Gray, Campbell, Conder land spots on U.S. World Team in women's freestyle wrestling
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Craig Sesker (USA Wrestling)
07/02/2011
Adeline Gray takes control against Stephany Lee in the women's freestyle finals.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Kelsey Campbell and Adeline Gray have been close before.
The two U.S. Olympic Training Center roommates have placed in the top five in the World and they are eager for a chance to improve on that.
Both wrestlers earned another shot after winning titles at the Women’s Non-Olympic Weights World Team Trials on Saturday at the U.S. Olympic Training Center.
Campbell and Gray were joined as champions by first-time World Team member Whitney Conder. Those wrestlers advance to the World Championships in September in Istanbul, Turkey.
Campbell, fifth in the World in 2010, took two straight matches from past World Team member Leigh Jaynes to win the title at 59 kg/130 lbs.
"I expect nothing less than a gold medal," Campbell said. "It's going to take a lot of work and commitment. I had a lot of opportunities last year at Worlds to do some great things, and I fell short. I don't want to leave this year falling short."
Gray, fifth in the World in 2009, swept past World Team member Stephany Lee to win title at 67 kg/147.5 lbs. Gray won by injury default in the second match.
“When I first made the World Team, I don’t think I really understood what it was about and how important and how big it is,†said Gray, a past Junior World champion. “Now that I’ve had that experience, I understand now. I understand how much effort and how much work these girls put into this. I'm now one of those girls. I'm ready. I'm so excited to get back to training so I can win a World title."
Conder swept past National Team member Sara Fulp-Allen to win the title at 51 kg/112.25 lbs.
“This is very exciting,†said Conder, a past Junior World champion. “It’s been a rough battle throughout the past couple of years. I just tried to keep my head in the matches and keep my focus.â€
The three champions from Saturday joined the four champions from last month’s U.S. World Team Trials in Oklahoma City on this year’s World Team.
Clarissa Chun, Helen Maroulis, Elena Pirozhkova and Ali Bernard won titles in the four Olympic weight classes last month in Oklahoma to earn spots in the Worlds.
WOMEN’S FINAL-ROUND RESULTS
51 kg/112.25 lbs.
Whitney Conder (Colorado Springs, Colo./Gator WC) def. Sara Fulp-Allen (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC), 2 matches to 0
Conder dec. Fulp-Allen, 1-0, 3-0
Conder dec. Fulp-Allen, 1-0, 1-1, 1-1
59 kg/130 lbs.
Kelsey Campbell (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) def. Leigh Jaynes (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC), 2 matches to 0
Campbell dec. Jaynes 0-1, 1-1, 1-0
Campbell dec. Jaynes 0-1, 3-1, 1-0
67 kg/147.5 lbs.
Adeline Gray (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) def. Stephany Lee (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids), 2 matches to 0
Gray dec. Lee, 9-3, 2-1
Gray won by injury default over Lee