Team USA U17 Women Land Three Silvers in Rome
Illinois’ Valerie Hamilton, pictured here at Fargo in 2021, earned a silver medal at U17 Worlds. Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo / WrestlersAreWarriors.com
by Derek Levendusky
Twitter: @AWWderek
The U.S. U17 women’s world team is coming home from Rome with three silver medals as the young American squad took fourth in the team race. The event took place from July 25-31 in Rome, Italy, as part of the UWW annual championship calendar.
43 kg returning world champ Erica Pastoriza, 46 kg Gabriella Gomez, and 61 kg Valerie Hamilton all made the finals, each falling to their respective opponents, but bringing home silver medals with outstanding performances.
Pastoriza, after bringing home gold last year in the 40 kg division, won her first three matches this year, first over Azerbaijan’s Elvina Karimzada 7-2, then Poland’s Dominika Konkel 10-0, and finally Kazakhstan’s Arina Abdullina 12-2 before losing to India’s Ritika Ritika by fall in the finals.
After two convincing wins to start things off at 46 kg, Team USA’s Gabriella Gomez won a nailbiter in her semifinal match 3-3 against U17 European Champion Kornelia Laszlo of Hungary to advance to the world finals. There she faced a very tough Koko Matsuda from the juggernaut Japanese program, falling to her opponent 13-0.
At 61 kg, Team USA’s Valerie Hamilton fell in the finals to U17 Asian Champion Savita Savita 12-0. To make the gold medal match, Hamilton started her journey with a tight 7-6 win over Taipei’s Yen-Yi Li 7-6, but then dominated her next two matches with a fall over Czech Republic’s Petra Mrackova and Uzbekistan’s Sevinch Sultonova in the semis 5-0.
57 kg Shelby Moore, 65 kg Sydney Perry, and 73 kg Kaiulani Garcia all finished fifth. Perry won a Junior Fargo title just a few weeks ago in North Dakota.
Japan won the team race with 180 points; India was second with 149; Ukraine third with 112. The fourth place finish by Team USA follows their first place finish in 2021.
U17 Team USA Women’s Results
40 kg: Megan Valdez (San Jacinto, Calif.) – eliminated
LOSS Yagmur Karabacak (Turkey), 8-6
43 kg: Erica Pastoriza (Phoenix, Ariz./Wyoming Seminary WC) – SILVER
WIN Elvina Karimzada (Azerbaijan), 7-2
WIN Dominika Konkel (Poland), 10-0
WIN Arina Abdullina (Kazakhstan), 12-2
LOSS Ritika (India), fall
46 kg: Gabriella Gomez (Carol Stream, Ill.) - SILVER
WIN Yelyzaveta Kulakivska (Ukraine), 8-2
WIN Daniella Beky (Norway), 12-1
WIN Kornelia Laszlo (Hungary), 3-3
LOSS Koko Matsuda (Japan), 13-0
49 kg: Audrey Jimenez (Tucson, Ariz. /Sunkist Kids WC) – eliminated
LOSS Fabiana Rinella (Italy), 9-2
53 kg: Elena Ivaldi (Newcastle, Calif./MatTime) – eliminated
WIN Manar Elmasry (Egypt), 8-7
LOSS Khaliun Byambasuren (Mongolia), fall
57 kg: Shelby Moore (Buckley, Wash./Takedown Express WC) – fifth
WIN Michalina Ignaszak (Poland), 11-0
WIN Alina Flipovych (Ukraine), 11-8
LOSS Sowaka Uchida (Japan), 10-0
WIN Annatina Lippuner (Switzerland), 10-0
LOSS Ulmeken Esenbaeva (Uzbekistan), 4-2
61 kg: Valerie Hamilton (Gridley, Ill./SOT-C) - semifinals
WIN Yen-Yi Li (Taipei), 7-6
WIN Petra Mrackova (Czech Republic), fall
WIN Sevinch Sultonova (Uzbekistan), 5-0
LOSS Savita (India), 2022 U17 Asian Champion, 12-0
65 kg: Sydney Perry (Batavia, Ill./Batavia WC) – fifth
WIN Szonja Szabo (Hungary), 5-0
LOSS Anju Sato (Japan), 3-0
WIN Daria Konstantynova (Ukraine), 6-6
LOSS Zharkynai Nurlan (KGZ), 7-0
69 kg: Jasmine Robinson (Allen, Texas /Best Trained Wrestling) - eliminated
LOSS Veronika Vilk (Croatia), fall
73 kg: Kaiulani Garcia (Stockton, Calif./NorCal Queens WC) – fifth
LOSS Priya Priya (India), 3-1
WIN Dominika Pochowska (Poland), fall
LOSS Alina Yertostik (KAZ), fall