The United States won three medals during the first day of the FILA Junior World Women's Wrestling Championships in Vilnius, Lithuania, July 7.    Claiming a gold medal was Ali Bernard (New Ulm, Minn./Univ. of Regina) at 72 kg/158.5 lbs.  It was her second career Junior World gold medal, to go along with a Junior World title at 67 kg/147.5 lbs. in 2003.    Winning silver medals for the U.S. were Sara Fulp-Allen (El Granada, Calif./Menlo College) at 48 kg/105.5 lbs. and Dany Hedin (Kailua, Hawaii/USOEC) at 55 kg/121 lbs.    Bernard pinned all four of her opponents during the competition, including a second-period fall over Alena Stardubtseva of Russia. Bernard won the first period on criteria, 2-2, then pinned Stardubtseva in the second period.    Bernard competes for the Univ. of Regina in Canada, and was a CIS national champion this year as a college freshman. Starodubtseva was fourth in the 2003 Junior World Championships and a 2004 European Junior champion.    Other athletes that Bernard pinned were Kie Tanaka of Japan, Vasilisa Marzaliuk of Belarus and Jenny Franson of Sweden.    "Ali Bernard wrestled very well," said U.S. coach Shannyn Gillespie. "She defended her World title without any fear. She was determined and went out and got it done with a passion. All of her matches were tough tests. In some of the matches, she was losing. She is very dangerous, and is very powerful when she is on the top position in par terre."    Fulp-Allen won her first three matches to reach the gold-medal finals, stopping Lyudmila Balushka of Ukraine, Yuki Katafuchi of Japan and Cristina Croitoru of Romania. In the gold-medal finals, Fulp-Allen lost to Lorissa Oorzak of Russia, 0-3, 0-3.    Fulp-Allen competes at Menlo College, and was a 2005 U.S. Senior Nationals champion. Oorzhak placed fifth in the 2004 Olympic Games, was a 2003 Junior World champion and won the 2005 European Championships.    "Sara had a very good tournament," said Gillespie. "She wrestled well against the Olympian from Russia. Sara is ready to compete at the highest level right now. She is an impact wrestler."    Hedin also needed three wins to reach the championship finals, stopping Olena Malishko of Ukraine, Sabrina Esposito of Italy and Emese Szabo of Hungary. In the gold-medal finals, she dropped a 0-1, 2-2 decision to Johanna Mattson of Sweden.    Hedin is a member of the USOEC women's resident team at the Univ. of Northern Michigan, and has won the FILA Junior Nationals for two straight years. Mattsson was a 2004 European Cadet champion.    "The finals match was very close," said Gillespie, who is also Hedin's coach at the USOEC program. "She lost both periods right at the end of the match. She easily could have been the Junior World champion. Going into the finals, she wrestled perfect matches for her. It was the best I have seen her wrestle."    At 63 kg/138.75 lbs., Jackie Cataline (Corona, Calif./Cataline's Wildcats) lost both of her matches and was eliminated from medal contention.    She opened the tournament with a loss to Mio Nishimaki of Japan. When Nishimaki qualified for the gold-medal finals, Cataline was drawn back into the wrestle-back portion of the tournament. In her first wrestle-back match, Cataline was defeated by Olga Butkevich of Ukraine.    Four U.S. women in other divisions weighed in today and will compete on Friday.    Melissa Gerard (Norway, Mich./Cumberland College) opens with Yulia Staravoitava of Belarus at 44 kg/88 lbs. Kapua Torres (Kahuku, Hawaii/Pacific Univ.) faces Natalia Ryzhjouskia (Kazakhstan) in her first bout at 51 kg/112.25 lbs.    At 59 kg/130 lbs., Suekoilya Shelly (Bedford, Texas/New York AC) will wrestle Nadezda Shvetsova of Spain in her first match. Heather Martin (Wellington, Ohio/New York AC) faces   Julia Weiss of Germany at 67 kg/147.5 lbs.    Women's freestyle competition will be held Thursday, July 7 and Friday, July 8. Men's Greco-Roman competition is set for Saturday, July 9 and Sunday, July 10. The men's freestyle competition was completed on Wednesday, July 6.    For more information, visit the official event web page at:  http://www.event-management.lt/wjwc2005/index.php?lang=eng