Erin Golston during the 44 kg gold-medal match at the Junior World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. T.R. Foley photo

SOFIA, Bulgaria - Erin Golston (Lake In The Hills, Ill./NYAC/USOEC) won a silver medal at 44 kg/97 lbs. on the first day of women’s freestyle at the Junior World Championships on Thursday.

Golston jumped to an early lead, but was defeated in the finals by Emilia Budeanu of Moldova, 10-7.

In the first period, Golston was in control, scoring a three-point and two-point move on the way to a 7-2 lead. However, in the second period, Budeanu rallied back with three-point and two-point moves of her own to tie it at 7-7.

With 40 seconds left, Budeanu scored a two-point takedown on a duckunder for a 9-7 lead. She added an additional point on a defensive takedown with 14 seconds to go for the 10-7 margin.

“I started out the second period pretty confident, because I was up. When she hit that fireman’s carry, I got a little rattled a bit. It went downhill from there. I tried to get my shots off but they weren’t working. I will learn from it,” said Golston.

Golston has now won three Junior World medals in her four trips to the event, also winning bronze medals in 2011 and 2012. She did not earn a placement in her first Junior Worlds in 2010.

Budeanu of Moldova was second in the 2013 European Junior Championships and third in the European Juniors in 2012.

“I’m going to learn from this experience. Overall, I had a pretty OK tournament. I didn’t get scored on until the last match, so I am happy about that. I know I need to learn to close out matches better. I’ll be better next time,” said Golston.

Golston earned her trip to the finals with a stunning 15 second pin over Sheetal Tomar of India in the semifinals, getting a quick takedown and locking up a cradle to put her away quickly. 

“She showed up today. From the time she stepped on the mat, in her warm-ups, she was focused and determined. She outwrestled every one of her opponents. We fell short but we didn’t get beat. She gave her finals opponent a little more credit than she deserved and held back a bit. She fought for it, and she should be proud about that,” said Assistant National Women’s Coach Erin Tomeo.

All three of the other U.S. wrestlers in competition were unable to enter the repechage when the athletes they lost to were beaten in the semifinals, and failed to reach the finals. All of them entered the night session with a chance to get into repechage, but it did not happen for them.

Jenna Burkert (Rocky Point, N.Y./NYAC) finished eighth at 59 kg/130 lbs. with a 2-1 record.

Burkert scored a quick 7-0 technical fall over Lisa Holgersson of Sweden in just 46 seconds. In the second round, she won a see-saw battle over Tetyana Kit of Ukraine, scoring a number of defensive takedowns late in the match for an 11-6 win

In the quarterfinal match, Petra Olli of Norway jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first period, and was able to get Burkert on her back in the second period for a pin in 3:57.

The two other U.S. wrestlers competing on Thursday dropped their first match. At 51 kg/112.5 lbs., two-time Junior World team member Haley Augello (Lockport, Ill./NYAC) was pinned by 2012 Junior World bronze medalist Lilya Horishna of Ukraine in 1:36. Lorrie-Ann Ramos (Orlando, Fla./King University) lost by technical fall 0-8 to Kona Suzuki of Japan at 67 kg/147.5 lbs.

“These girls have a long successful career ahead of them. The preparation was good, the training was good, the attitude was good, the warm-ups were good. We didn’t have enough time to get our offense going. We didn’t have enough time to get back in the match. We didn’t get pulled back in, and those things happen,” said Tomeo.

Four other U.S. women weighed in today and will compete on Friday.

JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Sofia, Bulgaria, August 15, 2013

Women’s freestyle results

44 kg/97 lbs.
Gold – Emilia Budeanu (Moldova)
Silver – Erin Golston (USA)
Bronze – Evin Demirhan (Turkey)
Bronze – Rina Okuno (Japan)
5th – Ganbold Munkhsetseg (Mongolia)
5th – Sheetal Tomar (India)
7th - Marina Sidarova (Russia)
8th - Mariya Georgiyeva (Ukraine)
9th - Liqiong Xie (China)
10th - M. Selishka (Bulgaria)
Gold – Emilia Budeanu (Moldova) dec. Erin Golston (USA), 10-7
Bronze – Evin Demirhan (Turkey) pin Ganbold Munkhsetseg (Mongolia), 2:13
Bronze – Rina Okuno (Japan) dec. Sheetal Tomar (India), 3-2

51 kg/112.5 lbs.
Gold – Yu Miyahara (Japan)
Silver – Stalvira Orshush (Russia)
Bronze – Davaachimeg Erkhembayar (Mongolia)
Bronze – Lilya Horshina (Ukraine)
5th – Patimat Bagomedova (Azerbaijan)
5th – Kristina Yalovenko (Kazakhstan)
7th - Merve Kenger (Turkey)
8th - Nina Hemmer (Germany)
9th - Lalita Lalita (India)
10 - Meiqin Pan (China)
Gold – Yu Miyahara (Japan) pin Stalvira Orshush (Russia), 2:34
Bronze –Davaachimeg Erkhembayar (Mongolia) inj. dft. Patimat Bagomedova (Azerbaijan)
Bronze – Lilya Horshina (Ukraine) tech. fall Kristina Yalovenko (Kazakhstan), 10-3

59 kg/130 lbs.
Gold – Tserenchimed Sukhee (Mongolia)
Silver – Braxton Stone (Canada)
Bronze – Aisuluu Tynybekova (Kyrgyzstan)
Bronze – Petra Olli (Norway)
5th – Luisa Niemesch (Germany)
5th – Krystsuba Tsan (Belarus)
7th - Anzhela Fomenko (Russia)
8th - Jenna Burkert (USA)
9th - Nachi Masuda (Japan)
10th - Ritu Malik (India)
Gold – Tserenchimed Sukhee (Mongolia) dec. Braxton Stone (Canada), 9-3
Bronze – Aisuluu Tynybekova (Kyrgyzstan) tech. fall Luisa Niemesch (Germany), 10-1
Bronze – Petra Olli (Norway) pin Krystsuba Tsan (Belarus), 4:07

67 kg/147.5 lbs.
Gold – Dorothy Yates (Canada
Silver – Dzhanan Manolova (Bulgaria)
Bronze – Kona Suzuki (Japan)
Bronze – Dalma Caneva (Italy)
5th – Klymet Kocyigit (Turkey)
5th – Albina Lyekhanova (Ukraine)
7th - Irina Kazyulina (Kazakhstan)
8th - Anuradha Tomar (India)
9th - Wen - Ling Chen (Taipei)
10th - Chunliu Guo (China)
Gold – Dorothy Yates (Canada) dec. Dzhanan Manolova (Bulgaria), 4-1
Bronze – Kona Suzuki (Japan) tech. fall Klymet Kocyigit (Turkey), 7-0
Bronze – Dalma Caneva (Italy) tech. fall Albina Lyekhanova (Ukraine), 14-7

U.S. women’s freestyle performances

44 kg/97 lbs. – Erin Golston, Lake In The Hills, Ill. (NYAC/USOEC/UCCS), silver medal
WIN Leisy Mena (Honduras), tech. fall, 8-0 (3:00)
WIN Rena Okuno (Japan), 7-0 (3:35)
WIN Sheetal Tomar (India), pin 0:15
LOSS Emelia Budeanu (Moldova), 7-10

51 kg/112.5 lbs. – Haley Augello, Lockport, Ill. (NYAC)
LOSS Lilya Horishna (Ukraine), pin 1:36

59 kg/130 lbs. – Jenna Burkert, Rocky Point, N.Y. (NYAC/USOEC/UCCS), 8th place
WIN Lisa Holgersson (Sweden), tech. fall 7-0 (0:43)
WIN Tetyana Kit (Ukraine), 11-6
LOSS Petra Olli (Norway), pin 3:57

67 kg/147.5 lbs. – Lorrie-Ann Ramos, Orlando, Fla. (King University)
LOSS Kona Suzuki (Japan), tech. fall 0-8