Asia DeWeese is a former womens freestyle wrestler. She competed in and won silver in the 1989 World Wrestling Championships. This is despite losing to Jan Trussell in the first US International Freestyle Wrestling competition. [1] She competed for the University of Oregon and currently coaches for the Umpqua Community College. [2] During her career she lost a battle to have long hair while competing. [3] DeWesse was among the first American women sent to compete in the World Championships. [4]
Umpqua Community College (UCC) is a public community college near Roseburg, Oregon. The college has sixteen campus buildings located on 100 acres (40 ha) bordering the North Umpqua River. The campus also features a track, tennis courts, and an outdoor pool. In 2009, a vineyard was added to the campus. About 3,300 full-time students and 16,000 part-time students attend UCC. Umpqua Community College serves the greater Douglas County region with the exception of Reedsport and its immediate area along the Oregon Coast.
Malia Hosaka is an American professional wrestler. She is a former NWA World Women's Champion.
Chigusa Nagayo is a Japanese retired professional wrestler best known for her mainstream popularity in the 1980s as a member of the Crush Gals with long-time tag team partner Lioness Asuka. In 1995 she founded GAEA Japan and in 2014 created its successor Marvelous That's Women Pro Wrestling. Nagayo is often regarded as the most popular and one of the greatest and most influential female wrestlers of all time. Wrestling Journalist and historian Dave Meltzer has stated that in the 1980s, the Crush Gals reached a level of popularity in Japan equatable to Hulk Hogan in the United States in the same period, and thereafter Chigusa Nagayo was the most popular woman in wrestling for an extended period until her first retirement in 1989.
Tom Erikson is an American former amateur wrestler and mixed martial artist who competed in the super heavyweight division. Weighing between 125 kg and 139.8 kg throughout his career, "The Big Cat" began wrestling at an early age and was twice National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Junior Collegiate Champion at Triton College before achieving National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I honors twice at Oklahoma State University–Stillwater. Erikson was the 1997 U.S. National Champion, and a member of the 1997 U.S. Senior Freestyle World Team, placing fourth in the World Championships at 130 kg. He embarked on his career in MMA in 1996 and went on to fight in the Pride Fighting Championships, being a founding member of the prestigious RAW team.
Ali Bernard is a female wrestler, who competes in the women's freestyle heavyweight (72 kg) division.
Martine Dugrenier is a Canadian retired wrestler. A three time world champion, she has also competed twice at the Olympics, finishing in 5th place both times.
Maria McQueen Dunn is a freestyle wrestler from Guam. She participated in Women's freestyle 63 kg at 2008 Summer Olympics losing to Elina Vaseva. She also competed in the same division at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and lost to competitor Lubov Volosova. Maria Dunn has won ten Oceania Championships in women's freestyle wrestling.
Sandra González Calderón is a Mexican professional wrestler or luchadora, best known under the ring name Lady Apache. As Lady Apache, González has mainly worked for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and AAA, Mexico's two largest professional wrestling promotions during her career, switching back and forth several times.
Tricia Saunders is an American amateur wrestler and pioneer in the sport of women's freestyle wrestling. She earned a total of five FILA Wrestling World Championships medals, four gold and one silver. Throughout her career she never lost to an American opponent, and collected eleven national titles.
Natalia Vitalyevna Vorobieva is a Russian wrestler, who has won the Olympic, World and European titles.
Blessing Oborududu is a Nigerian freestyle wrestler. She is currently ranked as the world number two woman wrestler and also the first wrestler to win an Olympic medal representing Nigeria at the Olympics. She is also a twelve-time African champion from 2010 to 2023.
Marcie Van Dusen is an amateur female American freestyle wrestler, who competed for the women's 55-kg category at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She is a two-time U.S national and world team trials champion, and a resident athlete at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She is also a silver medalist at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Helen Louise Maroulis is an American freestyle wrestler who competes in the women's 55-kg, 53-kg, and 57-kg categories. She was a gold medalist at the 2015 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada and a gold medalist at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, she became the first-ever American to win a gold medal in women's freestyle wrestling at the Olympic Games.
Vinesh Phogat is an Indian wrestler. She became the first Indian woman wrestler to win a gold at both the Commonwealth and Asian Games. She is the only Indian woman wrestler to win multiple medals at the World Wrestling Championships. Phogat became the first Indian athlete to be nominated for the Laureus World Sports Awards in 2019.
Ilana Kratysh is an Israeli freestyle wrestler.
Yasemin Adar Yiğit is a Turkish freestyle wrestler competing in the 76 kg division. 2 times world and 7 times European champions. She also won one of the bronze medals in the women's 76 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
Nina Hemmer is a German freestyle wrestler. She competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in the women's freestyle 53 kg division. She finished in 14th place after losing to Zhong Xuechun of China in the first round. In 2021, she won the silver medal in the women's 55 kg event at the 2021 World Wrestling Championships held in Oslo, Norway.
Jan Trussell (Janet_Trussell) is a former competitor in judo, freestyle wrestling and sambo. She won the US National Championships in sambo. Trussell also won the US National Championship in judo. She accomplished this at the age of 18. She is a multiple time winner in the World Sambo Championships. She is the sister of Rebecca Trussell. She qualified for the Womens' Freestyle Wrestling Championship in 1989 defeating Asia DeWeese in the first U.S. international women’s freestyle wrestling tournament at San Francisco. Jan is an advocate against drug use.
Pak Yong-mi is a North Korean sport wrestler who competes in the women's freestyle category and a current world champion in the women's 53kg Freestyle event. She won the gold medal in the women's 53 kg event during the 2019 World Wrestling Championships. She also qualified to represent North Korea at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan following the gold medal success at the 2019 World Wrestling Championships. However, in June 2021, North Korea withdrew from the 2020 Summer Olympics which meant that Luisa Valverde of Ecuador will compete instead.
Rebecca "Becky" Scott, née Trussell, is an American retired martial arts athlete who competed in sambo and judo. She is a US National Championships Bronze Medalist in judo. At the time, this was the highest level of competition as there was no world championship. She eventually became a team alternate for the first Judo World Championship for women. Scott competed at 149lbs. Scott competed at the Sambo at the 1983 Pan American Games Scott was a 5 time National Champion in sombo. She additionally won the 1984 AAU National Women's Sombo championships. She also served as the coach for the Judo Junior National Team for the United States.