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Smith named TheMat.com Wrestler of the Week
10/5/2005
Gary Abbott/USA Wrestling
Note: To nominate a wrestler for TheMat.com Wrestler of the Week, send the athlete's name, accomplishments for the week and career accomplishments to John Fuller at jfuller@usawrestling.org
Iris Smith (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) has been named TheMat.com Wrestler of the Week for the week of September 27-Oct. 3
Each week, TheMat.com will select an Athlete of the Week, based upon performance within wrestling for that week. The selection committee will consider any level of wrestling, from youth programs through the Senior level. The announcement will be made each week on Wednesday.
Smith won a gold medal at 72 kg/158.5 lbs. in women’s freestyle wrestling at the World Wrestling Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Sept. 30.
Smith scored a major upset in the gold-medal finals, defeating five-time World champion Kyoko Hamaguchi of Japan, 3-1, 1-1, 1-0. Smith won the first period on a three-point takedown. Hamaguchi won the second period on the 1-1 tie because she scored the last point. In the third and deciding period, Smith scored the only point when Hamaguchi went out of bounds, and Smith went on to victory.
She won four matches on the way to her historic win. In her first bout, Smith stopped Stanka Zlateva of Bulgaria, 3-1, 1-0. In the quarterfinals, Smith stopped Angnieska Wieczczek of Poland, 2-0, 6-0. She also had a strong semifinal win over Anita Schaetzle of Germany, 3-1, 2-0.
Smith was the only U.S. woman wrestler to win a World gold medal this year. She becomes only the fourth U.S. woman wrestler to ever win a World title, joining Tricia Saunders, Kristie Marano and Sandra Bacher on this heralded list of stars.
She was one of four U.S. women to earn a medal in the tournament, helping lead the United States to a strong third place finish in the team standings at the World Championships.
Smith was named USA Today’s Olympic Athlete of the Week for her achievements at the World Championships.
Smith was competing in her second World Championships. She is a member of the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program (WCAP), stationed in Fort Carson, Colo. She owns a rank of Sergeant in the U.S. Army. She is originally from Albany, Ga.
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Marie Evening News 10/5/05
SAULT STE. MARIE - Wrindy Shann, a Sault High junior and member of the Blue Devil wrestling team, is currently ranked eighth in the United States among high school women wrestlers at 126 pounds.
The United States Girls Wrestling Association rankings project an eighth place finish for Shann in the 2006 U.S. National Championships which will be held April 1-2 at Lake Orion High School in Lake Orion, Mich.
Shann will wrestle her third season with the Sault varsity squad this year. She is 8-14 in her career against varsity boys and 3-0 against girls in the MHSAA competition.
As a freshman, she captured the Onaway UP North Girls Michigan State Championship and competed in the Girl's U.S. Nationals. In 2004 as a sophomore, she repeated as the Michigan State Champion, and finished ninth in the U.S. National competition.