SOFIA, Bulgaria –Jennifer Page (Orangevale Calif./Titan Mercury WC) won a bronze medal at 63 kg/138.5 lbs. on the final day of women’s freestyle at the Junior World Championships on Friday.

Page defeated Nyamgerel Burneebaatar of Mongolia, 6-3 in the bronze-medal match. Page led 3-1 at the end of the first period, with a two-point takedown to help take the lead. In the second period, when Burneebaatar was pushing the action, Page got another key two-point takedown in a scramble. A late Burneebaatar takedown was not enough to close the gap.

In the evening session, Page was defeated in the semifinals by 2013 European Junior champion Buse Tosun of Turkey in a 1-10 technical fall. The ending was a bit controversial. On a scramble near the edge, it appeared that Page had avoided a stepout, then took Tosun down. The officials called a stepout and the USA protested. After the video review, the stepout call was confirmed and the match ended.

She opened the day with dominance, winning her first three matches easily. Page pinned S. Sarita of India in 3:54 in her first match. Her next two wins were by technical fall, stopping Karolina Loevik of Norway, 8-0 in 1:49 and Tetyana Lavernchuk of Ukraine, 7-0 in 2:14.

“It started pretty good. My first three matches leading to the semifinals, I teched all those girls. In lost in the semis in a close match. I didn’t close well. I pulled off a win for the medal, so it ended alright. I’m not happy at all. At the end, I got my arm raised, so I am happy about that,” said Page.

Last year, Page was fifth at 67 kg/147.5 lbs. at the Junior World Championships, but has dropped down to her normal weight on the Senior level. She is a native of California, went to Oklahoma City University where she won a WCWA national title, then became a U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete.

“Jennifer is understanding the ropes better. She is getting more and more confident in her abilities. She is incredibly powerful. When she opens up and is offensive and takes her shots, she gets them 100% of the time. It is getting her to commit to her shots, and that made a difference in that last match,” said U.S. Women’s Junior World Team coach Marcie Van Dusen.

Placing fifth after losing a bronze-medal match was Cody Pfau (Parachute, Colo./OKCU Gator Women RTC) at 48 kg/105.5 lbs. In a wide-open match, she was defeated by Fredrika Ida Petersson of Sweden by technical fall 11-4 in 2:34. After Petterson jumped to an early lead, Pfau made put up some points, but 

Pfau got back into the bronze-medal match through the repechage, where she scored an impressive 7-0 technical fall in 1:17 over Veranika Taranik of Belarus. Her only loss came in the quarterfinals, where she lost to hometown favorite and eventual champion Elitsa Atanasova Yankova of Bulgaria, 2-10 in 3:13.

She came out with technical falls over Zalina Zhaparova of Kazakhstan, 7-0 in just 1:23, and Kamala Aliyeva of Azerbaijan, 7-0 in 36 seconds. Pfau, a Junior National champion from Colorado, is starting her college career this fall at Oklahoma City University.

Earning a 10th place at 55 kg/121 lbs. with a 1-2 record was Sarah Hildebrandt (Granger, Ind./King University). After an opening victory, Hildebrandt lost to Larysa Skoblyuk of Ukraine, who ended up winning a silver medal. Hildebrandt was drawn back into the repechage against Olga Khoroshavtseva of Russia, who scored the first takedown, and was able to turn Hildebrandt, securing the pin in 1:13.

Also competing in her second straight Junior World Championships was Julia Salata (Canton, Mich./NYAC/King University) at 72 kg/158.5 lbs. She was defeated in her opening match by Rui Xu of China by technical fall 1-9, and was not eligible for the repechage when Xu lost her next match.

The United States finished in seventh with 27 points, led by two medalists, Page and silver medalist Erin Golston at 44 kg/97 lbs.  Japan won the team title with 51 points. Russia and Mongolia were next with 44 points, but Russia received the second place trophy based on the tiebreaking procedures.

“We got a silver and a bronze. They are great girls. I expect a lot from these girls. They worked hard and know what it takes. They are getting better and better. We expected more from this team, but sometimes it doesn’t happen that way,” said Van Dusen.

Men’s freestyle competition begins on Saturday morning with four weight classes.

JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Sofia, Bulgaria, August 16

48 kg/105.5 lbs.
Gold – Elitsa Yankova (Bulgaria) 
Silver – Emilia Vuc (Romania)
Bronze – Fredrika Ida Petersson (Sweden)
Bronze – Mercedesz Denes (Hungary)
5th – Cody Pfau (USA)
5th – Tsendsuren Altangerel (Mongolia)
7th - Ilona Semkiv (Ukraine)
8th - Shiori Ito (Japan)
9th - Zhiyin Wu (China)
10th - Kamala Aliyeva (Azerbaijan)
Gold – Elitsa Yankova (Bulgaria) tech. fall Emilia Vuc (Romania), 8-1
Bronze – Fredrika Ida Petersson (Sweden) tech fall Cody Pfau (USA), 11-4
Bronze – Mercedesz Denes (Hungary) dec. Tsendsuren Altangerel (Mongolia), 6-4

55 kg/121 lbs.
Gold – Risako Kawai (Japan)
Silver – Larysa Skoblyuk (Ukraine)
Bronze – Olga Khoroshavteseva (Russia)
Bronze – Orkhon Purevdorj (Mongolia)
5th – Bediha Gun (Turkey)
5th – Sviatlana Lamshevich (Belarus)
7th - Mengyu Xie (China)
8th - Evelina Nikolova (Bulgaria)
9th - Karolina Krawczyk (Poland)
10th - Sarah Hildebrandt (USA)
Gold –Risako Kawai (Japan) tech. fall Larysa Skoblyuk (Ukraine), 8-0
Bronze – Olga Khoroshavteseva (Russia) tech. fall Bediha Gun (Turkey), 8-0
Bronze – Orkhon Purevdorj (Mongolia) pin Sviatlana Lamshevich (Belarus), 2:10

63 kg/138.5 lbs.
Gold – Svetlana Lipatova (Russia)
Silver – Buse Tosun (Turkey)
Bronze – Jennifer Page (USA)
Bronze – Ragneta Gurbanzade (Azerbaijan)
5th – Nyamgerel Burneebaatar (Mongolia),
5th – Kuanya Ma (China)
7th - Tetyana Lavrenchuk (Ukraine)
8th - Katarzyna Madrowska (Poland)
9th – Yekaterina Larionova (Kazakhstan)
10th - Nadine Weinauge (Germany)
Gold – Svetlana Lipatova (Russia) dec. Buse Tosun (Turkey), 6-4
Bronze –Ragneta Gurbanzade (Azerbaijan) tech. fall Kuanya Ma (China), 7-0
Bronze –Jennifer Page (USA) dec. Nyamgerel Burneebaatar (Mongolia), 6-3

72 kg/158.5 lbs.
Gold – Rino Abe (Japan)
Silver – Tatiana Morozova (Russia)
Bronze – Sabira Aliyeva (Azerbaijan)
Bronze – Rui Xu (China)
5th – Veronika Pavlyuk (Ukraine)
5th – Viktoria Bobeva (Bulgaria)
7th - Natalia Rodriguez Luyando (Puerto Rico)
8th - Gamze Durukan (Turkey)
9th - Una Svetlana Tuba (Serbia)
10th - Gurmaral Yerkebayeva (Kazakhstan)
Gold – Rino Abe (Japan) pin Tatiana Morozova (Russia), 4:18
Bronze – Sabira Aliyeva (Azerbaijan) pin Veronika Pavlyuk (Ukraine), 1:08
Bronze – Rui Xu (China) tech. fall Viktoria Bobeva (Bulgaria), 11-4

U.S. women’s freestyle performances

48 kg/105.5 lbs. – Cody Pfau, Parachute, Colo. (OKCU/Gator Women RTC), 5th
WIN Zalina Zhaparova (Kazakhstan), tech. fall 7-0 (1:23)
WIN Kamala Aliyeva (Azerbaijan) tech fall 7-0 (0:36)
LOSS Elitsa Atanasova Yankova (Bulgaria) tech fall 2-10 (3:13)
WIN Veranika Taranik (Belarus) tech fall 7-0 (1:17)
LOSS Fredrika Ida Petersson (Sweden) tech fall 11-4, 2:34

55 kg/121 lbs. – Sarah Hildebrandt, Granger, Ind. (King University), 10th
WIN Simona Pricob (Romania), tech. fall 8-0 (3:00)
LOSS Larysa Skoblyuk (Ukraine), tech. fall 8-0 (2:07)
LOSS Olga Khoroshavtseva (Russia), pin 1:13

63 kg/138.5 lbs. – Jennifer Page, Orangevale Calif. (Titan Mercury WC), bronze medal
WIN S. Sarita (India), pin 3:54
WIN Karolina Loevik (Norway), tech fall 8-0 (1:49)
WIN Tetyana Lavernchuk (Ukraine), tech fall 7-0 (2:14)
LOSS Buse Tosun (Turkey), 1-10 (second period)
WIN Nyamgerel Burneebaatar (Mongolia), 6-3

72 kg/158.5 lbs. – Julia Salata, Canton, Mich. (NYAC/King University)
LOSS Rui Xu (China), tech. fall 1-9 (1:49)

Team Standings
1 Japan, 51 pts.
2. Russia, 44 pts.
3. Mongolia, 44 pts.
4. Ukraine, 40 pts.
5. Turkey, 36 pts.
6. Bulgaria, 29 pts.
7. United States, 27 pts.
8. China, 24 pts.
9. Azerbaijan, 23 pts.
10. Canada, 19 pts.
11. Kazakhstan, 13 pts.
12. (tie) Belarus, 12 pts.
12. (tie) India, 12 pts.
14. (tie) Moldova, 10 pts.
14. (tie) Germany, 10 pts.
16. Romania, 9 pts.
17. (tie) Finland, 8 pts.
17. (tie) Hungary, 8 pts.
17. (tie) Italy, 8 pts.
17. (tie) Kyrgyzstan, 8 pts.
17. (tie)Sweden, 8 pts.
22. Poland, 5 pts.
23. Puerto Rico, 4 pts.
24. (tie) Serbia, 2 pts.
24. (tie) Taipei, 2 pts.