RTC Cards: What We've Learned About Women’s Wrestling
When Tamyra Mensah-Stock defeated five-time world champion Adeline Gray, she put herself in the conversation for being the #1 P4P women’s wrestler in the world. Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo/WrestlersAreWarriors.com.
by Emma Bruntil, AWW freelance writer
Twitter & IG: @Emaaabruntil
1. Tamyra Mensah-Stock could be the best P4P female wrestler in the world.
Adeline Gray has been on a tear since losing in the 63kg Olympic Trials finals to 2x Olympian Elena Pirozhkova in 2012. Later that year, Gray won her first world title at 67kg at the world championships in Canada, and hasn’t looked back since. In fact, up until January 9th, Adeline hadn’t lost domestically in almost nine years,and her last loss on the world stage dated back to the Russia Cup in 2017. In the end, however, it was 2019 68kg World Champion Tamyra Mensah-Stock that ended Gray’s incredible streak of dominance. The Texas native shut out the 5x world champion 4-0 in a one-exchange bout that was arguably somewhat one-sided. While Gray attempted her sweep and patented high singles many times, she wasn’t ever really close to an actual score. This surprised many wrestling fans, as Gray dominated Mensah-Stock in the 2017 Dave Shultz finals by a score of 7-1. This turning of the tides highlights just how much better Mensah-Stock has gotten over the last quad. Four years ago, she failed to qualify 69kg for the United States at the Olympic Games, and now she just shut out a huge favorite to win the gold this year at 76kg. The real question is: Can anyone stop Tamrya Mensah from reaching the top of the podium in Tokyo?
2. These women want to wrestle!
RTC cards (and the Flowrestling ones as well) have showcased the depth and talent in women’s wrestling in our country. With very few tournaments available for athletes to compete at since COVID-19 originally began in March, many Senior level, college, and high school women have used these cards to get much needed match-ups and competitions. Emily Shilson has competed on three cards now: Beat The Streets in October, the October 31st Flowrestling Card, as well as their January 9th production. Ronna Heaton continues to show that she will wrestle anyone, anywhere, and at any weight. The South Dakota native took second to Katherine Shai at the 2020 Senior Nationals before beating Tiare Ikei on her way to a U23 title in October. Heaton followed up her dominant performances with a 10-7 win over former national teamer Koral Sugiyama. She then bumped up to 61kg to take on 59kg U23 National Champion Desiree Zavala, where she emerged a 10-8 victor. Zavala, in her own right, wrestled against Nittany Lion Wrestling Club’s Jennifer Page on October 20th, where she lost in a wild 14-10 match. She also wrestled Macy Kilty on October 31st, losing by tech-fall before her most recent defeat to Heaton.
3. High school stars pack the heat.
In case you were worried about the future of America’s female wrestlers...don’t be. The 2020 ‘season’ for these young women kicked off with high school star and recent Iowa Wesleyan commit Mia Palumbo dominating Shea Reisel with a convincing tech-fall at Chicago RTC’s “Rumble on the Rooftop”. Palumbo followed up her impressive win with a massive victory over Cadet world teamer Sage Mortimer on Flowrestling’s prestigious “Who’s Number One” card. Most recently, Palumbo showed off her skill with a 11-0 technical-fall over Super 32 champion and #3 ranked Chloe Ayers. Kylie Welker is another outstanding high schooler who saw a lot of success this fall. After making the Junior National finals, she tech-falled #6 Amor Tuttle on Wisconsin Underground’s December 16th card. Welker collected two takedowns and three turns en route to a 10-0 win over highly ranked Tuttle of Minnesota. On the Wisconsin Underground 3 card, Welker yet again snagged a 10-0 tech-fall over #5 Rose Cassioppi of Illinois. Sage Mortimer bounced back from her loss this fall to Mia Palumbo on the January 13th Flowrestling card. Mortimer won an exciting match over Arizona’s Audrey Jiminez. The bout saw Mortimer build an early 6-0 lead at the break, before Jiminez scored on a stepout and single leg takedown to put the score at 6-3. A late go behind from Mortimer, and takedown from Jiminez, left the final score at 8-5 in favor of the Utah native. If we know one thing from these high school matches this year, it’s that the youth movement in women’s wrestling is here to stay!
4. The Wisconsin RTC women can scrap!
Who has had a better 2020 so far than Ronna Heaton? After securing her spot at Olympic Trials by her 5th place finish at the 2019 Senior Nationals, the former Cadet world champion has had an absolutely incredible fall season. Heaton’s hit list includes hammers like Tiare Ikei, Alisha Howk, Desiree Zavala, Koral Sugiyama, Cheyenne Sisenstein, and a 12-1 tech-fall over NCWWC finalist Felicity Taylor. Ronna Heaton had an outstanding high-school career, winning Cadet Worlds in 2015, getting a Cadet World silver in 2016, and making several Junior teams. After such a standout youth career, it should be no surprise Heaton is having so much success, but the 2020 U23 national champion seems to have made a huge jump this year. The question now is, can Heaton keep up with the likes of Jacarra Winchester and Dom Parrish, and can she avenge her Senior Nationals loss to veteran Katherine Shai?
Wisconsin’s newest RTC addition is none other than multiple-time Senior National Team member Erin Golston. Golston has looked great this fall, notching a win at the Hawkeye Wrestling Card on November 1st, a 7-1 victory over WCWA finalist Maria Vialdes, then an 8-5 win over Cadet world champion Emily Shilson, and recently a fall over NWWC champ Pauline Granados on the Wisconsin Underground 3 card. Between Heaton and Golston, the Wisconsin RTC has two serious contenders to make the Olympic team this year. Golston has previous wins over 2017 world teamer Victoria Anthony, and multiple-time 50 kg world team rep Whitney Conder. While we missed out on seeing Erin Golston wrestle current #1 Sarah Hildebrant (Sarah withdrew from their November 1st matchup due to medical reasons), Golston will have to go through Hildebrandt to punch her ticket to Tokyo. But long before she faces Sarah, the Illinois product will have to beat out 2019 Senior Nationals Champion Alyssa Lampe, Amy Fearnside, Victoria Anthony, Whitney Condor, and repeat her recent success against Emily Shilson. Led by Heaton and Golston, the Wisconsin RTC could very well become the Mecca of women’s wrestling in the Midwest. Exciting things to come for the Badgers!
5. Women’s wrestling is main-event worthy!
The women’s wrestling community has always known the potential of women’s wrestling and the growth it could provide for wrestling as a whole. However, with the emergence of these RTC cards, it seems the wider wrestling world has acknowledged the growing demand for women’s wrestling on the big stage. Back in December, we saw Emma Bruntil and Macey Kilty headline the Tarheel Wrestling Club Open in a fiery rematch of the 2019 Senior Nationals semi-finals. In another main event, on January 2nd, world champion Jacarra Winchester won via tech fall over Koral Syguiama at the Battle on the Banks card, which was put on by the SKWC and Mobbin Media. In undoubtedly the most notable women’s wrestling match of the year, we saw 68 kg world champion Tamyra Mensah-Stock best five-time 76kg world champion Adeline Gray in a 4-0 shut-out. Originally, Jordan Burroughs and David Taylor were set to headline the card, but their match was rescheduled for January 13th due to COVID restrictions. Mensah-Stock and Gray’s headline match marked the first all-women main event on a Flowrestling card, and exemplified to viewers just how exciting it can be to see two highly credentialed female athletes battle it out in real time.