#WrestleOttawa

Rau and Pena Claim Second Pan Am Titles, Sovero wins gold in 13th Pan Am event

By Taylor GREGORIO

Photo of Yosvanys PENA FLORES (CUB). By Tony Rotundo. 

OTTAWA, Canada – Greco-Roman action of the Pan American Championships wrapped up on Saturday with the final three weight classes, while the first two women’s weight classes were contested.

The United States won two of the last three Greco gold medals, earning it the team title with 200 points. In second place was Cuba with 105 points. Cuba collected the other gold medal on Saturday.

John STEFANOWICZ (82 kg) and Josef RAU (87 kg) emerged victorious from their respective weight classes for the United States.

Stefanowicz put together a 2-0 record in round-robin action to secure the gold. In his final match of the day, he dominated Marciano ALI (PUR) with a 14-4 technical fall, which featured multiple big throws.

At 87 kg, Rau drew two passivity points from Carlos MUNOZ JARAMILLO (COL) in the gold-medal match and scored gut wrenches each time in par terre for a 6-0 win.

Yosvanys PENA FLORES (CUB) won his second-consecutive Pan Am Championships title, taking the crown at 77 kg.

Wrestling in a Nordic system bracket, Pena lost earlier in the day to Pat Smith in pool action. The two eventually met up once again in the finals, where the Cuban got his revenge.

Trailing after the first period, Pena got an opportunity on top, where picked up a gut wrench and held on to defeat Smith, 3-1.

Photo of Yanet SOVERO NINO (PER). By Tony Rotundo. 

In women’s freestyle, Yanet SOVERO NINO (PER) impressed at 72 kg, winning her first Pan Am title and sixth overall continental medal. She won her first Senior Pan American medal in 2002.

Sovero went 3-0 on the day, dominating the field. She opened her tournament with back-to-back falls before securing a 10-0 technical fall her final round against Shauna KUEBECK (CAN).

At 59 kg in women’s, 2018 U23 World champion Alexandria TOWN (CAN) swept the field, winning all three of her matches by technical fall. In her last match, she took out Karoline SILVA DE SANTANA (BRA), 10-0.

There were two athletes funded by the United World Wrestling Development Technical Assistance program that won medals today, including a silver medal from Nes Marie RODRIGUEZ TIRADO (PUR) at 57 kg in women’s freestyle and a bronze from Lesyan COUSIN OTOMURO (JAM) at 87 kg in Greco-Roman.

Final Greco Team standings
1. USA – 200
2. Cuba – 105
3. Venezuela – 69
4. Mexico – 68
5. Colombia – 67
6. Brazil – 65
7. Canada – 55
8. Dominican Republic – 42
9. Puerto Rico – 29
10. Honduras - 18

Greco-Roman results
77 kg
GOLD - Yosvanys PENA FLORES (CUB) df. Patrick SMITH (USA), 3-1
BRONZE - Wuileixis de Jesus RIVAS ESPINOZA (VEN) df. Jair Alexis CUERO MUNOZ (COL), 6-1

82 kg
GOLD - John STEFANOWICZ (USA)
SILVER – Jose Andres VARGAS RUEDA (MEX)
BRONZE - Marciano ALI (PUR)

87 kg
GOLD - Josef RAU (USA) df. Carlos MUNOZ JARAMILLO (COL), 6-0
BRONZE - Lesyan Osvaldo COUSIN OTOMURO (JAM), win by injury default
BRONZE - Ronisson BRANDAO SANTIAGO (BRA), win by injury default

Women’s freestyle results
59 kg
GOLD - Alexandria TOWN (CAN)
SILVER – Nes Marie RODRIGUEZ TIRADO (PUR)
BRONZE – Lauren LOUIVE (USA)

72 kg
GOLD - Yanet SOVERO NINO (PER)
SILVER – Victoria FRANCIS (USA)
BRONZE – Shauna KUEBECK (CAN)

Development

Evaluation of Holds course now on the UWW Academy

By United World Wrestling Press

COSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (February 13) --- The Development Department and Referee Commission launched their 2nd course centered around the rules of Olympic wrestling and refereeing.  The course is entitled Evaluation of Holds and can be found on the UWW Academy.  Participants will learn how the score is determined for various actions.  During the course, they will focus on the 3 questions that referees must ask when an action occurs. The answers to those questions often determine the points that would be scored for an action.  The course will also examine other scoring situations such as takedowns and correct holds.  However, those topics will be covered in more detail in future courses.

The Evaluation of Holds course will begin with background information and the rules which include video examples.  Then the course will provide 10 specific video examples along with explanations.  Next the participants will practice their video analysis with 10 videos.  The course will finish with a 15-video quiz.  This is the same format as the Attack vs Counterattack course.

The UWW Academy is the official educational platform for United World Wrestling.  There are numerous courses on coaching, referees, rules, sports administration and beach wrestling.  There are also additional resources, performance analysis metrics from major UWW events, videos, and the Wrestle4Fun curriculum.  The Academy is free and available to all participants.

To get started and create your free profile, please visit  https://academy.uww.org/.