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Hawaii Beat
Star-Bulletin staff 9/13/07

Miyasaki wins sand wrestling bronze

Castle alumnus Tanya Miyasaki won a bronze medal last Saturday, placing third in the women's under 70 kg division at the Beach Wrestling World Championships at Antalya, Turkey.

Miyasaki, who also wrestled at Missouri Valley College, advanced to the semifinals before losing to eventual champion Margarita Montez of Spain 2-1.

Beach wrestling is conducted on a sand surface. The event is part of the World Wrestling Games.

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2007 World Championships preview at 59 kg/130 lbs. in women’s freestyle wrestling

Gary Abbott USA Wrestling
09/13/2007

Ayako Shoda of Japan has won the World gold medal at this weight class for the last two years, and has three total World titles, with her first back in 2000. She has not been very active this year, as Japan entered Kai Yamana at both the World Cup and the Asian Championships at this division. She has won a gold medal in almost every major international event she has entered, except for two times at the Junior World Championships many years ago. Japan lists Shoda as its entry again in Baku, and she will be a heavy favorite to retain the title.

Placing second behind Shoda last year at the World Championships is Su Liu Hui of China, who has since dropped down to 55 kg for the 2006 Asian Games and 2007 Asian Championships. However, Su is on the Chinese roster back up at 59 kg for this year, and will be seeking another chance to make the finals this year. China has much talent at this weight, with Yang Sen-Lian winning the Asian Championships this year and Li Song Ni winning the Junior World title.

The 2006 World bronze medalists were Nataliya Sinishin of Ukraine and Alka Tomar of India. Sinishin has established herself as a true medal contender, following her World performance last year by winning a silver medal at the European Championships this past spring down at 55 kg. Tomar has been busy, winning bronze medals at the 2006 Asian Games and the 2007 Commonwealth Championships, but missing the medals at the 2007 Asian Championships.

One of the top challengers will be Marianna Sastin of Hungary, who was a 2005 World bronze medalist and placed fifth at the 2006 World Championships. Sastin was second at the European Championships this year, losing to Ida Theres Karlsson of Sweden in the finals. Karlsson is listed as dropping to 55 kg for the World meet this year.

A talented young athlete in the field is Anna Zwirydowska of Poland, who was third at the European Championships this year and won a Junior World bronze medal in 2006.

Russia lists Larissa Kanaeva as its first choice to compete at this division. Kanaeva was fifth at the 2007 Junior World Championships and was a 2006 Junior World champion. She also competed for Russia at the 2007 World Cup. Russia’s entry at the 2007 European Championships was Galina Legenkina, who won a bronze medal there.

The United States will have a new entry at this division, Leigh Jaynes, who defeated 2006 World team member Erin Tomeo in the World Team Trials, then won a Special Wrestle-off over veteran Alaina Berube to secure her position. Last year, Tomeo was seventh in the World, and Jaynes seeks to move up into the medal rounds on her first trip to the World Championships. She already has a few World medals at home, after winning bronzes at the first Beach and Sombo World meets in 2006.

A top challenger if she attends this year is 2005 World bronze medalist Lene Aanes of Norway. Aanes has not competed since claiming that medal. Aanes has won six career World medals, including two silver medals and four bronze medals. Her first World medal came back in 1995.

Ludmilla Cristea of Moldova placed fifth at the World Championships last year. Other placewinners at the World meet in China last year were Stefanie Stuber of Germany, Jackeline Renteria of Colombia and Gudrun Hoie of Norway. Hoie won four World titles, but her last World gold came back in 1998. Renteria won the 2007 Pan Am Games down at 55 kg.

Norj Narmandakh of Mongolia was a 2007 Asian Championships silver medalist. The 2007 African champion was Oyeins Tangi of Nigeria. Canada, always a world power in women’s wrestling, sends a new athlete this year to the World meet, Brittany Laverdure, who had considerable experience competing down at 55 kg.

Other athletes with recent success include Audrey Prieto of France , Yuliya Ratkevich of Belarus, Lee So Na of Korea and Olga Komarova and Yulia Ostapchuk of Ukraine.

Once again, Japan has a multiple World champion in the lineup at this weight class, Ayako Shoda. Beating Shoda is the mission of the rest of the field. It will be interesting to see how many of the athletes who competed at this division in the past change weight classes, either down to 55 kg or up to 63 kg, which are Olympic weights. If a number of the top challengers change to an Olympic division, this will open the door for other athletes to possibly break through for medals in Baku.

RECENT WORLD AND OLYMPIC RESULTS

2006 World Championships resultshttp://www.themat.com/index.php?page=showarticle&ArticleID=17141
59 kg/130 lbs. – Gold - Ayako Shoda (Japan); Silver - Su Liu Hui (China); Bronze - Alka Tomar (India); Bronze - Nataliya Sinishin (Ukraine); 5th - Ludmila Cristea (Moldova); 5th - Marianna Sastin (Hungary); 7th - Erin Tomeo (United States); 8th - Stefanie Stuber (Germany); 9th - Jackeline Renteria (Colombia); 10th - Gudrun Hoie (Norway)

2005 World Championships results
59 kg/130 lbs. - Gold - Ayako Shoda (Japan); Silver - Marianna Sastin (Hungary); Bronze - Sally Roberts (USA); Bronze - Lene Aanes (Norway); 5th - Anna Zwirydowska (Poland); 5th - Ida Theres-Karlsson (Sweden); 7th - Yuliya Ratkevich (Belarus); 8th - Michelle Richardson (Canada); 9th - Olena Komarova (Ukraine); 10th - Alka Tomar Singh (India)

2004 – Olympic Year - No World Championships at this non-Olympic weight

2003 World Championships results
59 kg/130 lbs. – Gold – Seiko Yamamoto (Japan) dec. Natalia Ivashko (Russia), 4-0; Bronze – Sally Roberts (United States) pin Marianna Sastin (Hungary), 5:36; 5th – Oksana Shalikova (Ukraine); 6th – Seba Jimenez Valderrama (Spain); 7th – Emily Richardson (Canada); 8th – Natalia Ivanova (Tajikistan); 9th – Stefanie Stueber (Germany); 10th – Helena Allandi (Sweden)

2002 World Championships results
59 kg/130 lbs. - 1st - Alena Cartashova (Russia) dec. Lotta Andersson (Sweden), 4-0, ot, 7:07; 3rd - Mabel Fonseca (Puerto Rico) dec. Sandrine Seve (France), 3-1, ot, 7:21; 5th - Christina Oertli (Germany); 6th - Ramirez Mendoza (Mexico); 7th - Rena Iwama (Japan); 8th - Emily Richardson (Canada); 9th - Agoro Papavassiliou (Greece); 10th - Oxana Shalikova (Ukraine)

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7 hours ago 9/13/07

(CP) — Leigh Vierling is clear about what he wants from his team at the world wrestling championships.

"We expect a lot of people on the podium," the Calgary based coach of the Canadian women's freestyle squad said this week.

Canada will send 10 men and seven women to the world meet, which begins Monday in Baku, Azerbaijan. The tournament will serve as the first step in qualifying for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Vierling has reason for optimism as the women's team ranked third in the world last year behind Japan and China and has been consistently among the best for a decade.

The team is led by 2004 Olympic silver medallist Tonya Verbeek of Beamsville, Ont., 2007 Pan American Games gold medallist Carol Huynh of Hazelton, B.C., and 2006 world championship silver medallist Martine Dugrenier of Montreal.

The men's side has 36-year-old Guivi Sissaouri of Montreal, a silver medallist at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, as well as Vancouver-area wrestlers Matt Gentry and Arjan Bhullar, who each took bronze at the Pan Ams.

A three-man Greco-Roman team includes Pan Am silver medallist Ari Taub of Calgary.

The top eight in each weight class will secure a spot in the Olympics for their countries, but not necessarily for themselves. There are three more qualifying tournaments and then Canada's team will be chosen at its Olympic trials in Toronto in December.

Vierling has high hopes for Huynh, whom he coaches at the University of Calgary along with national team members Erica Sharp and Brittanee Laverdure.

"I really believe Carol has the ability to win the world championship," said Vierling, who considers Huynh one of Canada's top gold medal hopes for Beijing. "She's gone the extra mile this year in her physical training and mental preparation.

"To beat her would take a superb performance."

The 32-year-old Sharp was on the first Canadian women's team ever to go to a world championship in 1993. She was fifth at the world tournament in 2005 and defeated 2006 world silver medallist Lyndsay Belisle this year to make the team.

Laverdure was Calgary's female athlete of the year in 2006.

Another with high hopes is Ohenewa Akuffo of Brampton, Ont., a silver medallist at the Pan Ams who was fifth at the world championships last year. Megan Schweitzer of St. Catharines, Ont., will also go to Baku.

While there are seven events at the world championships, women compete in only four weight classes at the Olympics, the same number as when the women debuted in wrestling at the 2004 Games. The men have seven classes.

The women's sport started in the 1980s and Canada was among the first countries into the fray.

Vierling credits a robust CIS league with 16 universities fielding teams with keeping Canada near the top.

There will be 52 countries with women's teams and more than 60 men's squads in Baku.

No longer led by Olympic champion Daniel Igali, the men will be looking for upsets.

David Zilberman of Montreal was their top performer at the 2006 world championship, taking fifth place in the 96-kilogram class.

The team also has Misha Japaridze of Montreal, Cleopas Ncube of Kingston, Ont., and Travis Cross of Port Alberni, B.C.

The Greco-Roman team also includes Promise Mwenga and Jonathan Rioux of Fredericton.