the US women's team is not going away.  We've put ourselves in the top tier of women's wrestling.  We appreciate all of you following and supporting our posts along this journey!

September 10 Day 1 of Competition Reflection - Terry Steiner

Quick Recap

In their first day of competition, four women took the mat to represent Team USA.  At the end of the day their record was six wins and five losses.  Two Americans advanced to the Bronze Medal finals; Alyssa Lampe at 48kgs and Helen Maroulis at 55kgs.  Helen Maroulis won her finals match by pin while Alyssa Lampe fell short.

Day 1 Reflection By: Terry Steiner

I'd like to congratulate Helen on her second world medal.  She had a great tournament and showed great motion.  She utilized her strengths well.  It was very important for Helen to get back on the medal stand looking ahead to RIo.
Alyssa Lampe showed me a lot yesterday.  Although she fell short in her medal pursuit, she showed me that she is at the same level as all the best competitors in the 48kg weight category.  It's only positives from that.  She wrestled well enough yesterday to win a medal, but was unable to close out some situations in matches.
For Jenna and Randi, there's some things we need to work on and get better at.  We found ourselves in situations that weren't our strengths and we need to get better in those.  I love the fight.  There's no time to sulk or hang our heads, the 2015 worlds will be upon us before we know it.  It's time to get back to work!

September 9th - Jenna Burkert

As weigh ins fast approaches I have a mixture of emotions. This is my first World Championships but I come here with experience under my belt. Today Is the weigh in day and I'm over loaded with enthusiasm to weigh in. Being a wrestler, it takes tremendous dedication and will power to do what we do. This is my first match and I've handled it well to this point.  I don't feel as nervous as I originally thought I would. When you put the amount of work that myself along with my teammates have, there's nothing to really be afraid of. I've done all I can do, tomorrow is time to showcase it all. I feel like it's the calm before the storm, I wait patiently, for tomorrow will be a battle.
-Jenna Burkert
60kg World Team Member

September 8th

Today was our second full day in Tashkent.  We met for a light workout at the training facilities here.  After a long warm up, the athletes drilled and sparred on their own.  In the evening, world team members did their own workouts off the mat with their training partners.  Tomorrow is the first day of weigh ins for women athletes.  All athletes at the 48, 55, 60, and 69kg weight classes will weigh in.  For the US, Alyssa Lampe, Helen Maroulis, Jenna Burkert, and Randi Miller will weigh in.  All the athletes have begun to narrow their focus in the past days.  The excitement and anticipation is growing within the entire group.  Team USA is ready to compete!

September 7th - Terry Steiner

It is definitely the calm before the storm.  In these times, close to competition, I find myself reflecting back on the year, analyzing what we have done, the strides we have made, and yes maybe the things that could have been done different.  As a coach, my concern is, have I unturned every stone, have I done everything possible to give these athletes the best chance at success?  I know that the moment of total preparedness never comes.  There is never enough time, never enough analyzing, never enough sprints or drills, the 100% ready feeling is something that always outdistances us!  On the other hand, I look at the individuals that make up our national team and world team and I know that we have something very special, with this program.

I feel very good about how we have come together.  I feel great about our attitudes and work ethic!  It has been a very productive year and a better summer of competition and camps. The athletes have made a lot of great decisions along the way and they have been very committed to not only the task, but to each other.  I also know this doesn't mean everything in terms of competition but I do know that without this kind of preparation, there is very little chance at success.  A lot of people deserve to win.  A lot of people have put the time in and have worked extremely hard to advance and improve their wrestling.

To win in Tashkent, we are going to have to really WANT to WIN!  It will come down to that!!  We know that our competitors are also tough.  We will have to be willing to lay it all on the line.  We know that nothing will be given to us, and no one is going to hand us anything!  We must be prepared to fight for everything.

We don't know the outcome but I can tell you this, I am proud of this team and the team behind the team.  I am humbled to be on this journey with them and I am excited to see them shine!  BRIGHTLY!!

Lead the Charge...
Embrace the Battle..!
Expect SUCCESS!!!

Terry L. Steiner
USA Wrestling
Women's National Coach
Email:  tsteiner@usawrestling.org

September 6th - Adeline Gray

Hi everybody! My name is Adeline Gray, and I plan on winning a world title in a few days. Today was a very long travel day; we got started at 3:45 am and will end hopefully only a little past 1:00 am. Our camp in Rome had the perfect balance of intensity and relaxation to have my body feeling strong and ready to compete.
Once we arrived in Germany it was nice to see the faces of our referee Stacy as well as the friends and families of some the boys that will be competing. My father had planned on coming, but found out his visa was denied. It makes me sad to know that he won't be here. This will be the first Sr. Worlds he will miss :(
The highlight of the trip was a tie: between Jake Herbert allowing me to borrow a travel back massager (that I will definitely be investing in), and the amazing UZE soap opera type movie I watched. Our selection of movies was pretty limited, ranging from "OMG I'm
Not watching that!" to "Wow I can't believe it made it to a motion picture." To tell you the truth, after I got over the fact that it was one man and one woman doing all the voiceovers for all 20 characters, and the fact that you could still hear the UZE Russian language before the English dubbed over, I actually enjoyed the movie. The intense typical plot of the poor boy was not good enough to marry the rich girl but then (spoiler alert) they both die at the end! That never happens to this girl, raised in a Disney princess they-lived-happily-ever-after type world.

75kg Adeline Gray

World Team Member

September 4th - Randi Miller

Yesterday was our day off of the mat.  I took the opportunity to explore Rome.  I toured the city.  A couple of my favorite sights were the Vatican and the Colesseum. It was nice seeing Rome, the opportunities that wrestling provides are incredible.
Today we were on the mat for an hour and a half.  After a team warm up and individual drilling, we sparred for 40 minutes.  The rest of the day, I spent sleeping. 


thanks,
R.M  


Randi Miller
69kg World Team Member

September 5th - Emma Randall

Today is our last day in Ostia, Italy.  We ended the training week with one mat session this afternoon.  After a warm up led by Seiko, the world team members each wrestled one match and worked on individual focus areas.  This team is prepared and ready to fight for world medals.  In each athlete, you can see their desire for gold and their strong will that enables them to go through hell to reach for it.  It's inspiring to be surrounded by such great individuals (both athletes and coaches) and their passion for our sport.  I'm grateful for the opportunity to be a part of Team USA and their journey to the 2014 World Championships. 


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World Championship Information including athlete entries, weight class previews, schedules, broadcast information, and more can be found at the link below.
http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2014/August/25/2014-World-Championships-Special-Section

September 3rd - Alex Conti

The attitude of the ladies seems great.  They are all working very hard, the partners are giving them great looks, and the whole process seems to be heading in the right direction.  I'm very excited for the upcoming World Championships because I know these young ladies are ready and prepared for whatever may be placed in front of them.  It's been  a great week of training here in Italy.  It was nice to have the men's freestyle program around.  They are looking awesome as well.  I hope that men's freestyle has a great flight tomorrow to Tashkent. 
Our hosts here in Italy have been over the top, fantastic.  They have been accommodating and great to be around.  It's great to travel around the world and meet people so hospitable to our teams.  On Tuesday our hosts, Michele Liuzzi and Salvatore Finizio went out of their way to treat the coaches to a phenomenal dinner it included about 22 courses.  Mama Mia! Or so they say...
Ciao
Alex Conti
World Coach

September 2nd - Elena Pirozhkova

Today is our third day here in Ostia, Italy. The weather is amazing...its a bit hot during the day but the morning and evenings are a cooler which is nice when you go out for a stroll along the water. On the schedule we had a team mat practice in the morning and then open mat/game in the evening.
      Practice is short and sweet. There is nothing you can really change at this point technically. All this years hard work has lead up to this point... you either did the work or you didn't. We go over focus areas Terry has for us and do some live 3 min goes. Right now its all about just getting your body feeling good and staying in a good mind set.
    Between practices its hard to stay awake since we really haven't adjusted to the time yet so we resort to caffeine.  Me, Helen, Vicki, and some of the junior guys that are here with the mens freestyle team head to a cafe on the beach and kill time with some ridiculous "would you rather" scenarios along with too many lattes and cappuccinos.
    Evening is on our own. Some people come in to play soccer, some are wrestling, and other just doing cardio to get their weight off. But we all end up in the sauna.
     We are less than a week out from the start of the tournament and you can see people getting focused. Its one of my favorite times during the year, the week leading up to competition. Every one has a different "ritual" of how they get ready for the tournament and how they cut weight. You can tell there is a tension in the air...Everyone is walking a fine line of staying focused, but not to focused.  Staying relaxed, but not to relaxed. Trying to get to that perfect zone where you feel your body and mind are ready to compete.
    Terry tells us there is never a moment where you feel like "yep I'm ready" so I try not to look for it. You just have to trust yourself that when the moment comes you will do what you have been trained to do.

September 1st

Why do you wrestle?  Why do you choose to sacrifice time with friends and family, a lazy Sunday morning in bed, and delicious deserts for a sport?  The prize money and notoriety (the two don't really exist in women's wrestling) are results of your action.  Those aren't what drive you.  So tell me why do you wrestle?  Look deeper.  When the sacrifice becomes so great or that confidence is rattled, what gets you through it?  What is the source of that passion, tenacity, and inspiration?  The world team members were asked to write their own reasons... Here are a few:

I wrestle for a lot of reasons.  I fell in love with the sport because it was the most uncomfortable thing I ever tried. And I wants to figure out why it pushed so many of my buttons. Wrestling was a way to develop myself as a person. Is highlights all your flaws physically and mentally. I thought after high school I was gonna be done with this sport and move on but I got a chance to move to the training center. From that moment on wrestling was an opportunity to make something of myself, with my life and help my family in the future. This sport has opened so many doors in life for me and to myself.  It allows me to live the life I want. I travel the world, work on myself and personal development and get paid for it. Since I don't have real bills it allows me to take care of my family. I have been able to buy a house for my mom.... help my family see at least a bit of the world and use my connections to get them jobs and internships. The better i get the better they get. Wrestling doesnt come without hardships but the positive gains I get outweigh any negative. When the going gets tough for me I think of all these things. That my success is not only about me. And it doesn't matter how I feel. I inspire my family, friends and people around me. One of my sisters told me that she never though I would go this far in life so far... and it wasn't ment to be mean. I started becoming a troubled kid in high school and resented rules. I'm surprised as well... well maybe not any more....so for her she thinks if I can do it and get my shit together so can she. I know in our family we all push each other. My younger siblings compare themselves to me. I would never give up... so they won't either.... in whatever aspect that would be in life. Also when you are in a hard situation in a match I think about how I respect myself and what I do. I've worked to hard to just give up and not try. To much money had been put into me and other coaches and people investing time into me. If I just give up its a slap in the face to everyone and myself. Its one thing to lose but its another thing to give up... I would never live that down within myself.  My story in life and wrestling is something bigger... bigger than me.    

I wrestle for many reasons. A few of them being that I can't picture life without it and I wouldn't want to. I wrestle for the thrill and because I'm addicted to the competition aspect of it. There are so many ups and downs with wrestling, but there's no better feeling than competing to win. I wrestle not only for myself, but for the hours my parents spent when I was growing up taking me every weekend to tournaments all over. I wrestle to make them proud because I know they love to see me succeed as much as I do. I wrestle because I love to win and therefore I like the process put in to winning. 

Why do I wrestle? I found myself thinking about this question for a long time after it was asked. It's clearly not a yes or no answer, but there's more behind the reason than just love. Truthfully, sometimes I don't always love the sport or the grind. I wrestle because I've put everything into this sport, to stop, or not give it my all would be an injustice to myself, my family, and my coaches. I continually push myself day in and day out because I have an itch for more. Climbing the ladder of success is fun, but stumbling, that is were I truly learn. I believe I can learn from every single experience on the mat. So that is why I do it, because I want more, I want better for myself. Even when I fall, I know that the next step is getting back. So that, in a short summary is why I wrestle. 

August 31st - Alli Ragan

Hey y'all! After two long flights I have some serious cankles, but happy to say we made it Rome all in one piece! I couldn't think of a better place to acclimate for worlds than here, and from what I've seen so far it's beautiful. The training center is just a block away from the beach, which means I expect the team to be tan by the time worlds comes around in a week. Once we got settled, Sarah Hildebrandt and I went for a run along the beach to get the flight out of us, and later as a team we played some soccer which can get pretty competitive with us wrestlers. A bunch of us then took the train into Rome to explore and we got to see the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, and got some gelato! Thanks for reading!

- Alli Ragan

58kg World Team Member