US Wrestler Tamyra Mensah-Stock Sweeps Away Past Champs En Route to Final originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
After breezing her way through the first two rounds — both against accomplished opponents — Tamyra Mensah-Stock delivered a third dominant win for the United States Monday to reach to the women’s freestyle 68kg wrestling final.
Mensah-Stock topped Ukrainian wrestler Alla Cherkasova 10-4 to clinch her spot in Tuesday’s championship.
The Katy, Texas, native rolled through her early opponents in the bracket, first beating Japan’s Sara Dosho (10-0 VSU) — the defending gold medal winner in the event — and then China’s Zhou Feng (10-0 VSU) — the second-place finisher in the 2015 world championships — in the quarterfinals.
Now, she is slated to face Nigeria’s Blessing Oborududu on Tuesday with a gold medal up for grabs.
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It was a satisfying run for the 28-year-old Mensah-Stock, who very nearly missed her first chance at an Olympic appeance in 2016.
She actually won the 68kg category at the U.S. Olympic Trials that year, but still failed to qualify for a spot on the team. The wrestler nonetheless traveled to Rio, serving as a training partner for her teammates.
Over the five years since, she has risen even higher in the wrestling world.
In 2018, Mensah-Stock took home a bronze medal from the 2018 World Championships in Budapest. Cherkasova won gold for Ukraine that year — but Mensah-Stock hadn’t gotten a chance to face her, going along the opposite side of the bracket.
The American rose all the way a year later, becoming a world champion at the 2019 tournament in Kazakhstan.
To watch Tamyra Mensah-Stock compete for a gold in the women’s 68kg on Tuesday, Aug. 3 at 8:15 a.m. ET, click here.