FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 15, 2014
Campbellsville University
Contact: Chris Megginson
Cell: 270-403-1503
By Chris Megginson / Campbellsville University Sports Information
MEXICO CITY – One future Campbellsville University student-athlete is getting one step closer to her Olympic dream this week. Incoming freshman Kayla Miracle will compete for Team USA on Wednesday, July 16 at the Pan American Senior Wrestling Championships. The event will take place in the Gymnasium of the National Polytechnic Institute. Competition begins July 15 with the men’s Greco-Roman action, followed by women’s freestyle July 16 and the men’s freestyle on July 17.
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| Kayla Miracle poses with her Pan Am Junior Wrestling Championship gold medal in 2013 in Chile. (Photo courtesy of Kayla Miracle) |
Miracle’s addition to the roster came as a bit of a surprise to the future Lady Tiger, who has spent the last month at the Team USA training camps at McKendree University. While attending the Junior World Team Camp, Miracle heard Coach Terry Steiner may need someone for the Senior Pan Am competition at 58kg. She sent word to an assistant coach on the national team that she’d be willing to cut weight but it did not look like she would be added. A few days later, Steiner announced her addition to the Senior Pan Am roster. She has competed and won gold for USA at both the Cadet and Junior Pan Ams in years past.
“Kayla is one of our up and coming stars – she had shown great commitment to the program and she is being promoted for that reason,” said Steiner. “She will have a bright future with USA Wrestling.”
Miracle, who is ranked No. 6 in the nation at 58kg in the senior ranks, will be the only junior level athlete to represent the US Women’s Wrestling Team at the Senior Pan Ams. She earned her Top 10 ranking by becoming the only high school wrestler to place at the U.S. Senior Open in Las Vegas earlier this year.
“I’m excited. It’s going to be a different experience. I’ve been to the cadet and junior Pan Ams, and have now competed at the senior level in Sweden and the U.S. Open. This will be different,” Miracle said. “From what I wrestled last year (at the Junior Pan Ams), they (South American wrestlers) tend to cut a lot of weight. They’re a lot heavier than they actually are. I’m going to have to stay tactful and make very little mistakes.”
In May, she qualified for the U.S. Junior World Team by winning her weight at the FILA Body Bar competition in Texas. The Junior World Championships will be August in Zagreb, Croatia.
She will become the first Campbellsville University women’s wrestler to compete in a Senior Pan Am event, something her father and college head coach Lee Miracle is proud of.
“Coach Steiner selected Kayla to represent the US at the Pan Am’s because he knew she had been working very hard at National Team camps all summer and competing on the Open level with success. He believes, as I do, that Kayla deserved the opportunity and has a great chance to medal in Mexico City,” said Lee Miracle. “I’m excited to coach Kayla at the Pan Ams and share this experience with her. I am also going to take advantage of the international recruiting opportunity this trip provides.”
Following the Senior Pan Am, Miracle will travel to Fargo, N.D., for the Freestyle National Championships and Junior World Team trials for non-Olympic weights. She will compete at 60kg. While there, she will also be recognized for being named to TheMat.com/ASICS High School Girls Wrestling All-America Team for the fourth consecutive year.
Miracle is one of 12 signees which will join Campbellsville University this fall to compete in the Lady Tigers’ second season in the Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Association (WCWA). CU finished sixth in the WCWA National Tournament during its inaugural season and had five WCWA All-Americans.
PAN AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Mexico City, Mexico, July 15-17
U.S. Greco-Roman roster
59 kg/130 lbs. – Spenser Mango, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP)
66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Bryce Saddoris, Camp LeJeune, N.C. (U.S. Marine Corps)
71 kg/156.5 lbs.– Ellis Coleman, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP)
75 kg/165 lbs. – Andy Bisek, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Minnesota Storm)
80 kg/176 lbs. – Jon Anderson, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP)
85 kg/187 lbs. – Jake Fisher, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm)
98 kg/216 lbs. – Caylor Williams, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP)
130 kg/286.5 lbs. – Nikola Bogojevich, Superior, Wis. (Minnesota Storm)
National Greco-Roman Coach – Matt Lindland, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Coach – Jay Antonelli, Annapolis, Md.
Coach – John Matthews, Phoenix, Ariz.
Coach – Mark Halvorson, Brentwood, Calif.
U.S. Women’s Freestyle roster
48 kg/105.5 lbs. – Victoria Anthony, Huntington Beach, Calif. (Sunkist Kids)
53 kg/116.5 lbs. – Haley Augello, Lockport, Ill. (New York AC/King Univ.)
55 kg/121 lbs. – Cady Chessin, Los Gatos, Calif. (Menlo College)
58 kg/128 lbs. – Kayla Miracle, Campbellsville, Ky. (Sunkist Kids)
60 kg/132 lbs. – Cheyenne Youngblood, Temecula, Calif. (Missouri Baptist)
63 kg/138.75 lbs. – Shai Mason, Gardenia, Calif. (Titan Mercury WC)
69 kg/152 lbs. – Julia Salata, Canton, Ill. (New York AC/King Univ.)
75 kg/165 lbs. – Victoria Francis, Litchfield, Ill. (Titan Mercury WC/Lindenwood Univ.)
Coach – Jason Moorman, Bristol, Tenn.
Coach – Archie Randall, Oklahoma City, Okla.
U.S. Men’s freestyle roster
57 kg/125.5 lbs. – Zach Sanders, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm)
61 kg/134 lbs. – Andrew Hochstrasser, Boise, Idaho (Titan Mercury WC)
65 kg/143 lbs. – Frank Molinaro, State College, Pa. (Nittany Lion WC)
70 kg/154 lbs. – Hunter Stieber, Norwalk, Ohio (New York AC/Ohio RTC)
74 kg/163 lbs. – Jordan Burroughs, Lincoln, Neb. (Sunkist Kids)
86 kg/189 lbs. – Clayton Foster, Laramie, Wyo. (GRIT Athletics/Cowboy WC)
97 kg/213 lbs. – Deron Winn, Ames, Iowa (Titan Mercury WC)
125 kg/275 lbs. – Zack Rey, Bethlehem, Pa. (Lehigh Valley AC)
Coach – Sam Portillo, Tucson, Ariz.
Coach – Joel Greenlee, Athens, Ohio
Team Leader – Cody Bickley, Colorado Springs, Colo.
USA Wrestling Executive Director – Rich Bender, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Medical – Randy Boswell, ATC, Newman Lake, Wash.
Medical – Jason Holm, MD, Stateline, Nev.
Medical – Brian Hooten, Dallas, Texas
Official – Drew Hays, Tempe, Ariz.
Official – Umberto Fasolino, Cutchogue, N.Y.
Official – Cody Hesser, Gonzales, La.
Pan American Championships Event Schedule
(local time in Mexico City, which is U.S. Central time zone)
Tuesday, July 15
10:00 a.m. – Preliminaries and repechage (Greco-Roman all weights)
5:30 p.m. – Opening Ceremony
6:00 p.m. – Finals (Greco-Roman, all weights)
Wednesday, July 16
10:00 a.m. – Preliminaries and repechage (Women’s Freestyle, all weights)
6:00 p.m. – Finals (Women’s Freestyle, all weights)
Thursday, July 17
10:00 a.m. – Preliminaries and repechage (Men’s Freestyle, all weights)
6:00 p.m. – Finals (Men’s Freestyle, all weights)