ATHENS, GREECE • Heading into this year’s U17 World Championships, Morgan Turner felt like she had something to prove, because, after winning a bronze medal last year at the World Championships in Amman, Jordan, she believed that the bronze began to outshine the gold she won the year before. In this, she believed that she needed to win gold because people saw her differently, and she took it personally.
“I felt like [last year’s] bronze overshadowed the gold,” Turner revealed in her interview after her tournament. “So, the gold [I won in 2023] wasn’t in the picture anymore. I wasn’t ‘Morgan Turner the gold medalist,’ I was, ‘Morgan Turner to two-time medalist.’ The gold wasn’t in front of it. So, I had to come back and get gold so it can be ‘Morgan Turner the gold medalist’ again.”
And come back she did. In fact, throughout her tournament, Turner was nearly perfect in winning her second gold medal in last three years, and her third-straight U17 World medal. But it was not an easy journey.
“It was a bumpy road getting back here,” a very grateful Turner admitted, “and I want to thank everybody for getting me back here. It’s not just me; it’s not just one person. It takes a village. I definitely wanted to come back harder coming from bronze last year, I couldn’t do that again. So, my goal was to win it. My preparation was done mentally, physically, emotionally, and having a team around me to help me.”
In her opening bouts, Turner wasted little time on the mat. In her opening bout, she defeated Saniya Soltangali of Kazakhstan by Fall in 0:30 after already establishing an early 6-0 lead. In her quarterfinal bout, she would again dominate the mat and exit early, this time with a 10-0 technical superiority over India’s Komal Verma in 0:37.
“For my first couple matches,” Turner explained of her mindset early on in the tournament, “it was just go out there and get it over with. Get on the mat and get off the mat. People don’t need to see too much of what I do.”
Now in the semifinals, Turner was one win away from erasing the bronze medal journey. With a win against Anhelina Burkina, a UWW registered athlete, she would once again be in the World finals. And, by the time the match had concluded, Turner was still perfect. She would take a 6-0 decision and now focus on what she has been focused on since taking bronze a year ago: gold.
However, even though she was in the finals and her gold medal aspirations were in front of her, Turner would have one final obstacle in her way. That obstacle: Yu Kataoka. Last year in the U17 World Championship semifinals at 46kg, it was Kataoka who defeated Turner by way of a 13-2 technical superiority that, in Turner’s words, took the gold image away from her name. Therefore, this one match had the potential to not only place the gold back in Turner’s identity, but also defeat the wrestler who took it away.
The match was what everyone expected, two very talented wrestlers and a great deal of action and aggression and risk. However, the first points of the match came nearly halfway through the first period, and they were awarded to Turner when she scored her first takedown. She led 2-0 with about one minute remaining in the period, and the two World gold medalists would go into the break with that same score on the clock.
Once the two were brought back to the center for the final period, the intensity and action increased, and it would again be Turner scoring a takedown, this time thirty seconds into the period. She would go up 4-0 before, roughly forty seconds later, scoring her third and final takedown by way of a go behind, and now hold a strong 6-0 lead with about thirty-five seconds remaining.
In the final thirty seconds of the match, Kataoka would jump into her sprint and Turner would answer with great defense. In fact, the only time Turner may have been in any danger was when Kataoka scored her only point, and Turner conceded that single point to her, the only point she conceded all tournament, by way of a step-out to avoid being placed in a dangerous position. It was smart wrestling.
When it was over, Turner had won a 6-1 decision, revalidated her gold medal, and one year later dominated the only wrestler who had defeated her in three years of competition at the U17 World Championships.
Here is a look at Morgan Turner’s U17 World Championship matches and results:
RD16 • Morgan Turner defeated Saniya Soltangali, Kazakhstan / Fall, 6-0 (0:30)
QTR-F • Morgan Turner defeated Komal Verma, India / TS, 10-0 (0:37)
SEMI-F • Morgan Turner defeated Anhelina Burkina, UWW Registered / Dec, 6-0
GOLD • Morgan Turner defeated Yu Kataoka, Japan / Dec, 6-1
• TC LIFONTI / LEAD WRITER FOR ILLINOIS MATMEN / tclifonti.com
