GVSU wrestler wins gold medal at World Championships

Junior Sage Mortimer won the gold medal in the 50kg weight class at the Under-23 World Championships in Tirana, Albania, on October 24. The gold medal capped an extraordinary 11 months for Mortimer. 

A member of GVSU’s first women’s wrestling team, Mortimer won a national title at the 2023 USA Women’s Senior Nationals in December, and then finished third in her weight class at this summer’s U.S. Olympic Trials.

In Albania, Mortimer defeated Natalia Pudova, 7-5, to win the gold medal with her coach, Jake Short, in attendance.

“I'm so proud of Sage,” Short said. “She had put in the time, the work and effort to become a world champion."

To advance to the gold medal match, Mortimer first had to overcome a slow start in her semifinal match. She rallied to pin Japan’s Umi Ito, after trailing on points, 6-0, with 4:40 remaining. 

Earlier in the tournament, Mortimer dominated her competition, defeating Slovakia’s Khrystyna Basych of Slovakia, 11-0, in the opening round and following up with a 14-4 win over Kazakhstan’s Laura Ganikyzy in the quarterfinals.

“Sage is a perfect example of what it means to never stop wrestling and never stop believing,” Short said. “She made the most of her opportunities and now she gets to call herself a world champion.”

With a world championship to her accomplishments, Mortimer will rejoin her teammates for the start of the first women’s wrestling season at GVSU, which begins November 2.