Olympian Maroulis wins gold, Hedrick and Beck add bronzes at Poland Open

WARSAW, Poland – Three-time Olympian Helen Maroulis (Rockville, Md./Sunkist Kids WC) won a gold medal at 57 kg on Friday at the Poland Open. This is Maroulis’ tune-up event in her preparation for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

Maroulis went 4-0 in a five-athlete round robin, getting two technical falls, a pin and a shutout decision along the way. She pinned eventual silver medalist Sandra Paruszewski of Germany in her third match. Her closest bout was a 6-0 decision over fellow U.S. wrestler Alex Hedrick (Fair Oaks, Calif./Titan Mercury WC).

Maroulis was a 2016 Olympic gold medalist, the first U.S. woman wrestler to claim an Olympic gold medal. She added an Olympic bronze medal in 2020, becoming the first two-time Olympic women’s wrestling medalist in U.S. history. Maroulis is also a three-time World champion. She became the first three-time U.S. women’s freestyle Olympian with her victory at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Wrestling at Penn State in April.

Hedrick, a Senior National Team member, earned a bronze medal at 57 kg, finishing with a 2-2 record in the round robin. She won both of her matches by technical fall. She dropped a 7-3 match to Paruszewski in the final round.

Also claiming a silver medal was Michaela Beck (New York, N.Y./Sunkist Kids WC) who scored a 10-0 technical fall over Aleksandra Witos of Poland in the bronze medal match at 59 kg. All three of Beck’s victories in the tournament were by technical fall.

The U.S. has now won five medals in women’s freestyle at the Poland Open, as Olympians Dom Parrish (gold at 53 kg) and Sarah Hildebrandt (silver at 53 kg) claimed medals on Thursday.

The tournament concludes on Saturday, with two U.S. athletes on the mat at 72 kg, Senior National Team member Yelena Makoyed (Orangevale, Calif./Cardinal WC/Titan Mercury WC) plus Shenita Lawson (Euless, Texas/New York AC).

Warsaw is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time zone. Session times are 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. local time

The Polish Federation is streaming the matches live at:

https://polandopen.zapasy.org.pl/

For complete results of the Poland Open, visit:

https://sportzona.pl/app/events/view/wrestling/5567

POLAND OPEN

At Warsaw, Poland, June 20, 2024

Women’s Freestyle Results

57 kg

Gold - Helen Maroulis (USA)

Silver - Sandra Paruszewski (Germany)

Bronze - Patrycja Strzelczyk (Poland)

Bronze - Alexandra Hedrick (USA)

5^th - Chaimaa Aouissi (Algeria)

59 kg

Gold – Elena Brugger (Germany)

Silver – Kalmira Bilimbekova (Kyrgyzstan)

Bronze – Michaela Beck USA)

Bronze – Natalia Kubaty (Poland)

62 kg

Gold – Aisuluu Tynybekova (Kyrgyzstan)

Silver – Luisa Niemesch (Germany)

Bronze – Olha Padoshyk (Poland)

Bronze – Siwar Bouseta (Tunisia)

68 kg

Gold - Tayla Ford (New Zealand)   

Silver - Olivia Di Bacco (Canada)  

Bronze - Natalia Bednarska (Poland)

Bronze - Elma Zeidlere (Latvia)

U.S. women’s freestyle performances

57 kg – Helen Maroulis (Rockville, Md./Sunkist Kids WC), gold medal

WIN Chaimaa Aouissi (Algeria), tech fall, 10-0

WIN Alex Hedrick (USA), 6-0

WIN Sandra Paruszewski (Germany), pin

WIN Patrycja Strzelczyk (Poland), tech fall 10-0

57 kg – Alex Hedrick (Fair Oaks, Calif./Titan Mercury WC), bronze medal

WIN Chaimaa Aouissi (Algeria), tech fall, 10-0

WIN Patrycja Strzelczyk (Poland), tech fall, 11-0

LOSS Helen Maroulis (USA), 6-0

LOSS Sandra Paruszewski (Germany), 7-3

59 kg – Michaela Beck (New York, N.Y./Sunkist Kids WC), bronze medal

WIN Julia Nowicka (Poland), tech fall, 10-0

WIN Oksana Moskalova (Ukraine), tech fall 11-0

LOSS Elena Brugger (Germany), tech fall 10-0

WIN Aleksandra Witos (Poland), tech fall 10-0