Sarah Hildebrandt of the USA during the 2019 World Championships in Nur-Sultan. Photo by Justin Hoch.

NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan - 2018 World silver medalist Sarah Hildebrandt (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC/OPTC) was defeated in her repechage match at 53 kg/116.5 lbs. on Wednesday morning, ending her competition at the World Championships.

She was defeated 8-2 by 2018 Asian Games champion Vinesh of India. By winning this bout, Vinesh advanced to a bronze-medal bout on Wednesday night against 2012 and 2017 World bronze medalist Maria Prevolaraki of Greece.

As this is an Olympic weight class, Vinesh also qualified her nation for the 2020 Olympics at this weight class. The top six athletes in each Olympic weight class qualify their nation for the Tokyo Games.

Vinesh scored the first takedown, and added another takedown late in the first period to lead 4-0 at the break. Although Hildebrandt was getting to Vinesh’s legs on multiple attacks, she was not able to finish off the shots. In the second period, Vinesh added two more takedowns, often countering Hildebrandt’s attacks, to stretch it to 8-0. Hildebrandt got two points in the closing moments of the match.

In their most recent match, Vinesh had pinned Hildebrandt in the semifinals of a UWW Ranking Tournament, the Dan Kolov in Bulgaria, in February this year.

On Tuesday, Hildebrandt was defeated in the quarterfinals by two-time World champion Mayu Mukaida of Japan, in a 12-1 technical fall. Mukaida won a tight 4-0 decision over Prevolaraki of Greece in the semifinals to pull Hildebrandt back into repechage.

Hildebrandt was competing in her third Senior World Championships, also wrestling in 2016 and 2018.

The USA has two other athletes from Group 1 who are battling for medals on Wednesday night.

Jacarra Winchester (Colorado Springs, Colo./Titan Mercury WC/OTC) will battle for the gold medal at 55 kg/121 lbs. against 2012 Cadet World champion and 2015 Junior World champion Nanami Irie of Japan.

Victoria Francis (Litchfield, Ill./Titan Mercury WC) goes for a bronze medal at 72 kg/158.5 lbs. against 2018 U23 World champion Paliha of China.

The evening session on Wednesday begins with Group 2 semifinals at 4:45 p.m., followed by the Group 1 medal matches at 6:00 p.m. Nur-Sultan is 10 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time zone.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, September 17

U.S. women’s freestyle Group 1 performances on Wednesday morning

53 kg/116.5 lbs. - Sarah Hildebrandt, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC/OTC)
WIN Thi Dao Bui (Vietnam), tech. fall, 10-0, 1:14
LOSS Mayu Mukaida (Japan), 12-1, 4:50
LOSS Vinesh (India), 8-2

Other U.S. women’s freestyle Group 1 performances

50 kg/110 lbs. - Whitney Conder, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP)
LOSS Son-Hyang Kim (North Korea), 6-0

55 kg/121 lbs. - Jacarra Winchester, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Titan Mercury WC/OTC)
WIN Madina Nadirova (Kyrgyzstan), tech. fall 10-0, 1:05
WIN Bolortuya Bat Ochir (Mongolia), tech. fall, 13-2, 3:40
WIN Bediha Gun (Turkey), 6-4
Gold Medal bout – Vs. Nanami Irie of Japan

72 kg/158.5 lbs.- Victoria Francis, Litchfield, Ill. (Titan Mercury WC)
WIN Dejah Slater (Canada), pin 2:30
LOSS Alina Berezhna Stadnik Makhynia (Ukraine), 4-0
Bronze medal bout – Vs. Paliha (China)