Tamyra Mensah-Stock wins her semifinal match at the World Wrestling Championships on Oct. 23, 2018 in Budapest, Hungary.
After winning the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Tamyra Mensah-Stock came close to qualifying for the Olympic Games Rio 2016, but failed to qualify an Olympic spot in her weight for the U.S. and missed the Games.
With a bronze-medal performance at the World Wrestling Championships Wednesday, Mensah-Stock showed she will be one of the ones to watch for come Tokyo 2020.
Mensah-Stock took down Canada’s Olivia Di Bacco 7-4 in the 68 kg. class, picking up the first world championship medal of her career in her second appearance. The match was tight after the first period, with Mensah-Stock leading 1-0 at the break. She gained the lead after Di Bacco failed to score on the shot clock.
Mensah-Stock scored a double leg takedown and a turn to open up a 5-0 lead in the second period. Di Bacco closed to as close as 6-2, but Mensah-Stock scored a final takedown that put the match out of reach at 7-4.
Mensah-Stock narrowly lost, 2-1, to France’s Koumba Larroque in the semifinals to drop her into the bronze-medal match.
A 26-year-old from Katy, Texas, Mensah-Stock was a four-time All-American at Wayland Baptist, where she was a two-time national champion. She won the 2016 U.S. Open, which afforded her the No. 1 qualifying spot at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. She competed in her first world championships in 2017, finishing 1-1 and in ninth place.
Todd Kortemeier is a sportswriter, editor and children’s book author from Minneapolis. He is a contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.