#WrestleAthens

U17 World Wrestling Championships: Day 3 Live Results

By Vinay Siwach

ATHENS, Greece (July 30) --  Women's Wrestling will kick off at the World U17 Championships with 43kg, 49kg, 57kg, 65kg and 73kg.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | DAY 2 RESULTS

The semifinals will begin at 17:00 hours local time and the medal bouts in Greco-Roman will begin at 18:00 hours local time.

13:30: Fall for Pan-Am champion Ella Jo POALILLO (USA) over Jolina HEALEY (CAN) at 73kg and she also earns a place in the semifinals. She will take on KAJAL (IND) who also pinned Anna GODELASHVILI (GEO). 

13:25: Asia champ vs European champ at 73kg as Wenjin QIU (CHN) takes on Eylem ENGIN (TUR). Qiu gets the first exposure and two points. Engin tries to score a takedown but Qiu keeps the par terre as both go out. Turkiye challenge. Engin gets one point for stepout. Qiu with a slide-by a takedown and 4-1 lead at the break. Head outside for Engin but whizzer from Qiu as she gets two points. Two more points and a palce in the semifinals for Qiu as she wins 8-1

13:18: Morgan TURNER (USA) catches Komal VERMA (IND) in a laces and turns her to complete a 10-0 win and enter the 49kg semifinals.

13:15: Feenja HERMANN (GER), European silver medalist, pins Anastasiya KOMANAVA (UWW) at 65kg. Hermann with different techniques to score her points and ultimately gets the fall.

13:11: MONI (IND), the Asian U17 champion at 57kg, needs just 15 seconds to secure a fall over Oana DUMITRU (ROU) and advance to the semifinals. On Mat B, another Asian U17 champion from India, Ashvini VISHNOI (IND) pins Anujin ERKHEMBAATAR (MGL) after a series of takedown to advance to semifinals at 65kg.

13:05: RACHANA (IND) needed some extra effort to see of Mareim ABDELAAL (EGY) 13-2 in their 43kg bout. Rachana is former world U17 silver medalist.

13:03: Asian U17 silver medalist Madkhiya USMANOVA (KAZ) blocks a bodylock throw from Ivanna LUKIANENKO (UKR) and puts her down on the mat for four points and an 11-3 victory at 57kg.

12:58:Madison HEALEY (USA) broke down Sayuki HIBARINO (JPN) and then used the arm-bar to get the fall over Hibarino at 43kg. That is the first loss for Japan in Women's today.

12:55: Ella Jo POALILLO (USA), Pan-Am champion, gets the fall at 73kg over Uranzaya TSERENNYAM (MGL). Excellent offense from Paolillo to get points before securing the fall.

12:50: KAJAL (IND), a world champion from 69kg last year, now moves into the quarterfinals at 73kg with a fall over Claudia MANTOG (ROU) with a double-leg attack. She had a 12-0 before securing the fall.

12:45: A rematch from European U17 Championships final, Eylem ENGIN (TUR) beats Khrystyna DEMCHUK (UKR) again at 73kg. Engin with top position and doesn't allow Demchuk to get behind.

12:40: Former world U17 champion Morgan TURNER (USA) with a crafty fall over Saniya SOLTANGALI (KAZ). Turner had her literally perpendicular to the mat. She advances at 49kg.

12:22: European U17 silver medalist Feenja HERMANN (GER) lets out a scream as she blanks Sophia ANASTASE (ROU) 7-0 in their 65kg bout. Hermann looking for a medal at Worlds after finishing 7th last year.

12:20: Dimitra SKOUVAKI (GRE) wins a small regional rivalry battle against Melike KOPARAN (TUR) 4-2 and the local crowd is ecstatic after the win over their neighbouring country.

12:10: Alexandra MOISEI (MDA) gets the fall over Pan-Am champ Violette LASURE (USA) at 65kg. Great throw from Moisei and she held Lasure on the mat.

12:05: A takedown from Sayuki TANADA (JPN) with 0.20 left on the clock as she beats Emma BACON (USA) 5-3 in their 57kg bout. Tanada was leading 2-2 on criteria but Bacon scored a stepout with 15 seconds left. Tanada with a leg attack and just randomly threw Bacon to get exposure and the win.

11:50: European champion Raniia RAKHMANOVA (UWW) with a hard-working 12-2 technical superiority win over Nurana ASADLI (UWW) at 43kg.

11:42: In a battle between two wrestlers at 57kg who finished fifth at the European U17 Championships, Nini TSITSVIDZE (GEO) scores six points to beat Oona PEKKARINEN (FIN) 6-4

11:30: At 43kg, China, Japan and India wrestlers on the mat and all of them show their higher skills. Xin HUANG (CHN) beats Natalia TERZI (MDA), 10-0, in a minute and 54 seconds, Sayuki HIBARINO (JPN) wins 10-0 in two minutes and 30 seconds against Aiza TAALAIBEKOVA (KGZ) and RACHANA (IND) pins Mariza NASU (CAN).

11:25: World U17 champion at 69kg KAJAL (IND), who won silver at Asian U17 in Vietnam and added an Asian U20 title in Bishkek recently, pins Bianka BARANY ALMASI (HUN) in 25 seconds at 73kg.

11:20: Sayuki TANADA (JPN) with that lethal Japanese leg lace as she beats Albina SALYMBEKOVA (KGZ) 11-0 at 57kg

11:10: European U17 champion Anastasiya KOMANAVA (UWW) is tested by Sofiia ALFOROVA (UKR) in the 65kg bout but Komanava gets activity points along with her technical ones to win 4-0.

11:05: A mismatch at 65kg as two-time Asian U17 champion Ashvini VISHNOI (IND) laces Selsabil ROUABAH (ALG) to win her 65kg bout in just 46 seconds.

10:55: Marta MANKOWSKA (POL) held her own for a few minutes against Asian U17 champion MONI (IND) who ultimately breaks Mankowska with two takedowns and wins the opening bout at 57kg 5-1.

10:30: Welcome to day three of the World U17 Championships and soon after the repechage in Greco-Roman, the Women's Wrestling bout will begin in five weight classes.

#WrestleAmman

Coles, Canada's first U17 world champ, wants to be an inspiration

By Vinay Siwach

CANADA (December 16) -- "I am not a natural athlete." That's how Kaura COLES (CAN) describes herself. 

The 17-year-old seems to have as much clarity describing herself as she does wrestling on the mat.

She may not be the be a "natural", but she is the best in the world. At the U17 World Championships in Amman, Jordan, Coles became the first Canadian wrestler to win a gold medal. She won gold in the 53kg women's wrestling weight class.

But the odds did not favor Coles. No Canadian wrestler had reached the final at the U17 Worlds, forget winning gold. The last time Canada had a U20 or U17 world champ was in 2013. Coming into the tournament, Coles had a silver medal from the 2022 U17 Pan-Am Championships and a fifth-place finish at the Spain Grand Prix. 

So Coles wasn't favored to win a medal. Nor were the other seven Canadians entered. However, Coles did it. She was so precise in her wrestling, that her opponents were shocked to see her counter from negative positions.

Coles' win was one of the highlights of international wrestling in 2024 and a big boost for Canada and its wrestling after its medalless Olympics in Paris.

"I did not expect to do as well as I did,” she said later. “I can't predict the outcome of the match. The only thing I know for sure is that I'm going to work as hard as I possibly can every match."

In Amman, Coles began with two pins over Madkhiya USMANOV (KAZ) and Chloe BREWIS (RSA). She then went on to upset MUSKAN (IND) 12-3 in the quarterfinals, Isabelle GONZALES (USA) 8-3 in the semifinals and securing a fall in the finals against Nana KOZUKA (JPN), undeterred by names or a Japanese opponent.

Coles began wrestling when she was 11 years old when her father, Cory, took her to the gym because he did not want her to just sit around all day. Kaura is one of the 11 Coles siblings from Winnipeg. She is number six with five younger siblings and she coaches them as well.

"If you had watched me wrestling four years ago, you would have never thought I could have achieved anything. Worst wrestler by far," Coles told FloWrestling. "But I knew how to do a 2-on-1. So every match, every practice, I would be grabbing a 2-on-1. For six years I have been doing that and just developed and became very good from that position. [I do well] Tying up with people. I don't do well from space since I am a slow wrestler. I want to get an underhook or a 2-on-1."

She worked hard. Having wrestler siblings around her improved her as she had to keep up with the sibling rivalries growing in the house.

"I have to be a tough wrestler just to survive every day [with my brother]," she said. "But they all wrestled, my sisters wrestle too. Everyone works hard and it makes it a lot easier"

But in the beginning, Coles did not like the sport or working hard to be better at it.

“I did not like it at first because it’s a very hard sport," Coles told The Free Press. "Back then, I didn’t really like hard work because it’s hard to like that. But over time, I saw the benefits of putting in the hard work and seeing where it can get you."

Kaura COLES (CAN)Kaura COLES (CAN) defeated Nana KOZUKA (JPN) in the final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

So far, wrestling has made Coles a three-time national wrestling champion, U17 Pan-American silver medalist, North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) champion and of course, world champion.

But Coles wants to do more. As a Métis herself, she wants to inspire, coach, and promote Indigenous groups.

"I want to be an inspiration for the other Indigenous and Métis warriors in Canada," Coles said after winning the gold. "I don't wrestle for myself."

Coles' mother Michelle is a Métis, an Indigenous group in Canada, and has kept their culture in the house including learning French. Coles wore her Métis sash after the medal ceremony at the U17 Worlds.

"I wear my Métis sash whenever I can," she said. "I have other Indigenous people come up to me and tell me how I have inspired them. I'm so glad that I was able to represent."

Another one of Coles' is to be at the Olympics. Canada has won six medals at the Olympics in Women's Wrestling. But the last came in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

"My goal is to go to the next Olympics when I'm 21 years old and then I want to go to the Olympics after that," she said. "Then I will retire."