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