Pastoriza takes silver, Moore, Perry and Garcia finish fifth at the U17 World Championships

Shelby Moore at the U17 World Championships. Photo by United World Wrestling / Martin Gabor

ROME, Italy – Erica Pastoriza finished with silver after going 3-1 at the U17 World Championships in Rome. Pastoriza won gold in 2021, making this her second U17 World medal.

Pastoriza, wrestling at 43 kg, lost in the finals to India’s 2022 U17 Asian champion Ritika by fall. Ritika did not have previous international credentials, however, she didn’t surrender a single point during her World Championship berth.

Pastoriza was dominant during her trek to the gold medal match. She beat semifinal opponent Arina Abdulina of Kazakhstan 12-2, teched Poland’s Dominika Konke, who was fourth at the 2022 U17 European championships in the semifinals and defeated Azerbaijan’s 2022 U17 European silver medalist Elvina Karimzada in her opening bout.

Pastoriza hails from Phoenix, Arizona and attends Wyoming Seminary in Pennsylvania. She was a 2022 Tallinn Open champion and a 2021 Who’s Number One champion. Upon evaluating her performance in Rome, Pastoriza feels motivated.

“I’m going to train harder,” Pastoriza said.

PASTORIZA INTERVIEW

Shelby Moore at 57 kg, Sydney Perry at 65 kg and Kaiulani Garcia at 73 kg each finished in fifth place after dropping their bronze-medal matches.

Moore fell 4-2 to Ulmeken Esenbaeva of Uzbekistan, who owns a silver from the 2022 U17 Asian Championships and a bronze from 2021 U17 Worlds championships.

To get to the bronze match, Moore topped Annatina Lippuner of Switzerland 10-0 in repechage. Lippuner finished fifth at the 2021 U17 World Championships. The 2021 USMC 16U National champion from Buckley, Washington, also posted wins over Poland’s Michalina Ignaszak 11-0 and European bronze medalist Alina Flipovych of Ukraine 11-8 before falling to World champion Sowaka Uchida of Japan.

Garcia wrestled Alina Yertostik of Kazakhstan for bronze. Garcia controlled most of the match, leading 6-0 before getting caught and pinned as time expired.

Garcia, a 2022 U17 Pan American bronze medalist, pinned Dominika Pochowska of Poland in the first period during repechage on Thursday morning. Pochowska took fifth at the 2021 U15 European Championships. On Wednesday, Garcia lost 3-1 in her first round of action to now two-time U17 World gold medalist Priya of India. 

Pan American silver medalist Sydney Perry met 2022 U17 Asian bronze medalist Zharkynai Nurlan of Kyrgyzstan in the bronze-medal match, losing 7-0.

Earlier today, Perry won in the last-second over Daria Konstantynova of Ukraine 6-6 by criteria to advance to the medal rounds. In her first match of the tournament, she stopped Hungary’s Szonja Szabo, 5-0. She lost to gold medalist Anju Sato of Japan, 3-0, in the quarterfinals.

Competition continues tomorrow with men’s freestyle beginning at 5:30 a.m. U.S. ET  with semifinals at 5 p.m. Fans can watch all the action live on FloWrestling and follow along with live updates @USAWrestling on Twitter.

Watch all the action live on FloWrestling and follow along on USA Wrestling’s Twitter (@USAWrestling) for live updates. 

U17 World Championships

Rome, Italy | July 25-31

U17 women’s freestyle results

43 kg: Erica Pastoriza (Phoenix, Ariz./Wyoming Seminary WC) – SILVER

WIN Elvina Karimzada (Azerbaijan), 7-2

WIN Dominika Konkel (Poland), 10-0 

WIN Arina Abdullina (Kazakhstan), 12-2 

LOSS Ritika (India), fall

49 kg: Audrey Jimenez (Tucson, Ariz. /Sunkist Kids WC) – eliminated  

LOSS Fabiana Rinella (Italy), 9-2

57 kg: Shelby Moore (Buckley, Wash./Takedown Express WC) – fifth

WIN Michalina Ignaszak (Poland), 11-0 

WIN Alina Flipovych (Ukraine), 11-8 

LOSS Sowaka Uchida (Japan), 10-0 

WIN Annatina Lippuner (Switzerland), 10-0

LOSS Ulmeken Esenbaeva (Uzbekistan), 4-2

65 kg: Sydney Perry (Batavia, Ill./Batavia WC) – fifth

WIN Szonja Szabo (Hungary), 5-0 

LOSS Anju Sato (Japan), 3-0 

WIN Daria Konstantynova (Ukraine), 6-6

LOSS Zharkynai Nurlan (KGZ), 7-0

73 kg: Kaiulani Garcia (Stockton, Calif./NorCal Queens WC) – fifth  

LOSS Priya Priya (India), 3-1

WIN Dominika Pochowska (Poland), fall

LOSS Alina Yertostik (KAZ), fall

Schedule (Local time, six hours ahead of U.S. ET)

Friday, July 29

11:30 a.m. – Qualification rounds (MFS 48, 55, 65, 80, 110kg), repechage (WFS 40, 46, 53, 61, 69kg)

5 p.m. – Semifinals (MFS 48, 55, 65, 80, 110kg)

6 p.m. – Finals (WFS 40, 46, 53, 61, 69kg)

Saturday, July 30

11:30 a.m. – Qualification rounds (MFS 45, 51, 60, 71, 92kg), repechage (MFS 48, 55, 65, 80, 110kg)

5 p.m. – Semifinals (MFS 45, 51, 60, 71, 92kg)

6 p.m. – Finals (MFS 48, 55, 65, 80, 110kg)

Sunday, July 31

4:30 p.m. – Repechage (MFS 45, 51, 60, 71, 92kg)

6 p.m. – Finals (MFS 45, 51, 60, 71, 92kg)