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Draws and Quotes from U.S. women wrestlers Patricia Miranda, Tina George and Erin Tomeo, plus Coach Bill Scherr after Friday’s weigh-ins
Gary Abbott USA Wrestling
09/29/2006
51 kg/112.25 lbs. – Patricia Miranda, New Haven, Conn. (Sunkist Kids)
Will face Marta Podedwurna of Poland in her first match
“Things are going well. I don’t have any complex thoughts going in. They develop as I go. I’m happy with my preparation. It has had some ups and downs. But it is not what you say, it is what you do. It is about what happens tomorrow. I am excited about being here.”
55 kg/121 lbs. – Tina George, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army)
Will face Nghiem Thi Giang of Vietnam in her first match
“I feel good. The training this year was a lot better than last year. Seeing the guys do so well got me excited. I am hoping to continue what they started. I am happy with my wrestling. What I don’t have with that, I’ll fight my way through.”
59 kg/130 lbs. – Erin Tomeo, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids)
Will face Su Li Hui of China in her first match
“Now the fun begins. I look forward to it. This time, I have a much bigger goal. I have a goal to win the gold medal and I plan to make it happen. I have done a lot of work with Kiersten Peterson (of the USOC). I know I have to stay focused. I have a game plan. There is only one focus – to get the job done. I feel my wrestling has peaked at the time it should. I feel more confident than I ever have before.”
U.S. Women’s World Team Coach Bill Scherr
“We are optimistic. Each of the three wrestlers are a different case.”
“You have youth and talent in Erin Tomeo. She is very talented, and a strong competitor. She is not as experienced at this level as the others, but we expect a lot from her. You won’t find as gifted an athlete as Erin Tomeo.”
“Tina George is very experienced. She has battled adversity to get here. She made it. She has the experience to do anything she wants in this tournament, if she goes out and wrestles the whole match.”
“We have a very accomplished athlete and wrestler in Patricia Miranda. She approaches this like a professional. She has prepared in a very systematic, precise way. We expect her to win the gold medal. She has been a strong, positive experience on the entire team. She is a pleasure for the coaches to work with, and leads by example.”
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Gary Abbott USA Wrestling
09/29/2006
59 kg/130 lbs. – Erin Tomeo, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids)
(about the match against Li Hui Su)
“I think what were factors were my defense and her leg attacks. It is not a situation I get into a lot. I need to work on it some more. I am pleased I stayed offensive minded, but I have to be ready for those shots. I stuck with the game plan and wrestled hard, other than that.”
“I’m still confident. I am at this level. I deserve to be here. I just need to make a few more tweaks.”
55 kg/121 lbs. - Tina George, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army)
“I don’t think I fought. That’s it. I did some great things. I dissected the match. I got put on my back and fought out. That is big for me. I had a good scramble at the end of the second period. In the third period, I didn’t feel confident in my shots. In ½ second, I wasn’t focused and it was over.”
“Everyone kept saying I had a walkthrough to the finals. I don’t look at it that way, I look at it differently. I get more nervous then. I think it puts more pressure on you to expect that. I think I played it safe to get through that first match, and it cost me.”
“I think the preparation was there. I didn’t compete like a champion. A champion can pound on whoever is there, no matter if you have heard of them or not. They have the fight in them. I didn’t wrestle like that today.”
“I honestly don’t know my next step. I need to re-evaluate things.”
U.S. Women’s World Team Coach Bill Scherr
“It’s a disappointing session for us. I don’t think we didn’t try hard, or that we didn’t wrestle well some of the time. We just didn’t wrestle well when we need to in order to win some of those bouts. We need to wrestle smarter and harder at the right time when we need it.”
“Patricia ran into a great opponent close to her back yard. Patricia knew what she needed to do to beat her, but didn’t execute it. It was a situation of facing a great opponent.”
“We are happy with Erin Tomeo’s development. She is a great wrestler, a great athlete, and has a bright future ahead of her.”
“Tina wrestled not to the level she needs to beat World-level wrestlers. She has the potential to beat everyone here, but she needs to wrestle with more intensity at times. It cost her against the Vietnamese wrestler.”
U.S. Women’s National Coach Terry Steiner
(about the wrestle-back matches ahead for Miranda and Tomeo)
“Now, everyone has to throw in everything. It is for a medal. There is nothing to lose. They will be tough matches, feisty matches. We have to take control People will wrestle with emotion tonight. We have to be ready for that and wrestle above it.”
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Draws and Quotes from U.S. wrestlers Katie Downing and Kristie Marano and U.S. coach Bill Scherr after Saturday’s weighins
Gary Abbott USA Wrestling
09/30/2006
67 kg/147.5 lbs. – Katie Downing, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids)
Will face Marisa Admiraal of Netherlands in her first match
“With the three day format, the challenge is for the wrestlers at the end not to get too excited too soon. Last night, I thought, finally, it is time to go. We have to not get too caught up in it. We have a job to do. It is nice to compete along with Katie and Sara.”
“I feel really good. Last year, being the first time here, I was excited about everything. I had finally got my shot. This year, it is a regular tournament. My weight class is pretty much the same. I know what to expect. I think I have improved in a lot of ways since last year. It is just like business as usual. I’m not too nervous. I am ready to go.”
72 kg/158.5 lbs. – Kristie Marano, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC)
Will face Dascha Kopnenko of Kazakhstan in her first match
“I feel good. I am excited. It’s good to be back. It has been a couple of years. I worked hard on some things in training. I’m definitely glad with our preparation.”
“I am getting things to be more my style of wrestling. I am getting my ties, getting people to wrestle my matches.”
“At the Canada Cup and the camp afterwards, it was good training for me. It was just like being at the World Championships. I feel very strong. I did everything I could to get ready. I just have to go out there and use it.”
63 kg/138.75 lbs. – Sara McMann, Iowa City, Iowa (Sunkist Kids)
Will face Sandra Amado of Colombia in the opening round
U.S. Women’s World Team Coach Bill Scherr
“This is the heart of our team, both in the heart they possess and their talent level. They are three senior leaders, all experience and all with medals in the past. We have a chance to turn a disappointing tournament into a success in the end. We have the ammunition with these women to do it.”
“The U.S. has had a wonderful tournament in all three styles. If we can end on a positive note, it will be fitting. If not, it will be a long plane ride home for the coaching staff. Asia is the strength of women’s wrestling. This is their back yard. It is understandable that this tournament is so strong.”
“If you look at our lineup, there is nobody who is not capable of medaling. They all looked great at the training camps. They all know what they have to do.”
“Sara is a tremendous athlete and competitor. She has a great Japanese wrestler in her weight class. I look forward to seeing Sara wrestle. Katie is a battler. She is one of my favorites, because she wrestles a lot like I did. She can be a little of a plodder, but she is very solid. She has a great heart. I’d love to see her win. Kristie is the old salt. She is a seasoned veteran, a good wrestler, a good woman. The staff would be tickled if she would medal here, preferably a gold.”
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Gary Abbott USA Wrestling
09/30/2006
51 kg/112.25 lbs. – Patricia Miranda, New Haven, Conn. (Sunkist Kids)
“Nobody wants to seem ungrateful for a World medal. I definitely am grateful for the medal. There are definitely things today that I need to improve on. There are things I disappointed myself with. For instance, I have to hold myself accountable if I don’t get going in matches.”
“I see this weight class as a two-horse race. Right now, Hitomi (Sakamoto) is winning. But, I am making progress. I am taking small steps. There were 30 seconds to a minute where I wrestled how I need to, how I must to win. She was mortal for 30 seconds. I hadn’t seen that before. It’s a step. The rest of the four minutes I have to work on. It’s a mixed emotional day. I didn’t do what I wanted to. My attitude is not to give up. It is to be accountable and work on it immediately when I get home.”
“I think there is an aftertaste that’s negative. In the last match, I could have taken the next step towards next year, and I didn’t do it. It was another opportunity to work on what I didn’t do right in the match before. I didn’t get started. Sure, I won the match. That wasn’t disputed. But it is not about beating Ukraine. It is about getting closer to beating that other athlete. I aim to do that by 2007. I don’t want to feel ungrateful. I think there were things in my control that I didn’t do, and that is the sour note.”
59 kg/130 lbs. - Erin Tomeo, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids)
(about her match against Natalya Sinishin of Ukraine)
“I didn’t put it all out there. It wasn’t my best wrestling for sure. I think my head was in a good place. I left the loss to China behind me. I had a good warmup. I was relaxed and ready to go. But something changed when I stepped on the mat.”
(about Sinishin’s upper body attacks)
“I tried to stay out of those positions. I didn’t do a good job. I was letting her control the ties too much.
(about the World Championships)
“It is hard to prepare for something like this. It has been five years since I was here. There is a lot of emotion and excitement at the World Championships. You try to downplay it and treat it like another tournament. It is difficult. You feel a lot more weight on your shoulders.
“I’ll learn some valuable lessons here. I worked extremely hard to get here. My goal is to wrestle my best. Unfortunately, in three of my four matches I did that. It’s tough when you lose to someone you know is not better than you.”
U.S. World Team Coach Joe Corso
“It was a challenging day for the U.S. team. It was frustrating today. A few of our athletes have the ability but just didn’t perform.”
“Patricia Miranda came through. She is experienced, works hard, trains hard and knows what to do to win. When you have a good game plan laid out, it is hard not to succeed. Patricia is excellent at that. She’s constantly trying to improve her wrestling. That is why she is so tough.”
“Erin wrestled well. I think she is finding her mark in wrestling. She is talented. With another year under her belt, she will be a big threat at the world level. She is getting better and better and building up her confidence. She is still inexperienced and that hurt her a little today. That will come with more competition.”
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Patricia Miranda wins bronze medal at World Championships
Craig Sesker USA Wrestling
09/30/2006
GUANGZHOU, China – Patricia Miranda is officially back on the World stage.
Miranda took the 2005 season off after beginning Law School at Yale University and moved up a weight class when she returned this year. But she still managed to claim a bronze medal Saturday night at the World Championships.
Miranda (New Haven, Conn./Sunkist Kids) won her fourth World-level medal by downing Junior World Champion Oleksandanda Kohut of the Ukraine 1-0, 1-0 at 51 kg/112.25 pounds on Saturday at the Tianhe Sports Center.
Miranda won World silver medals in 2000 and 2003 before capturing a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics at 48 kg/105.5 pounds. Miranda fell to Japan’s Hitomi Sakamoto in the quarterfinals Saturday morning. Sakamoto won her fourth World title on Saturday night.
“Nobody wants to seem ungrateful for a World medal," Miranda said. "I definitely am grateful for the medal. There are definitely things today that I need to improve on. There are things I disappointed myself with. For instance, I have to hold myself accountable if I don’t get going in matches.”
“I see this weight class as a two-horse race. Right now, Hitomi (Sakamoto) is winning. But, I am making progress. I am taking small steps. There were 30 seconds to a minute where I wrestled how I need to, how I must to win. She was mortal for 30 seconds. I hadn’t seen that before. It’s a step. The rest of the four minutes I have to work on. It’s a mixed emotional day. I didn’t do what I wanted to. My attitude is not to give up. It is to be accountable and work on it immediately when I get home.”
The U.S. now has won a total of eight medals (four in men’s freestyle, three in Greco-Roman and one in women’s freestyle) at the 2006 World Championships with one day left in the seven-day event. Three more women’s weight classes will be contested on Sunday.
Erin Tomeo (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) came up win one win short of the bronze-medal match at 59 kg/130 pounds. Tomeo fell 2-0, 4-1 to Natalya Sinishin of the Ukraine in the second round of the Repechage late Saturday afternoon. Tomeo finished 2-2 in her second World meet after pinning her first two foes.
“I didn’t put it all out there," Tomeo said. "It wasn’t my best wrestling for sure. I think my head was in a good place. I left the loss to China behind me. I had a good warmup. I was relaxed and ready to go. But something changed when I stepped on the mat.”
The U.S. suffered a stunning setback in the first round when two-time World silver medalist Tina George (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) was upset by Thi Giang Nghiem of Vietnam in the first round at 55 kg/121 pounds. George was eliminated after Nghiem lost her next match. Nghiem’s best international showing was third at the 2006 Asian Championships.
Japan, as expected, is running away from the rest of the field. They have won championships in the first four weight classes with a chance to add three more gold medals Saturday night.
The final day of the World Championships is set for Sunday. The Americans will send three World medalists to the mat. They include Sara McMann (Iowa City, Iowa/Sunkist Kids) at 63 kg/138.75 pounds, Katie Downing (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) at 67 kg/147.5 pounds and Kristie Marano (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 72 kg/158.5 pounds.
Marano, competing in her first World meet since 2003, is a seven-time World medalist and two-time World Champion. McMann and Downing each won bronze medals at the 2005 World meet.