#WrestleMonterrey

Orta claims 4th Pan-Am title; U.S. wins five Greco golds

Friday, May 9, 2025 - 09:05 By Vinay Siwach

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MONTERREY, Mexico (May 8) -- Olympic and world champion Luis ORTA (CUB) captured his fourth Pan-American Championships title and the United States won five of the eight Greco-Roman gold medals on offer on day one of the Pan-American Championships which got underway in Monterrey, Mexico on Thursday.

Orta, returning to competition for the first time since winning the bronze medal at the Paris Olympics in August 2024, outscored his opponents 26-0 in three bouts.

In the final, he faced Nestor ALMANZA TRUYOL (CHI) and posted an 8-0 technical superiority win to capture the gold medal. He began with a stepout before Almanza Truyol was called passive and put in par terre. However, Orta failed to score from par terre and only added a stepout later to lead 3-0 at the break.

The second period saw more stepouts as Almanza Truyol failed to position his hands for any attack. Orta scored two stepouts and Almanza Truyol was cautioned for one point for fleeing to make it 6-0 for Orta, who later added two more stepouts for the win.

Cuba won its second gold medal at 130kg as Oscar PINO (CUB) defeated Cohlton SCHULTZ (USA) 3-1 in the final with a easy takedown in the final minute of the match. Schultz got the first par terre but he failed to score any points. Pino got the 1-1 criteria lead when he was given the par terre position in the second period. Pino also failed to score any points but he later scored a takedown towin 3-1.

Kamal BEY (USA)Kamal BEY (USA) works on a takedown against Arsen JULFALAKYAN (ARG) in the 77kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Osvaldo Aguilar)

The U.S. won five gold medal, including Kamal BEY (USA) winning the gold medal at 77kg after defeating Arsen JULFALAKYAN (ARG), 11-7, in the final.

Bey, who has one Pan-Am gold earlier in his career, began the final with a takedown and then lifted Julfalakyan for a suplex for four points to lead 6-0. A lost challenge from Julfalakyan made it 7-0 for Bey.

As Bey tried scoring one more point for a win, Julfalakyan was cautious. Bey went for the stepout to get the point but Julfalakyan threw his hands off him and scored a takedown before a turn gave him two more points as he cut Bey's lead to 7-4.

After the break, Julfalakyan was awarded the par terre position and he scored a turn via gut-wrench to make it 7-7 but Bey led on criteria for his four-pointer.

Bey got a takedown when Julfalakyan was defending a headpinch attempt but Bey jumped over for two points. Julfalakyan tried a duckunder to score but Bey countered it and scored two more points.

The 38-year-old Julfalakyan was celebrating his birthday on Thursday and may have wrestled for the final time in his career. Julfalakyan has a silver medal from 2012 London Olympics and gold medal at the World Championships in 2014, for Armenia.

World U23 silver medalist Beka MELELASHVILI (USA) won the gold medal at 82kg after he won both his matches in the round-robin competition. He defeated Diego MACIAS TORRES (MEX), 6-1, after he had blanked David CHOC HUOC (GUA) 8-0.

Payton JACOBSON (USA)Gold medalist Payton JACOBSON (USA), center, with silver medalist Luis AVENDANO (VEN), left, and bronze medalist Jose VARGAS (MEX). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Osvaldo Aguilar)

Paris Olympian Payton JACOBSON (USA) won the 87kg gold medal with a convincing 6-0 win over Luis AVENDANO ROJAS (VEN) in the final match.

In a seven-wrestler Nelson bracket, Jacobson and Avendano Rojas were in the same group and the latter beat Jacobson 7-5 in the first bout. Both made it to the final as they wrestler the top two finishers of the other group.

Avendano Rojas, however, failed to repeat his performance of the group stages. Jacobson was awarded the par terre and he scored two turns from the position to lead 5-0 in the first period. Avendano Rojas would have hoped for a par terre position in the second period but Jacobson began with a stepout and kept the action going to but be hit with passivity.

Jacobson's aggressive style and Avendano Rojas' dwindling conditioning gave him an advantage and he defended his 6-0 for the gold medal.

Maxwell BLACK (USA)Maxwell BLACK (USA) won the gold medal at 60kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Osvaldo Aguilar)

At 60kg, Maxwell BLACK (USA) emerged victorious as he negated a young field and defeated Alexis RODRIGUEZ HERNANDEZ (MEX), 9-0, in the final. He scored two turns from par terre and a beautiful suplex for four points to complete the victory.

Former world U17 champion Jayden RANEY (USA) won the fifth gold for the U.S. as he defeated Isaac MARIN MATA (MEX), 10-1, in the 55kg final. Only two wrestlers were entered in the weight class.

Greco highlight for Ecuador 

Ecuador has won three Greco-Roman gold medals in Pan-American Championships history and all three won by Andres ARROYO (ECU). On Thursday, Jeremy PERALTA GONZALEZ (ECU) became the second wrestler from Ecuador to win a Greco-Roman gold medal at the Pan-Am Championships after he defeated Ellis COLEMAN (USA), 12-4, in the 63kg final.

Incidentally, Arroyo's last two gold medals also came at 63kg [in 2019 and 2021].

Jeremy PERALTA GONZALEZ (ECU)Jeremy PERALTA GONZALEZ (ECU) completes a reverse lift on Ellis COLEMAN (USA) in the 63kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Osvaldo Aguilar)

In an action-packed final, Peralta Gonzalez and Coleman exchanged four-pointers but it was the former's two back-to-back throws that gave him the technical superiority win.

Peralta began with a stepout and then blocked Coleman's attempted throw for a 3-0 lead. In one of the scrambles, Coleman locked Peralta from behind and threw him on the mat for four points and led 4-3.

When Peralta got the par terre position in the second period, he launched two reverse body lifts for four points each and left the crowd in complete awe. He left with the gold medal.

Photo

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Jayden RANEY (USA) df. Isaac MARIN MATA (MEX), 10-1

60kg
GOLD: Maxwell BLACK (USA) df. Alexis RODRIGUEZ HERNANDEZ (MEX), 9-0

BRONZE: Yonaiker MARTINEZ (VEN) df. Pedro DE SOUZA (BRA), 5-1

63kg
GOLD: Jeremy PERALTA GONZALEZ (ECU) df. Ellis COLEMAN (USA), 12-4

BRONZE: Hector SANCHEZ (MEX) df. Matias MUNOZ (CHI), 2-0

67kg
GOLD: Luis ORTA (CUB) df. Nestor ALMANZA TRUYOL (CHI), 8-0

BRONZE: Neiser MARIMON (VEN) df. Andres MONTANO ARROYO (ECU), 3-0
BRONZE: Marco FERNANDEZ (PER) df. Osvaldo YANEZ (MEX), 7-1

77kg
GOLD: Kamal BEY (USA) df. Arsen JULFALAKYAN (ARG), 11-7

BRONZE: Leomar CORDERO DEPOOL (VEN) df. Oscar BARRIOS (HON), 2-0
BRONZE: Calebe CORREA (BRA) df. Ryan CUBAS CASTILLO (PER), 11-3

82kg
GOLD: Beka MELELASHVILI (USA)
SILVER: Diego MACIAS TORRES (MEX) 
BRONZE: David CHOC HUOC (GUA)

87kg
GOLD: Payton JACOBSON (USA) df. Luis AVENDANO ROJAS (VEN), 6-0

BRONZE: Jose VARGAS RUEDA (MEX) df. Ariel ALFONSO RODRIGUEZ (HON), 2-1

130kg
GOLD: Oscar PINO (CUB) df. Cohlton SCHULTZ (USA), 3-1

BRONZE: Gino AVILA DILBERT (HON) df. Leonidas MANZABA (ECU), 9-0
BRONZE: Moises PEREZ (VEN) df. Eduard SOGHOMONYAN (BRA), 6-0

#JapanWrestling

Tokyo champ Shidochi dealt setback in return from two-year layoff

Friday, June 20, 2025 - 16:02 By Ken Marantz

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Top photo: Haruna MURAYAMA flips Mayu SHIDOCHI onto her back for a 2-point takedown during their women's 53kg quarterfinal match. (Photo: Takeo Yabuki / wrestling-spirits.jp)

TOKYO (June 20) -- Through their years as university teammates and beyond, Tokyo Olympic champion Mayu SHIDOCHI and Haruna MURAYAMA each compiled a long list of laurels that included three world titles.

But when their paths crossed on the mat, Shidochi had been the dominant one. Murayama showed on Friday that those days are over.

Shidochi, returning to the mat after a two-year layoff that included giving birth to her first child, saw her bid for a shot at a fourth world title end when Murayama dealt her a 5-1 loss in the women's 53kg quarterfinals at the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships in Tokyo, the second of two qualifiers for this year's World Championships.

Shidochi, who won the Tokyo Olympic gold at 53kg under her maiden name of MUKAIDA, was ahead on criteria in the second period after each received an activity point, but Murayama (nee OKUNO) went ahead with a pair of takedowns.

"It's really disappointing," said Shidochi, who had a 9-0 career record against Murayama before losing to her for the first time at the Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships in December 2022. "I lost to Okuno at the Tokyo qualifier and I really wanted to get revenge for that."

Mayu SHIDOCHI (JPN)Haruna MURAYAMA works to get behind Mayu SHIDOCHI for a takedown during their women's 53kg quarterfinal match. (Photo: Takeo Yabuki / wrestling-spirits.jp)

Shidochi, who will turn 28 on Sunday, had last competed two years at the Meiji Cup, which was part of the qualifying process for the Paris Olympics. Her dreams of an Olympic repeat ended with a loss by fall in the second round to Akari FUJINAMI, who went on to take the 53kg gold in Paris.

Shidochi, who has her sights set on the 2026 Asian Games to be hosted by Japan, had planned to return in July at a lower-tier national tournament, where she could qualify for this year's Emperor's Cup, a qualifier for the Asian Games. But she moved it up a month when she found out her status as a former Olympic champion granted her entry into the Meiji Cup.

"Even though I lost like this at this tournament, I'm glad I took up the challenge," she said. "Ilost, but I found out things that I need to work on. I want to use that to step up my game so I can win in December."

Shidochi said that is probably more nerves than rustiness that did her in against Murayama, who is two years her junior.

"When I was warming up, I was moving really well," she said. "But during the match, I thought I could do more. I wasn't moving my feet. In preparation, I trained hard and did my research. I was really looking forward to it, but it didn't work out."

Murayama still has her work cut out for her if she wants to be on the plane to Zagreb. In Saturday's final, she will face Moe KIYOOKA, who last year succeeded her as the world 55kg champion. The two met in the final at the 2023 Emperor's Cup, which Kiyooka won 5-1.

A victory by Kiyooka would give her the world team spot outright. If Murayama wins, it will set up a playoff between the two later in the session, although Murayama has another option.

Murayama won the 55kg title at the Emperor's Cup, but opted not contest that playoff.

In another weight class that started Friday and will end Saturday, world 72kg champion Ami ISHII looks poised to grab the world team spot at 68kg after easily winning her lone match of the day in a four-woman round-robin that is down to three after Rin MIYAGI's injury withdrawal.

Ishii will clinch the spot with a victory in her final match against Seia MOCHINAGA. Meanwhile, Yoshinosuke AOYAGI will need to take the playoff route if he wants to improve on the world silver medal at freestyle 70kg that he won last year.

Aoyagi, the Emperor's Cup champion, was dealt a last-second 3-2 defeat in the semifinals by world U20 champion Ryoya YAMASHITA, who will take on Shoya MIURA in Saturday's final in a battle of 19-year-olds.

Aoyagi, a two time world U23 medalist, is coming off winning a gold at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series tournament in Tirana and his second career Asian medal with a bronze in Amman.

Keyvan GHAREHDAGHI (JPN)Keyvan GHAREHDAGHI scores a takedown during his 4-4 victory over Emperor's Cup champion Ryunosuke KAMIYA in the freestyle 74kg semifinals. (Photo: Takeo Yakubi / wrestling-spirits.jp)

There will also be a playoff at freestyle 74kg, where Emperor's Cup champion Ryunosuke KAMIYA was dealt a nail-biting loss to 19-year-old collegiate champion Keyvan GHAREHDAGHI.

Gharehdaghi, whose father is Iranian, has already made Japan's team to the U20 worlds. To get the senior worlds, he will first have to get through fellow collegian Subaru TAKAHARA, who has qualified for the U23 worlds.

At freestyle 61kg, 2021 world bronze medalist Toshihiro HASEGAWA scored in double-digits in all three of his victories to advance to the final, capped by a 10-2 semifinal win over Aiki KAWAI.

In the final, Hasegawa will face Akito MUKAIDA -- Shidochi's younger brother, who has already qualified for the World U23 Championships.