Ten Earn Stop Signs at U.S. Open

Skylar Grote won the 72 kg class at this year’s U.S. Open in Las Vegas. Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo/WrestlersAreWarriors.com

by Derek Levendusky
Twitter: @AWWderek

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - Everyone dreams of lifting a stop sign at the U.S. Open. Ten senior level women got to do just that today. When it was all over in Las Vegas, some familiar names were back and some new names earned their first-ever titles at the prestigious event.

Familiar winners were 50 kg Erin Golston (NYAC), who won her second U.S. Open title; 2019 world champion Jacarra Winchester (Titan Mercury) won it at 55 kg; 62 kg Kayla Miracle (Sunkist Kids WC) took 18 seconds to dispense of veteran Jennifer Page in the finals; Emma Bruntil (Titan Mercury) won the highly anticipated rematch against Mallory Velte 4-4 at 65 kg; and 76 kg Dymond Guilford (Titan Mercury) grabbed another stop sign with a win over familiar opponent Precious Bell.

But some new faces made their mark. 53 kg Felicity Taylor (Bearcat WC) won an exciting match against 4x U.S. Open champ Alyssa Lampe; 19-year-old Adriana Dorado Marin (Army/WCAP) shocked the wrestling community with a title in dramatic fashion at 57 kg; 59 kg Nanea Estrella (Spartan Combat RTC) took out #12 seed XMP to win her first title; Siena Ramirez (Southern Oregon) also won her first at 68 kg; and 72 kg Skylar Grote (NYAC) won her first.

With their titles in hand, all ten wrestlers earn top seeds at Senior World Team Trials coming up at the end of May in Coralville, Iowa.

Here’s a quick weight by weight peek at what happened.

50 kg
Erin Golston was on a mission, tearing through the top side of the bracket with two tech falls before reaching the finals, where she controlled 2x NAIA national champ Nina Pham with a 6-0 win. NY RTC’s Caitlyn Walker, who landed in 6th, had the upset of the bracket, taking out #2 seed Sage Mortimer by fall in the quarters. Mortimer came back to take 4th place. Charlotte Fowler took a forfeit for third.

53 kg
Unseeded Felicity Taylor was down 3-0 early in the second against wily veteran Alyssa Lampe when she a duck under, transitioned to a wicked leg lace, and finished the match with six straight turns for 12 points and the 14-3 technical fall. Taylor pounded the mat with satisfied excitement moments after the official announced the technical fall, and she stood to her feet for the first time as a U.S. Open champion. Tornado Wrestling Club’s Danielle Garcia took third, defeating #3 Estrella Dorado Marin in the consi semis 7-0 to make the 3rd place match.

55 kg
Jacarra Winchester did Jacarra Winchester things, outscoring opponents 28-1, including an 8-1 efficient win over Ronna Heaton (Gross) in the finals. Heaton won a tight match 8-7 over Marissa Gallegos in the semis. Gallegos went on to make the consolation finals before forfeiting the match to Lauren Mason who landed in 3rd place.

57 kg
#1 seed Amanda Martinez fell to #4 seed Adriana Dorado Marin in the semis 8-5. Marin went on to complete the cinderella role with a last second win over 2x college national champion Cameron Guerin in the finals. Down 10-7, Marin got to a single and turned it into a 4-point feet-to-back with a foot sweep moving the score to 11-10. Guerin’s corner challenged but the call stood. Final: 12-10, and Marin is a U.S. Open champion. 2018 U.S. Open champ Alex Hedrick, who lost a 2-1 nailbiter to Guerin in the semis, won the consolation finals with a 14-3 win over Martinez.

59 kg
#1 seed Xochitl “XMP” Mota-Pettis came in as the favorite, and punched her ticket to the finals with a 10-5 win in the semis over Sophia Mirabella, but ran into a prepared Spartan Combat RTC’s Nanea Estrella—the 2020 Junior national champion—in the finals. Estrella hit a beautiful leg attack and turn in the middle of the first to jump out to a 4-0 lead, and she finished her scoring in the match with a pancake off of XMP’s shot in the second period, earning the 9-3 win and her first U.S. Open title.

62 kg
Kayla Miracle made it look easy. Not only did no one score on her, she was on the mat for less than three minutes the entire tournament, including her quick fall in the finals over 2x U.S. Open champ Jennifer Page. Miracle also handled red hot NAIA national champ Adaugo Nwachukwu with a first period 10-0 technical fall. By virtue of her world silver medal last fall, she already has a bye to Final X, so all Miracle needed here was a tune-up. She got it. Nwachukwu took third with a win over Grand View’s Andrea Schlabach.

65 kg
With their recent series tied 2-2, the Emma Bruntil/Mallory Velte rematch was something wrestling fans wanted to see. True to how close the series has been—Bruntil won the last match 2-2 at Olympic Trials—the 2x college national champ beat Velte with a 4-4 criteria win in the finals. She had to come back from a 4-0 deficit to do it, scoring two takedowns, including one in the final moments, to earn her second U.S. Open title. NY RTC’s Maya Letona took third with a win over Colorado Mesa assistant coach Amanda Hendey 8-5. In what would have to considered the comeback of the tournament, Letona came back from a 9-0 deficit against Rachel Watters in the Consi of 4 to win it 14-12. Hendey was ranked #3 way back in 2014, returning to the scene with a solid 4th place finish.

68 kg
Young Augsburg star Katie Lange upset #1 seeded Solin Piearcy in the quarters, then pinned Dalia Garibay in the semis to advance to the finals against 2021 NAIA champ Siena Ramirez. In the finals, Ramirez defended a Lange shot only 10 seconds into the match with a hard whizzer that put her opponent’s head on the mat. Lange immediately screamed out in pain and could not continue. It appeared to be her shoulder. With the injury default, Ramirez won her first U.S. Open title. Army/WCAP’s Nahiela Magee took third with a win over Garibay 14-4.

72 kg
Skylar Grote broke through to win her first-ever U.S. Open title with a convincing 10-0 win over Twin Cities RTC’s Marlynne Deede. Grote went unscored on in the tournament. Florida’s Michelle Montague beat California’s Aine Drury in the consolation finals by fall at the 2:00 mark.

76 kg
In perhaps the deepest weight class of the tournament, 2021 Senior Nationals champ Dymond Guilford defeated familiar opponent 2019 U.S. Open champ Precious Bell 6-4 in the finals. Both had to get through a tough field of top-ranked women to reach each other, as Bell beat #5 Joye Levendusky 6-3 in a quarterfinal match that came down to the end, then controlled #1 seed Victoria Francis with a 10-2 win. Guilford took care of #6 Tristan Kelly—who otherwise had an outstanding tournament—with a 10-0 tech fall in the quarters. Then came the rematch against #2 seed Yelena Makoyed in the semis, an opponent she lost to last fall 10-8 at U23 World Team Trials. This time it was all Guilford, who earned a fall over Makoyed at the 5:40 mark. Makoyed came back to take third with a dominant 12-0 win over #1 seed Victoria Francis.