The US women were both strong competitors on Saturday but perhaps luck didn’t go their way and both Kelsey Campbell and Tamyra Mensah were eliminated before their respective finals by eventual Olympic qualifiers. Campbell started the 58kg division competition with an 8-0 win before a tight 4-2 win to reach the quarterfinals. Her Olympic dreams ended in the quarterfinals where she lost 4-1 to eventual overall winner Valeria Koblova-Zholobova of Russia. Campbell went on to reach a bronze medal match but lost it as well 4-3.  Her 4-1 loss to Koblova-Zholobova was actually the closest anyone was to defeating her on the day.

Mensah won her opening match 5-0 and was leading her second match 2-6 before suffering a fall in the quarterfinals to Alina Stadnik Makhynia of Ukraine. Despite the heartbreaker Mensah went on to finish the competition strong with a 10-0 win and a fall to wrap up a bronze medal. Stadnik Makhynia went on to advance to the Olympics and Mensah, winning on the scoreboard when she was beaten, was as close to beating her as anyone.

The final competitor looking for an Olympic spot will be Frank Molinaro on Sunday going for a spot in the men’s 65kg freestyle division.

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