Wrestlers Medal at Junior World Championships
August 29, 2007
Conder (right) won gold at Junior Worlds
MARQUETTE – Members of the United States Olympic Education Center’s women’s freestyle wrestling team competed last week (Aug. 22-24) at the Junior World Championships held in Beijing, China and brought home two medals.
Northern Michigan University freshman Whitney Conder (Payllup, Wash.) received gold at 51 kilograms. Conder began the tournament strong overtaking Osocka Dominika (Poland), 4-1, 6-1. She followed up with another win against Maryna Milevskaya (Belarus), finishing the match by pin at 1:58. Continuing the streak, Conder prevailed over Li Xiao (China), 1-0, 3-2.
In the championships match, Conder beat Kumari Babita (India), 2-1, 3-2.
“I just really kept moving because I had to win the match,” said Conder of the finals match. “That is all I wanted to do. It was hard to wrestle, but it was a lot of fun out there.”
Teammate Alyssa Lampe (Tomahawk, Wis.) earned bronze at 48 kg. The Northern Michigan University freshman came back to medal contention through wrestlebacks.
Lampe lost her first match against Fuyoka Mimura (Japan) by pin at 1:08.
“She [Mimura] came right out from the whistle,” said Lampe. “I didn’t even have a chance to wrestle. I knew I had to come back and win a medal. I wanted to get the chance to show people what I was made of.”
Lampe then won her next match against Lenka Matejova (Slovakia), by pin at 1:43. She then met Elza Tazetdinov (Russia) in the bronze medal championship match, and won 3-2, 5-5.
Erin Clodgo (Richmond, Vt.), a Marquette Senior High School senior, finished the tournament with a 1-1 record at 67kg, putting her in eighth place.
Cherae Pascua (Oahu, Hawaii), an NMU freshman, and Paige Rife (Fowlerville, Mich.), an MSHS senior, both began the tournament with losses at 55- and 72-kg, respectively, and did not place in the tournament.
