Canada’s Tonya Verbeek defeated American Marcie Van Dusen 1-1, 0-1, 1-1 on Saturday night to win the 121-pound women’s freestyle title in the Pan American Wrestling Championships.
Verbeek pulled out the win late in the match on a single leg shot that took Van Dusen to the mat. The loss dampened Van Dusen’s bid to gain an Olympic berth for the United States at 121 pounds, the only female weight class where the U.S. has not qualified.
In weight classes where the U.S. has Olympic berths for the Beijing Games, the Pan Ams served as confidence-builders for gold medalists Clarissa Chun (105.5 pounds), Patricia Miranda (112.25), Tatiana Padilla (130), Elena Pirozhkov (147.5) and Stephany Lee (158.5).
Tournament action will resume today with the men’s freestyle.
