Advertisement

Olympic champ Erica Wiebe picks up bronze at Poland Open ranking series

Canada's Erica Wiebe defeated American Diamond Guilford 7-4 to earn bronze in Poland.  (Wrestling Canada Lutte/Twitter - image credit)
Canada's Erica Wiebe defeated American Diamond Guilford 7-4 to earn bronze in Poland. (Wrestling Canada Lutte/Twitter - image credit)

Canada's Erica Wiebe earned a bronze medal at the Poland Open in Warsaw, which served as the final ranking event of the year ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.

The Stittsville, Ont., native claimed a 7-4 victory over American Diamond Guilford in a 76-kilogram match on Thursday.

Fellow Canadian Danielle Lappage also wrestled for 68-kilogram bronze on Friday, but was defeated by Kyrgyzstan's Meerim Zhumanazarova 1-3.

It was the first international competition for Lappage, of Olds, Alta., during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to United World Wrestling, half of the 16 nations/wrestlers who qualified for the Olympics in the 68-kilogram were competing on Friday.

The open, which runs June 8 to June 13, is the final point-scoring event to determine the top four seeds at the Tokyo Olympics. It also has seeding implications for the Oslo world championships in October.

Wiebe and Lappage are the two Canadian women named to Team Canada for the Games.

The top four seeds at the Olympics in the 76-kilogram event will be American Adeline Gray, Aline Rotter Focken of Germany, Hiroe Minagawa Suzuki of Japan, and Elmira Syzdykova of Kazakhstan.

The men's side of Team Canada includes Jordan Steen of Tecumseh, Ont. (97 kg) and Amar Dhesi from Surrey, B.C. (125 kg).