Elena Pirozhkova of the USA receives her University World gold medal at 67 kg in Torino, Italy TORINO, Italy – Elena Pirozhkova (Colorado Springs, Colo./Gator WC) won a gold medal at 67 kg/147.5 lbs. at the 2010 FISU University World Championships, held at the Pala Ruffini arena on Wednesday. Pirozhkova defeated Canada’s Elisabeth Williams in the gold-medal finals by an impressive 6-0, 5-0 margin. It was her second career University World title, to go with her gold medal in 2008. On the way to the finals, Pirozhkova beat Mariana Kolic of France, 1-0, 6-0 and Banzragch Oyunsuren of Mongolia, 4-1, 4-0. Pirozhkova was a 2010 World silver medalist on the Senior level at 63 kg/138.75 lbs. She is a U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete. “This tournament was very important from the standpoint of coming off of the Senior World success. Sometimes, an athlete gets too hung up on a recent success and does not move into the next phase of competition or training until they lose some of momentum. This tournament was a great opportunity for Elena to get back to work and further her mental and physical skills. It was her last year competing at this age group and it was great to finish it with the bang,†said U.S. Assistant Women’s National Coach Izzy Izboinikov. Two U.S. wrestlers won bronze medals, men’s freestyle wrestler Reece Humphrey (Columbus, Ohio/New York AC) at 60 kg/132 lbs. and women’s freestyle wrestler Gabrielle Henry (Columbus, Ohio/Univ. of the Cumberlands) at 51 kg/112.25 lbs. Humphrey defeated Undrakhbayar Khishignayam of Mongolia in the bronze-medal match, 3-1, 5-2. His only loss came in his opening match, to the eventual runner-up Andrei Perpelita of Moldova, 3-3, 3-2, 1-1. He defeated Jadshani Ghorbanine of Iran, 3-1, 2-0 in a repechage match to qualify for the bronze-medal bout. Humphrey, a past NCAA runner-up for The Ohio State Univ., won his second career University Worlds medal, to go with a silver in 2008. Henry defeated Vayla Trandino of Bulgaria in a bronze-medal match, 1-0, 1-0. Her only loss was to Liubov Salnikova of Russia, the eventual silver medalist, 1-0, 0-1, 2-6. “Henry competed well considering this was her first international competition,†said Izboinikov. “She had a huge learning curve today, from hearing many languages in the same room to being surprised that there was two third places. Overall, she accomplished a great deal of success and gained valuable experience she can build on for the future.†Sonny Yohn (Alamosa, Colo./Minnesota Storm) placed fifth at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. He was defeated in a bronze medal match by Dragomir Stoychev of Bulgaria, 0-1, 1-5. Yohn, who attends the Univ. of Minnesota, opened with a victory over Marat Ibragimov of Russia, 2-0, 2-1, then lost in the semifinals to the eventual champion Salih Erinc of Turkey, 1-4, 0-7. At 74 kg/163 lbs., Jon Reader (Davison, Mich./Iowa State) finished eighth with a 1-1 record. Reader attends Iowa State. The United States placed eighth in the men’s freestyle team standings with 29 points. Russia was first with 54 points, followed by Ukraine with 51 points and Moldova with 43 points. There will be five women’s freestyle weights contested on Thursday. Four U.S. women made weight and received their draws: Trinity Plessinger (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) at 55 kg/121 lbs., Ashley Hudson (Wildwood, Mo./Gator WC/OCU) at 59 kg/130 lbs., Amberle Montgomery (Kent, Wash./Gator WC/OCU) at 63 kg/138.75 lbs. and Ali Bernard (New Ulm, Minn./Gator WC) at 72 kg/158.5 lbs. Bernard, who placed fifth at the 2008 Olympic Games, has won two Junior World gold medals during her career. At 48 kg/105.5 lbs., Alyssa Lampe (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) did not make weight. FISU WORLD UNIVERSITY CHAMPIONSHIPS At Torino, Italy, Oct. 27 Women’s freestyle results 51 kg/112.25 lbs. Gold –Genevieve Haley (Canada) Silver - Liubov Salnikova (Russia) Bronze – Gabrielle Henry (USA) Bronze - Ai Shimizu (Japan) 5th – Valya Trandeva (Bulgaria) 5th – Ganna Starygina (Ukraine) 67 kg/147.5 lbs. Gold - Elena Pirozhkova (USA) Silver - Elisabeth Williams (Canada) Bronze - Oyunsuren Banzragch (Mongolia) Bronze - Malwina Golczak (Poland) 5th – Mariana Kolic (France) 5th – Oxsana Nagornykh (Russia) U.S. women’s freestyle performances 51 kg/112.25 lbs. – Gabrielle Henry, Columbus, Ohio (Univ. of the Cumberlands), 3rd LOSS Liubov Salnikova (Russia), 1-0, 0-1, 2-6 WIN Valya Trandeva (Bulgaria), 1-0, 1-0 67 kg/147.5 lbs. – Elena Pirozhkova, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Gator WC), 1st WIN Mariana Kolic (France), 1-0, 6-0 WIN Banzragch Oyunsuren (Mongolia), 4-1, 4-0 WIN Elisabeth Williams (Canada), 6-0, 5-0 Men’s freestyle results 60 kg/132 lbs. Gold –Yuta Uchimura (Japan) Silver - Andrei Perpelita (Moldova) Bronze - Reece Humphrey (USA) Bronze - Artur Akhmedov (Russia) 5th – Undrakhbayar Khishignyam (Mongolia) 5th – L. Symak (Ukraine) 74 kg/163 lbs. Gold – Imam Mohammadian (Iran) Silver - Ibrahim Yusubov (Azerbaijan) Bronze - Andrii Nagornyi (Ukraine) Bronze - Ivan Deliverski (Bulgaria) 5th – Andrei Kasmynin (Belarus) 5th – Magomed Said Magomedkhanov (Russia) 96 kg/211.5 lbs. Gold – Salih Erinc (Turkey) Silver - Valerii Andriitsev (Ukraine) Bronze - Saeid Amiri (Iran) Bronze - Dragomir Stoychev (Bulgaria) 5th – Sonny Yohn (USA) 5th – Nicolai Ceban (Moldova) U.S. men’s freestyle performances 60 kg/132 lbs. – Reece Humphrey, Columbus, Ohio (New York AC), 3rd LOSS Andrei Perpelita (Moldova), 3-3, 3-2, 1-1 WIN Jadshani Ghorbanine (Iran), 3-1, 2-0 WIN Undrakhbayar Khishignayam (Mongolia), 3-1, 5-2 74 kg/163 lbs. – Jon Reader, Davison, Mich. (Iowa State), 8th WIN Ender Coskun (Turkey), 0-2, 3-1, 1-0 LOSS Sosuke Takatani (Japan), 1-4, 0-3 96 kg/211.5 lbs. – Sonny Yohn, Alamosa, Colo. (Minnesota Storm), 5th WIN Marat Ibragimov (Russia), 2-0, 2-1 LOSS Salih Erinc (Turkey), 1-4, 0-7 LOSS Dragomir Stoychev (Bulgaria), 0-1, 1-5 Final Men’s Freestyle Team standings 1 Russia, 54 2 Ukraine, 51 3 Moldova, 43 4 Iran, 38 5 Turkey, 35 6 Bulgaria, 34 7 Japan, 32 8 USA, 29 9 Azerbaijan, 17 10 Poland, 12 11 Belarus, 10 12 Mongolia, 9 13 Hungary, 8 14 Tajikistan, 8 15 Lithuania, 6 16 Canada, 5 17 Great Britain, 2 18 Germany, 2 19 Israel, 2 20 France, 1 21 Italy, 1 U.S. Women’s freestyle draws for Thursday 48 kg/105.5 lbs.– Alyssa Lampe, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids) Did not make weight 55 kg/121 lbs. – Trinity Plessinger, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids) vs. Chiaki Arai (Japan) 59 kg/130 lbs. – Ashley Hudson, Wildwood, Mo. (Gator WC/OCU) vs. Anna Maxsimova (Russia) 63 kg/138.75 lbs. – Amberle Montgomery. Kent, Wash. (Gator WC/OCU) vs. Simona Corbani (Italy) 72 kg/158.5 lbs. – Ali Bernard, New Ulm, Minn. (Gator WC) vs. Oksana Vasinchuk (Ukraine)