By Shannyn J. Gillespie

On the second day of the Dave Schultz Memorial International, Veronica Carlson wrestling at 63KG, made it to the championship final and won a silver medal. Carlson is a high school senior at Marquette Senior High School in Marquette, MI and competed in the DSMI held at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO Feb. 5-8, 2009.

Carlson had an impressive run to the finals stopping 2008 World University Champion Justine Bouchard (Canada) in the first round by scores of 2-1, 3-3, 1-1 and Stefanie Stuber (Germany) in the semi-final before facing fellow American Elena Pirozhkova in the gold medal match. Pirozhkova stopped Carlson 2-0, 3-0.

After winning the DSMI gold medal on day 1, Adeline Gray wrestled up one weight at 72kg and placed 4th.

Helen Maroulis (51kg) won a bronze medal on the first day of competition at the DSMI beating wrestlers from Canada, Germany, and finally Amercian and 2008 World University Champion Katherine Fulp-Allen by scores of 1-0, 8-0.

The final 2 USOEC freestyle wrestlers Alyssa Lampe (48kg) and Beth Johnson (55kg) placed 5th and did not place respectively.

For more info, please click this link: http://www.themat.com/events/default.php?page=default&EventID=19963

In February, 1989, the U.S. Olympic Committee named Northern Michigan University (NMU) as the nation's only United States Olympic Education Center (USOEC). The USOEC's main focus is the resident athlete training program, where athletes actively train for the Olympic Games while also continuing their education.

Generally, athletes in this program must be nationally ranked and also approved by their national governing body (NGB), the USOEC, and NMU. The USOEC has resident athlete training programs in freestyle wrestling, boxing, short track speedskating, Greco-Roman wrestling, and weightlifting.