Forrest Molinari
Forrest Ann Molinari is an American freestyle wrestler and mixed martial artist. She won one of the bronze medals in the women's 65kg event at the 2021 World Wrestling Championships held in Oslo, Norway. She is a four-time medalist, including three gold medals, at the Pan American Wrestling Championships.
Background
Growing up playing baseball and swimming among various other sports, she wanted to play football coming as a freshman into Benicia High School. However, her stature was too small for the sport, so she started wrestling after a suggestion by her mother and football coach. She went on to become a two-time state medalist in the sport and gaining college scholarship to Missouri Baptist University after graduating from Benicia in 2013. She then transferred to King University where she won national championship in her junior year and gaining four All-American honors in women's collegiate wrestling overall.Wrestling career
Molinari competed in the women's 67 kg event at the 2015 World Junior Wrestling Championships held in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. At the 2017 Pan American Wrestling Championships held in Lauro de Freitas, Brazil, she won one of the bronze medals in the women's 69 kg event.Molinari competed in the women's freestyle event of the Wrestling World Cup in 2017, 2018 and 2019. In 2018, she lost her bronze medal match in the women's 65 kg event at the Klippan Lady Open in Klippan, Sweden. A few months later, Molinari won the gold medal in this event at the 2018 Pan American Wrestling Championships held in Lima, Peru. She lost her bronze medal match in both the women's 65kg event at the 2018 World Wrestling Championships held in Budapest, Hungary and in the same event at the 2019 World Wrestling Championships held in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. In 2019, Molinari defeated Maya Nelson in the women's 65 kg event at the Final X: Rutgers event held in Piscataway, New Jersey, United States. A month later, she won the gold medal in the women's 65 kg event at the 2019 Yasar Dogu Tournament held in Istanbul, Turkey.
In 2020, at the Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin held in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, she won one of the bronze medals in the women's 68 kg event.
In January 2021, Molinari won the silver medal in the women's 68 kg event at the Grand Prix de France Henri Deglane held in Nice, France. In June 2021, she won one of the bronze medals in the women's 68 kg event at the 2021 Poland Open held in Warsaw, Poland. A few months later, Molinari won one of the bronze medals in the women's 65kg event at the World Wrestling Championships held in Oslo, Norway. She defeated Maryia Mamashuk of Belarus in her bronze medal match.
In January 2022, Molinari won the silver medal in the women's 65 kg event at the Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin held in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. In February 2022, she won the gold medal in the women's 65 kg event at the Yasar Dogu Tournament held in Istanbul, Turkey. Molinari won the gold medal in her event at the 2022 Pan American Wrestling Championships held in Acapulco, Mexico.
Molinari won one of the bronze medals in the women's 68kg event at the Grand Prix de France Henri Deglane 2023 held in Nice, France. She won the gold medal in her event at the 2023 Ibrahim Moustafa Tournament held in Alexandria, Egypt. A few months later, Molinari also won the gold medal in her event at the 2023 Pan American Wrestling Championships held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Molinari won the gold medal in the women's 68kg event at the 2023 Pan American Games held in Santiago, Chile. She defeated Soleymi Caraballo of Venezuela in her gold medal match.
She won the silver medal in her event at the 2024 Grand Prix Zagreb Open held in Zagreb, Croatia.
She attended 2024 United States Olympic Trials where she advanced to the finals, but lost both matches to Amit Elor who would eventually win gold in the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Achievements
| Year | Tournament | Location | Result | Event |
| 2017 | Pan American Wrestling Championships | Lauro de Freitas, Brazil | 3rd | Freestyle 69kg |
| 2018 | Pan American Wrestling Championships | Lima, Peru | 1st | Freestyle 65kg |
| 2021 | World Championships | Oslo, Norway | 3rd | Freestyle 65kg |
| 2022 | Pan American Wrestling Championships | Acapulco, Mexico | 1st | Freestyle 65kg |
| 2023 | Pan American Wrestling Championships | Buenos Aires, Argentina | 1st | Freestyle 68kg |
| 2023 | Pan American Games | Santiago, Chile | 1st | Freestyle 68kg |
Mixed martial arts career
After losing the finals of the olympic trials, Molinari decided to pursue a career in mixed martial arts and joined The MMA Lab.She made her professional debut in the sport against Brigid Chase at Borroka 1 on November 22, 2024, winning the bout via unanimous decision.