Murata wins silver medal, Van Dusen and Roberts win bronzes on second day of Medved International
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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
03/26/2005
Three U.S. women wrestlers won medals during the second day of the Medved International in Minsk, Belarus, March 26. Claiming a silver medal at 55 kg/121 lbs. was Stephanie Murata (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids). Winning bronze medals were Marcie Van Dusen (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) at 55 kg/121 lbs. and Sally Roberts (Colorado Springs, Colo./Gator WC) at 59 kg/130 lbs. Murata was defeated in the gold-medal finals by Maria Egorova of Belarus, 0-3, 2-1, 2-0. She won her first three matches, with wins over Elena Mikhalkova of Belarus, Silvia Bilenska of Poland and Elena Filipova of Belarus. Murata was a 2001 World silver medalist. She competed in two weight classes in Belarus, also competing at 51 kg/112.25 lbs. on Friday, where she did not medal. Van Dusen had a 2-1 record in the tournament. In the bronze-medal match, she stopped Maria Mursalova of Russia, 1-0, 1-0. Van Dusen opened with a win over Olga Krygina of Ukraine, then was defeated in the semifinals by Maria Egorova of Belarus, the eventual champion. Roberts had a 2-1 record in th tournament. She won her bronze-medal match with dominance, defeating Olga Skripkina of Belarus, 6-0, 5-0. Roberts opened the tournament with a victory over Natalia Ivashko of Russia, 0-1, 2-0 and 5-3. Roberts avenged a loss to Ivashko in the semifinals of the 2003 World Championships, won by Ivashko, 7-5. In the semifinals, Roberts was caught and pinned in the third period by Victoria Zagainova of Russia. The U.S. women have won four medals during the tournament, with today's three medals joined by a bronze medal from Katie Kunimoto (Colorado Springs, Colo./Gator WC) at 48 kg/105.5 lbs. "We fought hard at this tournament," said National Women's Coach Terry Steiner. "Our offense never opened up like I like, but we never gave up bad points. We have some things to work on, which were pointed out here. This trip was worth it for us." None of the U.S. men who competed on Saturday were able to win a medal. At 84 kg/185 lbs., Lee Fullhart (Chattanooga, Tenn./Gator WC) had a 2-2 record. He opened with a win, then was defeated in the second match by 2003 World Champion Sazhid Sazhidov of Russia. When Sazhidov reached the gold-medal finals, Fullhart was drawn back into the wrestlebacks. He defeated his first opponent, Olmala of Finland, but was pinned in the next consolation match on a headlock by Mukha of Ukraine. The final five weight classes will be contested on Sunday: men's 96 kg and 120 kg, and women's 63 kg, 67 kg and 72 kg.