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MARQUETTE- United States Olympic Education Center Women's freestyle wrester Helen Maroulis of Rockville, Md., finished eighth in the Fila World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, Oct. 10-13.

The U.S. Junior bronze medalist fell short of making the medal round on Saturday.

At age 17, the Marquette Senior High School senior is the youngest team member in 12 years.

"I'm glad I had an opportunity to compete with world-class athletes at such a young age," Maroulis said.

Maroulis won her first match against Roksana Zasina of Poland at 51 kilograms. She lost to her next opponent, Hitomi Sakamoto of Japan, who went on to become the World Champion. Her final was a tough three-period match against Jessica Bondy of Canada.

A win would have sent her to the bronze medal match at 51 kg.

"I plan on using my experience from the World Championships in my future athletic career," said Maroulis.