Lappage and Mian wrestle to silver and bronze in Ukraine
Feature photo: Danielle Lappage celebrates her gold medal in the freestyle 63 kg wrestling competition at the Commonwealth Games Glasgow 2014 on July, 31, 2014.
Olympic bound wrestlers finished second and third at an international invitational tournament in Kiev, Ukraine this weekend.
Jasmine Mian won Canada’s first freestyle wrestling medal in the 48kg event on Saturday. Mian handily took the first match beating Donia Roscovanu of Moldova 12-7 to advanced to the semifinals. The Canadian then faced a difficult loss to Oleksandra Kohut of Ukraine (2-1), sending her to the repechage to wrestle for bronze. With podium spot on the line, Mian defeated her second Ukrainian opponent Mariya Livach 12-6 to claim a bronze medal.
Related: Lappage and Mian medal at Rio Test event
Danielle Lappage took to the mats in the women’s 63kg, hungry for the top of the podium. The Canadian easily won her first two bouts against Ukrainian wrestlers Solomiya Volska and Sofiia Bodnar, beating them 10-0 and 11-0 respectively. In the semifinals Brazil’s Lais Oliveira was the first opponent to score against the Canadian, however her single point was unmatched by Lappage’s eight, which lead her to an easy victory. In the final round Lappage took on Olympic wrestler Yuliya Tkach of Ukraine. The Canadian forced her opponent out of bounds to secure a point, however the Olympian fuelled by home crowd support won 8-1 to take gold.
Both Lappage and Mian have qualified for Rio 2016 this summer. The next major competition for Canadian wrestlers is the Senior Pan American Championships in Frisco, USA from February 26 to 28.
