BUCHAREST, Romania – The United States won a pair of medals on the final day of the women’s competition at the 2011 FILA Junior World Championships on Friday night.

Winning a silver medal at 55 kg/121 lbs. was Helen Maroulis (Rockville, Md./New York AC), who lost a tight match to Kanako Murata of Japan in the gold-medal bout, 3-2, 1-1, 2-1.

Maroulis won the first period, 3-2, then lost the second period 1-1, with Murata scoring the last point of the period. In the deciding third period, the score was tied 2-2 with Maroulis holding the tiebreaker, but Murata scored a reversal with 16 seconds left to win the match.

“It was really close. They were one point periods. I just didn’t do what I should have done,” said Maroulis.

Maroulis won her third career Junior World medal, to go along with bronze medals in 2008 and 2001. She competed on four U.S. Junior World Teams.

Maroulis was dominant in all four of her victories leading up to the finals, with two pins and a technical fall.

She will be competing at the Senior World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey in September.

“Coming to this tournament, my goal is to win everytime. This being my last year, I felt a lot of pressure. It was a good practice run for Seniors, because I want to put a lot of pressure on myself to win there. I did everything I could to prepare and to train. I have some things I have to fix. I had an opportunity to make the finals this year. You have to take the good with the bad,” said Maroulis.

At 63 kg/138.75 lbs., Alli Ragan (Carbondale, Ill./New York AC/King College) won a bronze medal, defeating Klaudia Pilipczuk of Poland, 1-0, 3-1

Ragan defeated opponents from India and China to reach the semifinals, where she lost to Aline Focken of Germany in two periods.

“It was good. I would have liked to have been in the finals, but things happen. I didn’t wrestle my match (in the semifinals). I came here to the tournament to win a medal, so that’s what I had to do,” Ragan said.

Victoria Anthony (Huntington Beach, Calif./New York AC) placed fifth at 48 kg/105.5 lbs. She was pinned in the bronze medal match by Nina Hemmer of Germany in 46 seconds.

With no score, Anthony hit an inside trip and took Hemmer to her back, but Hemmer rolled through to put Anthony on her back and secured a quick fall.

Anthony won her first match, but then was pinned in the second round by Japan’s Nika Naganuma. When Naganuma reached the finals, Anthony was drawn back into the repechage. She defeated Sumeyya Sezer of Turkey and  Jade Papke of Canada in the repechage matches to qualify for the bronze bout.

Anthony competed in her fourth Junior World Championships, winning World titles in 2009 and 2010 and placing fifth at the 2008 and 2011.

“It’s definitely not what I came here to do. Seeing someone else in the spot I was the last two years is motivation for years to come. I can’t wait to get back to practice, back to wrestling and getting back into tournaments,” said Anthony.

At 72 kg/158.5 lbs., Anneliese DeAragon (Sandpoint, Idaho/New York AC/USOEC) placed eighth after getting a 1-2 record in the competition.

She opened with a win over Davaatseren Buyanjargal of Mongolia, then lost her next match to Cinthya Vescan of France. When Vescan made the finals, DeAragon was drawn into the repechage, where she was defeated by Elmira Syzdykova of Kazakhstan.

The United States placed third in the team standings, a strong improvement from last year’s sixth place. The team finished with four medals, two silvers and two bronzes.

Team USA was tied in second with Russia with 46 points, but Russia won the tiebreaker with more individual champions. Japan won the tournament with 59 points.

JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Bucharest, Romania, July 29

48 kg/105.5 lbs.
1 Mika Naganuma (Japan)
2 Tatyana Samkova (Russia)
3 Emilia Alina Vuc (Romania)
3 Nina Hemmer (Germany)
5 Thi Lua Nguyen (Vietnam)
5 Victoria Anthony (USA)
7 Yuanyuan Sun (China)
8 Jade Papke (Canada)
9 Byambazaya Tsogtbaatar (Mongolia)
10 Sara Jerzierzanska (Poland)

55 kg/121 lbs.
1 Kanako Murata (Japan)
2 Helen Maroulis (USA)
3 Maria Prevolaraki (Greece)
3 Gui Liu (China)
5 Hafize Sahin (Turkey)
5 Lissette Antes Castillo (Ecuador)
7 Yarina Dubovska (Azerbaijan)
8 Tatiana Debien (France)
9 Bettina Jager (Hungary)
10 Mimi Hristova (Bulgaria)

63 kg/138.75 lbs.
1 Taybe Mustafa Yusein (Bulgaria)
2 Aline Focken (Germany)
3 Anastasiya Huchok (Belarus)
3 Alli Ragan (USA)
5 Rio Watari (Japan)
5 Klaudia Pilipczuk (Poland)
7 Mengyang Ji (China)
8 Charlotte Skauen (Norway)
9 Larissa D’Alleva (Canada)
10 Beatrice Oancea (Romania)

72 kg/158.5 lbs.
1 Natalia Vorobyeva (Russia)
2 Cinthya Vescan (France)
3 Elmira Syzdykova (Kazakhstan)
3 Feng Zhou (China)
5 Laura Elena Gavriliuc (Romania)
5 Zsanett Nemeth (Hungary)
7 Justina Di Stasio (Canada)
8 Anneliese DeAragon (USA)
9 Una Svetlana Tuba (Serbia)
10 Epp Mae (Estonia)

U.S. women’s performances

48 kg/105.5 lbs. – Victoria Anthony, Huntington Beach, Calif. (New York AC), 5th
WIN Victoria Jeppson (Sweden), 2-0, pin 1:05
LOSS Nika Naganuma (Japan), pin 1:43
WIN Sumeyya Sezer (Turkey), 3-2, 6-0
WIN Jade Papke (Canada), 3-0, 1:26
LOSS Nina Hemmer (Germany), pin 0:46

55 kg/121 lbs. – Helen Maroulis, Rockville, Md. (New York AC), 2nd
WIN Tetyana Kit (Ukraine), 7-0, 4-0
WIN Lisette Antes Castillo (Ecuador), 2-0, pin 1:56
WIN Bettina Jager (Hungary), 6-0, 6-0
WIN Gui Liu (China), 2-0, pin
LOSS Kanako Murata (Japan), 3-2, 1-1, 1-2

63 kg/138.75 lbs. – Alli Ragan, Carbondale, Ill. (New York AC/King College), 3rd
WIN Sakshi Malik (India), 2-1, 1-1
WIN Mengyang Ji (China), 1-0, 1-4, 1-0
LOSS Aline Focken (Germany), 0-1, 0-5
WIN Klaudia Pilipczuk (Poland), 1-0, 3-1

72 kg/158.5 lbs. – Anneliese DeAragon, Sandpoint, Idaho (New York AC/USOEC), 8th
WIN Davaatseren Buyanjargal (Mongolia), 3-0, pin 1:59
LOSS Cinthya Vescan (France), 0-2, pin 1:11
LOSS Elmira Syzdykova (Kazakhstan), pin 

Team Standings
1 Japan, 59 
2 Russia, 46
3 United States, 46 
4 China, 44 
5 Germany, 31
6. Poland, 17 
6 Romania, 17 
8 Vietnam, 15 
8 Belarus, 15 
8 Ukraine, 15 
11 Ecuador, 14 
12 France, 12
13 Bulgaria, 11 
13 India, 11 
13 Canada, 11
16 Mongolia, 10 
16 Azerbaijan, 10 
18 Moldova, 9
18 Kazakhstan, 9
20 Greece, 8
20 Hungary, 8 
22 Turkey, 7 
22 Norway, 7 
24 Great Britain, 6 
24 Italy, 6 
24 Mexico, 6 
27 Korea, 3 
28 Serbia, 2 
29 Estonia, 1