ANTALYA, TURKEY - Leigh Jaynes (Colorado Springs, Colo/Prince of Battle) won a bronze medal at 67 kg/147.5 lbs. at the Women's World Sombo Championships at the Antalya Sports Salon on Friday.

Jaynes was the lone U.S. entry in the competition. She came to Turkey to compete in the World Beach Wrestling Championships which will be held on Saturday. FILA, the international federation, invited Beach wrestlers to enter the Sombo event, and Jaynes took on the challenge.

Sombo is a style of jacket wrestling with submission holds originally developed in the former Soviet Union as a form of unarmed self-defense.

Her bronze medal performance, which included the only victory by submission in the tournament, led the United States to a third-place team finish in the competition behind champion Turkey and runner-up Spain.

Jaynes is a nationally ranked women's freestyle wrestler, and will be the only U.S. women's wrestling representative in Saturday's World Beach Championships.

"I wanted to make the best of it," said Jaynes. "I looked at this as a chance for another international experience. It is good competition. It is a whole different strategy. If you do Sombo, you get better on your center of gravity."

Jaynes went 1-2 in the competition. Her previous experience was an international match against an opponent from Brazil during the U.S. Sombo Nationals in Florida this year.

"I improved every time," said Jaynes of her Sombo matches. "I lost by technical fall in Florida, then here I lost by two, lost by one, then won by submission."

Her final match was a submission hold on an arm bar early in the match against Mine Yosmaoglu of Turkey. 

"I learned that lock in jiu jitsu," said Jaynes. "I am a jiu jitsu instructor for the U.S. Army. I was glad to get the move."

Jaynes opened the tournament with a 2-0 loss to Seda Bozkhurt of Turkey, who scored on a throw. In her second match, she lost a controversial 1-0 decision to eventual champion Aurora Fasaro of Spain. Fasaro's only point came on a passivity call, while Jayne executed a counter throw late in the match that was not awarded any points.

Jaynes was coached by David Bonner and Floyd Winter during the meet, and a number of the U.S. men's Sombo and Beach wrestlers came out to watch her wrestle.

"The fact that she came out here and held her own against the best in the world shows she is a gifted wrestler and a natural wrestler," said Bonner. "With a little more practice, she could win this tournament next year. She was up from her normal weight class, a little out of her element with the jacket, but she could have won this tournament. She never gives up. Even when she was down a point or two, she battled right to the buzzer. In the second match against the champion, she threw the other girl and should have received the winning points."

With Jaynes' bronze medal, the United States has now won eight medals at the World Sombo Championships. The men's team placed second on Thursday and the women's team was third on Friday.

WOMEN'S WORLD SOMBO CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Antalya, Turkey, November 3

Team Standings
1 - Turkey
2 - Spain
3 - United States

U.S. performances

67 kg/147.5 lbs. - Leigh Jaynes, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Prince of Battle), bronze medal
LOSS Seda Bozkhurt (Turkey), 2-0
LOSS Aurora Fasaro (Spain), 1-0
WIN Mine Yosmaoglu (Turkey), submission