#WrestleAcapulco

Pan-Am Olympic Qualifier 2024 Entries

By United World Wrestling Press

ACAPULCO, Mexico (January 30) -- The continental Olympic qualifier -- Pan-American -- will be held in Acapulco, Mexico from February 28 to March 1.

The three-day competition will see wrestlers hoping to win a Paris Olympic ticket for their respective countries in the 18 weight classes — six in each of the three styles.

The countries who won the quota at the 2023 Belgrade World Championships are not eligible to take part in the weight class they won the quota. The qualifier in Acapulco will be held after the Pan-Am Championships, to be held in the same venue from February 21 to 24.

Only those countries that take part in the Pan-Am Championships will be eligible for Pan-Am Olympic Qualifiers. The number of wrestlers in the qualifiers from each country will also depend on their participation in the Championships.

The event will be live on UWW+ on uww.org and UWW's mobile app. The full schedule of the event can be found here -- Pan-Am Olympic Qualifiers.

Freestyle

57kg
Davi SILVA GIOVANNETTI (BRA)
Darthe CAPELLAN (CAN)
Oscar TIGREROS (COL)
Peter HAMMER (CRC)
Osmany DIVERSENT (CUB)
Guesseppe REA VILLARROEL (ECU)
Edwin SEGURA (GUA)
Roman BRAVO YOUNG (MEX)
Enrique HERRERA (PER)
Darian CRUZ (PUR)
Zane RICHARDS (USA)
Pedro MEJIAS RODRIGUEZ (VEN)

65kg
Agustin DESTRIBATS (ARG)
Shannon HANNA (BAH)
Matheus DA LUZ BARRETO (BRA)
Lachlan MCNEIL (CAN)
Matias MUNOZ (CHI)
Elkin ESPANA SANTA (COL)
Alejandro VALDES (CUB)
Albaro RUDECINDO CAMACHO (DOM)
Joshua KRAMER (ECU)
Austin GOMEZ (MEX)
Sixto AUCCAPINA PEDRAGAS (PER)
John DIAKOMIHALIS (USA)

74kg
Cesar BORDEAUX (BRA)
Stone LEWIS (CAN)
Hernan GUZMAN (COL)
Jeandry GARZON (CUB)
Julio RODRIGUEZ (DOM)
Enrique PEREZ (GUA)
Luis BARRIOS (HON)
Raul PALACIOS (MEX)
Angel CORTES (PAN)
Sonny SANTIAGO (PUR)
Dylan PALACIO (URU)
Anthony MONTERO (VEN)

86kg
Jorge LLANO (ARG)
Pedro GONCALVES (BRA)
Alexander MOORE (CAN)
Eduardo GAJARDO (CHI)
Carlos IZQUIERDO (COL)
Yurieski TORREBLANCA (CUB)
Anthony VALENCIA (MEX)
Pool AMBROCIO (PER)
Ethan RAMOS (PUR)
Pedro CEBALLOS (VEN)

97kg
Ricardo BAEZ (ARG)
Ailton BRITO (BRA)
Nishan Preet RANDHAWA (CAN)
Matias URIBE (CHI)
Maxwell LACEY (CRC)
Arturo SILOT (CUB)
Luis PEREZ (DOM)
Cristian SANCHEZ (MEX)
Marcos SANTOS (PUR)
Cristian SARCO (VEN)

125kg
Catriel MURIEL (ARG)
Gabriel DE SOUSA (BRA)
Amarveer DHESI (CAN)
Jhoan OCORO (COL)
Ibrain TORRES (CUB)
Elison ADAMES (DOM)
Gino AVILA (HON)
Aaron JOHNSON (JAM)
Diego MACIAS (MEX)
Jonovan SMITH (PUR)
Jose DIAZ (VEN)

Ana GODINEZ (CAN)Ana GODINEZ (CAN) will look to win a quota at 62kg for Canada. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Women’s Wrestling

50kg
Maia CABRERA (ARG)
Kamila BARBOSA (BRA)
Geneviève MORRISON HALEY (CAN)
Javiera ORTEGA (CHI)
Alisson CARDOZO (COL)
Yusneylis GUZMAN (CUB)
Jacqueline MOLLOCANA (ECU)
Karla HERNANDEZ (ESA)
Mariana DIAZ (MEX)
Yorlenis MORAN (PAN)
Mariana ROJAS (VEN)

53kg
Sabrina GAMA (BRA)
Karla GODINEZ (CAN)
Antonia VALDES (CHI)
Eva GONZALEZ (COL)
Laura HERIN (CUB)
Maria GONZALEZ (DOM)
Zeltzin HERNANDEZ (MEX)
Yusneiry AGRAZAL (PAN)
Nathaly HERRERA (PER)
Dominique PARRISH (USA)
Betzabeth ARGUELLO (VEN)

57kg
Camila AMARILLA (ARG)
Giullia PENALBER (BRA)
Hannah TAYLOR (CAN)
Andrea GONZALEZ (COL)
Angela ALVAREZ (CUB)
Yocleidy RAMIREZ (DOM)
Luisa VALVERDE (ECU)
Jacqueline HERNANDEZ (ESA)
Bertha ROJAS (MEX)
Karoline ORTIZ (PUR)
Betzabeth SARCO (VEN)

62kg
Lais NUNES (BRA)
Ana GODINEZ (CAN)
Virginia JIMENEZ (CHI)
Katherine RENTERIA (COL)
Maria SANTANA (CUB)
Eldarah BROWN (JAM)
Melanie JIMENEZ (MEX)
Carina GIANGERUSO (PUR)
Kayla MIRACLE (USA)
Astrid MONTERO (VEN)

68kg
Thamires MARTINS (BRA)
Linda MORAIS (CAN)
Nicoll PARRADO (COL)
Brenda STERLING (CUB)
Leonela AYOVI (ECU)
Ambar GARNICA (MEX)
Forrest MOLINARI (USA)
Soleymi CARABALLO (VEN)

76kg
Linda MACHUCA (ARG)
Meiriele CHARAMBA (BRA)
Justina DI STASIO (CAN)
Emelyn BAUTISTA (DOM)
Genesis REASCO (ECU)
Saidy CHAVEZ (HON)
Atzimba LANDAVERDE (MEX)
Maria ACOSTA (VEN)

Arsen JULFALAKYAN (ARG)London Olympic silver medalist Arsen JULFALAKYAN (ARG) is making a comeback to UWW competition after five years. He will wrestle for Argentina at 77kg. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

Greco-Roman

60kg
Erivan CONSTANTINO (BRA)
Keeyan TROTMAN (CAN)
Cristobal TORRES (CHI)
Dicther TORO (COL)
Kevin DE ARMAS (CUB)
Yerony LIRIA (DOM)
Jeremy PERALTA (ECU)
Alexis RODRIGUEZ (MEX)
Ildar HAFIZOV (USA)
Raiber RODRIGUEZ (VEN)

67kg
Mauricio LOVERA (ARG)
Calebe CORREA (BRA)
Gavin ELDRIDGE (CAN)
Nestor ALMANZA (CHI)
Julian HORTA (COL)
Starlin LAGUERRE (DOM)
Andres MONTANO (ECU)
Jose VARELA (GUA)
Edsson OLMOS (MEX)
Nilton SOTO (PER)
Luis CENTENO (PUR)
Alejandro SANCHO (USA)

77kg
Arsen JULFALAKYAN (ARG)
Joilson RAMOS (BRA)
John YEATS (CAN)
Eduardo BERNAL (CHI)
Jair CUERO (COL)
Yosvanys PENA (CUB)
David CHOC (GUA)
Emmanuel BENITEZ (MEX)
Alvis ALMENDRA (PAN)
Jonathan VIRUET (PUR)
Kamal BEY (USA)
Wuileixis RIVAS (VEN)

87kg
Ronisson BRANDAO (BRA)
Ioannis NARLIDIS (CAN)
Jose MORENO (CHI)
Carlos MUNOZ (COL)
Daniel GREGORICH (CUB)
Ariel ALFONSO (HON)
Daniel VICENTE (MEX)
Spencer WOODS (USA)
Luis AVENDANO (VEN)

97kg
Ricardo GOMEZ (ARG)
Kauan FERREIRA (BRA)
Carlos ADAMES (DOM)
Kevin MEJIA (HON)
Noel TORRES (MEX)
Max MADRID (PAN)
Alan VERA (USA)
Luillys PEREZ (VEN)

130kg
Eduard SOGHOMONYAN (BRA)
Jorawar DHINSA (CAN)
Yasmani ACOSTA (CHI)
Paul MORALES (MEX)
Cohlton SCHULTZ (USA)
Moises PEREZ (VEN)

#WrestleZagreb

Chung puts Korea in World C'ships final

By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (September 20) -- Hanjae CHUNG (KOR) has long been the training partner of former world champion Hansyu RYU (KOR) at national camps in Korea as both hail from Busan and wrestled at the Kyungsung University.

Eight years after Ryu became a world champion in Paris, Korea's last gold at World Championships, Chung would try to emulate his role model after he made the 63kg final at the World Championships in Zagreb on Saturday.

In his previous two trips to the World Championships, Chung finished eight and 25th but has now assured himself at least a silver medal in 2025. This is also Korea's first medal since Min Seok KIM (KOR) won bronze in 2018.

Chung opened his campaign with a 7-1 victory over Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO) before picking up a fall over Manato NAKAMURA (JPN). Tokyo bronze medalist Sergey EMELIN (UWW) was next but Chung defended from par terre and posted a 1-1 criteria win.

In the semifinals, Chung had Asian silver medalist Mohammad KESHTKAR (IRI) but he stepped up. Keshtkar got the first par terre position but was not able to score any points, going to the break leading 1-0.

The second period saw Chung go for the reverse throw for two points and Keshtkar was docked two points for a leg foul, giving a 5-1 lead to Chung. Keshtkar tried making a comeback and got a takedown to cut the lead to 5-3 but that was all he had as Chung claimed the victory in the semifinals.

But to win his country's first gold since 2017, Chung will have to go through Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB) who looks unbeatable. A month after winning the gold medal at the U20 World Championships, the Uzbek star is now in the World Championships final with a dominant 8-0 win over Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA).

Khalmakhanov needed only 37 seconds to finish his semifinals against Erimenco as he used an over-under grip to slam him on the mat for two points. He continued the same sequence for two more points and lead 6-0. A trap arm gut was enough to get him two more points and the win.

Iran managed two more wrestlers in the final at the World Championships with Olympic champion Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) and Olympic silver medalist Alireza MOHAMADI (IRI) a win away from winning their first world titles at 67kg and 87kg respectively.

Esmaeili particularly looked in the form of his life as he blanked his 36-0 in four bouts with none going the full distance of the six minutes. He began with a 9-0 win over 2022 world champion Sebastian NAD (SRB) before two 8-0 wins against Shermukhammad SHARIBJANOV (UZB) and Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR), 8-0.

In the semifinals, he used a five-point throw to beat Daniial AGAEV (UWW). Using a bodylock, he scored his first takedown and then turned Agaev for a 4-0 lead. He then got the par terre position and reverse lifted Agaev and slammed him for five points.

For the gold medal, he will have to get past Olympic bronze medalist Hasrat JARAFOV (AZE), a returning silver medalist. Jafarov faced Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) in the semifinal and used a correct throw from par terre to beat the Kyrgyzstan wrestlers 3-1.

Mohamadi had a very contrasting semifinal against David LOSONCZI (HUN) at 87kg. He seemed to be sailing to victory with 5-1 lead and under a minute left but Losonczi locked his waist and threw him for a takedown for two points. Hungary challenged the call asking for four points but it was awarded only two on review and Hungary lost the challenge to give one more point to Mohamadi.

With a 6-3 win, Mohamadi, a silver medalist at 82kg from 2023, will now try to win the gold medal against former European champion Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB).

Trusting his defense in the semifinal against Milad ALIRZAEV (UWW), Komarov held on to his 1-1 criteria lead to win the bout. Komarov was the beneficiary of the new Greco-Roman rule which states that the criteria will remain with the wrestler who got the first point in a 1-1 finish.

Irrespective of what happens in the final on Sunday, Iran has already won the Greco-Roman team title. This is the first time in the country's history that Iran has won both Freestyle and Greco-Roman team title at the same World Championships.

RESULTS

63kg
GOLD: Hanjae CHUNG (KOR) vs. Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB)

SF 1: Hanjae CHUNG (KOR) df. Mohammad KESHTKAR (IRI), 5-3
SF 2: Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB) df. Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA), 8-0

67kg
GOLD: Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) vs. Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)

SF 1: Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) df. Daniial AGAEV (UWW), 10-0
SF 2: Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) df. Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ), 3-1

87kg
GOLD: Alireza MOHMADI (IRI) vs. Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB)

SF 1: Alireza MOHMADI (IRI) df. David LOSONCZI (HUN), 6-3
SF 2: Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB) df. Milad ALIRZAEV (UWW), 1-1