Former Lions wrestler Victoria Francis-Weiss finished fifth in the 72kg class at the World Wrestling Championships September 18 in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, marking the best finish ever for a Lindenwood athlete at the event.

Francis-Weiss put herself into position for a medal run on Tuesday when she defeated Dejah Slater from Canada by pin at 2:30 in her first match, but the Litchfield, Illinois native and Titan Mercury Wrestling Club member lost to 2013 World Champion Alina Berezhna Stadnik Makhynia from Ukraine by a 4-0 score in the quarterfinal round later in the day. 

It looked like the tournament for Francis-Weiss might be over, but Makhynia went on to top 2018 U23 World Champion Paliha from China 7-0.  That turn of events pulled Francis-Weiss into repechage because the athlete that beat her won a semifinal match. 

After drawing back into the bracket, Francis-Weiss faced Paliha in one of two bronze medal matches on Wednesday.  Francis-Weiss scored the first point in that match after Paliha was put on the shot clock and failed to score in the required time, but Francis-Weiss faced that same fate in the second period and the bout was tied.  Moments later, Paliha forced a step out to take a 2-1 lead and neither wrestler scored again giving Paliha the bronze and Francis-Weiss fifth place in her second Senior World Championships, after an appearance at the 2017 event in Paris.

Francis-Weiss earned a bronze medal at the 2014 Junior World Championships and won titles for Lindenwood University at WCWA Nationals in 2015 and 2016.  She wrestled four seasons for the Lions from 2012 to 2016 and earned degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science from Lindenwood in 2016.