Recap U23 Worlds: Miracle & Kilty Silver, Team USA Takes 4th
Kayla Miracle battles at the 2019 World Championships. Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo / WrestlersAreWarriors.com
by Derek Levendusky, AWW staff writer
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY — It was only a year ago that Team USA women gained their first-ever U23 world medals, as both McKendree University wrestlers on the squad, Alex Glaude and Kori Bullock, brought home bronze. Only a year later, the United States can boast two U23 silver medals. 18-year-old 68 kg Macey Kilty dominated her way to the finals, outscoring her opponents 31-0 before she lost to Japan’s Masako Furuichi 7-2 in the gold medal match. Kayla Miracle worked a miracle in the semis to make the finals, coming back from a 7-0 deficit to get the fall with an arm wrap from the crackdown position over Ukraine’s Ilona Prokopevniuk of Ukraine. She fell to 2019 Junior World Champion Yuzuka Inagaki of Japan in the gold medal match, 3-0.
After what must have been a disappointing finish for Miracle at the 2019 World Championships in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan only five weeks ago, where she lost a nail-biting 6-6 match and was eliminated in the Round of 16 after winning her first two matches, Miracle is walking away from U23 Worlds with a silver medal around her neck. On paper, like Kilty, she dominated her way to the finals with three falls, but the win in the semis was anything but dominating. That match required resilience and mental toughness.
“Kayla has shown some tremendous growth in her mental toughness,” says her father and one-time college coach, Campbellsville women’s head coach, Lee Miracle. “Kayla 1.0 was not as equipped to come from behind like that against Ukraine. I’m extremely proud of her resilience and tenacity. She’s a great example of how hard work a determination pay off.” Miracle is referencing his daughter’s common reference to her career renewal at the Hawkeye Wrestling Club as “Kayla 2.0.”
Miracle had some calls go against her early in the semi match, but later said in an interview with TrackWrestling, “Calls are going to go against us. It’s been happening all tournament. It’s been happening to a lot of the team. You’ve just gotta wrestle through it. The match wasn’t over. Just keep wrestling.”
Kilty’s wins included a tech fall over 2019 Junior World bronze medalist Alina Rudnytska of Ukraine. The young wrestler continues to prove that she’s for real and is here to stay at the highest levels of international wrestling. She now has five world age-level medals.
18-year-old Emily Shilson went 1-2, though had notable matches, only losing 8-3 to 3x world champion Kika Kagata of Japan and an exciting 12-10 repechage victory over Turkan Nasirova of Azerbaijan. Shilson continues to show that she’s a rising star in U.S. Women’s Wrestling and belongs on the mat at the international level. Shilson now begins her college career at Augsburg University in Minnesota. This is also Augsburg’s inaugural season for their new program.
53 kg Felicity Taylor, 55 kg Dominique Parrish, 59 kg Abby Nette, 65 kg Maya Nelson, and 76 kg Precious Bell all picked up wins for the U.S. One of Taylor’s losses was to 2x Senior World Champion Haruna Okuno. 57 kg Arian Carpio and 72 kg Alyvia Fiske both lost first-round battles where they went the entire 6 minutes, and were not pulled back into “repechage”—the format where the loser has to wait to see if their opponent makes the finals before they’re pulled back into the tournament. This creates the sometimes abrupt one-and-done scenarios in international wrestling.
Shilson (Augsburg), Taylor (McKendree), Nette (Campbellsville), Fiske (Simon Fraser), and Bell (Menlo) are all college wrestlers who will now return home to compete for their school programs.
Team USA Women finished 4th in the team race behind 1st place Japan (190 points), 2nd place China (85 points) and 3rd place Ukraine (84 points). The U.S. women and Russia both had 66 points, but Team USA took 4th by virtue of criteria.
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
50 kg Emily Shilson: 11th place
Kika KAGATA (JPN) df. Emily King SHILSON (USA) by VPO1, 8 - 3
Emily King SHILSON (USA) df. Turkan NASIROVA (AZE) by VPO1, 12 - 10
Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (RUS) df. Emily King SHILSON (USA) by VSU, 10 - 0
53 kg Felicity Taylor: 9th place
Felicity Kay TAYLOR (USA) df. Viktoria VILHELM (HUN) by VPO1, 4 - 3
Haruna OKUNO (JPN) df. Felicity Kay TAYLOR (USA) by VFA, 3 - 0
Katsiaryna PICHKOUSKAYA (BLR) df. Felicity Kay TAYLOR (USA) by VPO, 6 - 0
55 kg Dominique Parrish: 7th place
Dominique Olivia PARRISH (USA) df. Rana RANI (IND) by VPO, 6 - 0
Saki IGARASHI (JPN) df. Dominique Olivia PARRISH (USA) by VPO1, 4 - 3
Andreea Beatrice ANA (ROU) df. Dominique Olivia PARRISH (USA) by VPO1, 5 - 1
57 kg Arian Carpio: 12th place
Pinki PINKI (IND) df. Arian Geralin CARPIO (USA) by VPO, 5 - 0
59 kg Abby Nette: 7th place
Abigail Elizabeth NETTE (USA) df. Otgonbayar PUREV (MGL) by VFO, 0 - 0
Yuliya PISARENKA (BLR) df. Abigail Elizabeth NETTE (USA) by VPO1, 4 - 1
62 kg Kayla Miracle: Silver Medalist
Kayla Colleen Kiyoko MIRACLE (USA) df. Reka BACSFAIOVA (SVK) by VFA, 4 - 0
Kayla Colleen Kiyoko MIRACLE (USA) df. Mariia KUZNETSOVA (RUS) by VFA, 7 - 0
Kayla Colleen Kiyoko MIRACLE (USA) df. Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR) by VFA, 6 - 7
Yuzuka INAGAKI (JPN) df. Kayla Colleen Kiyoko MIRACLE (USA) by VPO, 3 - 0
65 kg Maya Nelson: 7th place
Maya Gabriella NELSON (USA) df. Nisha NISHA (IND) by VFA, 11 - 3
Misuzu ENOMOTO (JPN) df. Maya Gabriella NELSON (USA) by VPO, 7 - 0
Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) df. Maya Gabriella NELSON (USA) by VIN, 7 - 0
68 kg Macey Kilty: Silver Medalist
Macey Ellen KILTY (USA) df. Alexia Rose SHERLAND (CAN) by VSU, 10 - 0
Macey Ellen KILTY (USA) df. Alina RUDNYTSKA LEVYTSKA (UKR) by VSU, 10 - 0
Macey Ellen KILTY (USA) df. Yingying WANG (CHN) by VSU, 11 - 0
Masako FURUICHI (JPN) df. Macey Ellen KILTY (USA) by VPO1, 7 - 2
72 kg Alyvia Fiske: 8th place
Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ) df. Alyvia Nicole FISKE (USA) by VPO1, 11 - 4
76 kg Precious Bell: 8th place
Precious Rosanna BELL (USA) df. Pooja POOJA (IND) by VPO, 4 - 0
Hui Tsz CHANG (TPE) df. Precious Rosanna BELL (USA) by VFA, 4 - 0