Helen Maroulis, competing at the 2011 Senior World Championships in Turkey. Larry Slater photo

After taking a short break from intense training, Helen Maroulis is ready to get back into the thick of things starting this weekend at the Pan American Championships. This year’s event is held on Maroulis’ home turf at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. 

“I’m coming off a down week and I feel good and refreshed,” Maroulis said. “I’m excited about this weekend and wrestling some different people than we’re used to wrestling.”

Maroulis, the 2011 Pan American Games champion and a resident-athlete this year at the USOTC, is confident in her abilities to perform well this weekend and has her sights set on winning.

“I definitely think I’m capable of winning (the Pan Ams),” Maroulis said. “I just have to make sure I keep doing the right things in training and with my nutrition.”

Although Maroulis has always been confident in her abilities, she hasn’t always had the results she desired, until recently. After a second place finish in the 2011 Junior World Championships in Romania in July, and a fifth place finish at the Senior World Championships in September in Turkey, Maroulis went on to win the Pan American Games in October and the U.S. Open in December.

“I think Helen is coming into her own now and has a bright future ahead of her,” said Women’s National Team coach Terry Steiner. “I think it started last year at the Junior Worlds when she finished second, and I think that really hit her. She expected to win the Junior Worlds and got beat and I feel like from that point forward she has been 100 percent committed and very focused. She’s focused on getting the job done and is bringing a difference type of enthusiasm.”

Although Maroulis had never analyzed her second place finish at the Junior Worlds in the same manner as Steiner, she agrees with his breakdown, saying it was probably a subconscious turning point for her and pushed harder to fully commit. 

Despite falling short of her goal at the Junior Worlds, Maroulis qualified her weight class for the Olympics at the Senior World Championships, finishing fifth. This fall, she was able to redeem herself by winning the Pan American Games, defeating two-time Olympic medalist Tonya Verbeek of Canada in the finals, a major achievement in her young career. It provided a renewed sense of confidence in her wrestling. 

“Winning the Pan Am Games was definitely a major stepping stone for me,” said Maroulis. “It was a huge win for me because it showed that I could handle the pressure and it let me know I was doing the right things in my training. I’m excited to wrestle them (this weekend) again and get the job done.”

After this weekend’s event, Maroulis will be taking it easy in terms of competitions, but will crank up the training regimen, focusing on the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in April. 

“Our coaches have put together a good program for the next couple of months and I have to keep working on those things,” Maroulis said.  I feel good about the Trials and I feel like I’m very capable of winning and I plan on doing that.”

“Wrestling in the (Junior) Worlds gave me the push and insight to feel capable of winning and I have all the help around me to get it done,” Maroulis added. 

Maroulis has travelled all over the world and names Tokyo, Japan as one of her favorite places she’s gone for wrestling. She likes differences in the cultures and the interesting places she was able to see there. Despite traveling for wrestling competitions and training camps, Maroulis says she would love to be able to travel with her friends someday without having to put on a singlet.  

However, her leisurely world travels will have to be put on hold for a while, as she focuses on her Olympic dream and will get to visit yet another country. 

Prior to the Olympic Trials, Maroulis and the women’s team will travel to China for a training camp in which they will work out with the talented Chinese National Team, providing them with an opportunity to get in some extra international training and informal competition.

“We know going to China will be good and tough. They pose a different challenge for us than we are used to,” said Steiner. “We have to keep improving and can’t stop. We have a good, young team and I think we have a great chance of success (in London) but we have to continue to improve.”