Contact: Drew Sauer, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

Results

June 12, 2021 – Continuing to take the women's wrestling world by storm, North Central College's Yelena Makoyed took home the gold medal at the United World Wrestling Cadet & Junior Pan American Championships in Oaxtepec, Mexico on Friday in dominant fashion, pinning all three opponents in the 76kg bracket.

The program's first National Champion, Makoyed qualified to represent Team USA in the Pan-Am Championships after finishing runner-up at the USA Wrestling Junior World Team Trials in May.

Makoyed opened the championships with a fall over Susana Martinez of Cuba in a time of 2:14, before pinning Gabriela Renata Canales Herrera of Mexico in the semifinals at the 4:08 mark. Advancing to the championship against Argentina's Linda Marilana Machuca, Makoyed completed the clean sweep with a third-straight pin, this time in 3:19 to capture the gold medal.

In the first two seasons as a program at North Central, Makoyed is already a two-time All-American, two-time National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Scholar All-American, 2021 National Champion, Junior National Team Member and Pan-Am Championship Gold Medal winner.

Makoyed will compete again at the USA Wrestling Senior World Team Trials, alongside teammate Amanda Martinez, from Sept. 3-5 for a chance to represent Team USA at the World Championships in Oslo, Norway from Oct. 2-10.