American Ali Bernard (top) battles China’s Yan Hong on Sunday at the World Cup. Photo by Ikuo Higuchi, Japan Wrestling Federation.

NANJING CITY, China â€" The United States women’s freestyle team finished second at the World Cup.

The U.S. team won three straight matches in dominating fashion Saturday, but ended up falling 6-1 to China in Sunday night’s finals.

Ali Bernard (New Ulm, Minn/Gator WC) was the lone American winner against China. Bernard beat China’s Yan Hong 4-0, 4-0 at 72 kg/158.5 lbs.. The 2008 Olympian and 2009 World Team member finished 4-0 in the World Cup.

The U.S. had to juggle its lineup against China after World fifth-place finisher Adeline Gray (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) suffered an injury on Saturday at 67 kg/147.5 lbs.

Two-time U.S. World Team member Elena Pirozhkova (Colorado Springs, Colo./Gator WC) bumped up into Gray's weight class and lost a tough three-period decision to 2009 World champion Xiaoqing Qin of China. Qin won Worlds at 72 kg/158.5 lbs., but moved down a weight for the World Cup.

“I thought we got taken out of some matches with some big points,” U.S. coach Terry Steiner said. “China is explosive and you have to hit them head on and not be timid. We must start faster and believe in ourselves and open up when the score is 0-0. We cannot wait to open up. I thought from 59 on we really battled but didn't close out some very close matches. We still have a lot of work ahead of us. As I have said before, we have a great group of athletes with wonderful attitudes, and we need to stay focused and keep moving forward. The World has not seen our best efforts. The athletes need to continue to focus on the process of winning and putting points on the board.

“We got knocked down a bit tonight - now we will see what we are made of. Winning is making the right decisions on a daily basis, not just when it feels good. We simply have more time, energy and effort to put in â€" the next four to five months will be very important for our development.”

Pirozhkova, Tatiana Padilla (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) and Deanna Rix (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) each finished 3-1 in the World Cup.

The American squad had downed Mongolia (6-1), Ukraine (5-2) and Azerbaijan (6-1) to open the World Cup on Saturday.

The U.S. women’s team will now turn its focus to next month’s U.S. Open in Cleveland.

WORLD CUP GOLD-MEDAL DUAL: CHINA 6, USA 1
48 kg/105.5 lbs. â€" Shasha Zhao (China) dec. Alyssa Lampe, 8-0, 10-8
51 kg/112.25 lbs. â€" Hui Li (China) pinned Jessica Medina, 1st period
55 kg/121 lbs. â€" Lan Zhang (China) dec. Tatiana Padilla, 6-0, 2-0
59 kg/130 lbs. â€" Fengming Liu (China) dec. Deanna Rix, 1-0, 1-0
63 kg/138.75 lbs. â€" Juanjuan Jiao (China) dec. Kelsey Campbell, 0-1, 1-0, 1-0
67 kg/147.5 lbs. â€" Xiaoqing Qin (China) dec. Elena Pirozhkova, 1-1, 1-0, 2-1
72 kg/158.5 lbs. â€" Ali Bernard (USA) dec. Yan Hong, 4-0, 4-0