wrestleOaxtepec

Sampson of Cuba and Michaelson of USA Win Golden Boots on Day Two of #WrestleOaxtepec

Friday, June 11, 2021 - 01:28 By Taylor Miller

Share this article

Photo of Jeisser SAMPSON SANCHEZ (CUB). Photo by Osvaldo Aguilar. 

 

OAXTEPEC, Mexico – 12 new champions across four different styles were crowned on the second day of the Cadet and Junior Pan American Championships in Oaxtepec, Mexico. The four divisions contested on Thursday included Junior Greco-Roman, Junior women’s freestyle, Cadet men’s freestyle and Cadet women’s freestyle.

This week, the top-eight in the Olympic weights of the Junior division will earn bids to the 2021 Junior Pan American Games in Cali, Colombia, in December.

Representatives from three different countries earned gold medals in Junior Greco, including Noah WACHSMUTH (USA) at 77 kg, James BURKS (USA) at 82 kg, Igor ALVES DE QUEIROZ (BRA) at 97 kg and Jeisser SAMPSON SANCHEZ (CUB) at 130 kg. Thanks to his outstanding performance, which featured four wins with two technical superiorities and two pins, Sampson received the Golden Boot.

In the Greco-Roman team race, the USA captured the crown with three champions and 177 points. Mexico came in second with 151 points and Venezuela rounded out the top-three with 102 points.

Photo of Lucia YEPEZ GUZMAN (ECU). Photo by Osvaldo Aguilar. 

There were only two weights wrestled today in Junior women’s freestyle. At 50 kg, Lucia YEPEZ GUZMAN (ECU) defeated Greili BENCOSME CARVAJAL (CUB) for the gold, and at 53 kg, Laura HERIN AVILA (CUB) took Jaslynn GALLEGOS (USA) in the finals.

The USA claimed gold at the remaining four weight classes in Cadet men’s freestyle to sweep the division. Picking up titles on Thursday were Thor MICHAELSON (USA) at 71 kg, Ryder ROGOTZKE (USA) at 80 kg, Peter CASALE (USA) at 92 kg and James MULLEN (USA) at 110 kg. With four wins on the day and a dominant performance, Michaelson won the Golden Boot.

With 10 gold medals, USA won the team title with 250 points. Mexico took silver with 170 points and Peru earned bronze with 80 points.

In Cadet women’s freestyle, USA won the two weight classes with golds from Gabrielle BRAGG (USA) at 40 kg and Emilie GONZALEZ (USA) at 43 kg.

Wrestling continues Friday at 9 a.m. CT live on uww.org.

Photo of Thor MICHAELSON (USA). Photo by Osvaldo Aguilar.

 

En español
OAXTEPEC, México – El segundo día del campeonato panamericano en Cadete y Juvenil terminó con 12 campeones nuevos entre cuatro estilos: Grecorromana juvenil, estilo libre femenino juvenil, estilo libre masculino cadete y estilo libre femenino cadete.

En los torneos juveniles, los ocho mejores luchadores en las clases de peso olímpico califican para los Juegos Panamericanos Juveniles en diciembre en Cali, Colombia.

Luchadores de tres países diferentes ganaron títulos en Grecorromana juvenil, incluyendo a Noah WACHSMUTH (USA) en 77 kg, James BURKS (USA) en 82 kg, Igor ALVES DE QUEIROZ (BRA) en 97 kg y Jeisser SAMPSON SANCHEZ (CUBA) en 130 kg. Sampson usó dos victorias de puesta espalda y dos de superioridad técnica para asegurar el botín de oro.

En la carrera del equipo en estilo grecorromano, USA ganó con tres campeones y 177 puntos. México fue segundo con 151 puntos y Venezuela fue tercero con 102 puntos.

Photo of the medalists at 53 kg in women's freestyle. Photo by Osvaldo Aguilar. 

Solo se disputaron dos categorías en el estilo libre femenino juvenil. En 50 kg, Lucia YEPEZ GUZMAN (ECU) derrotó a Greili BENCOSME CARVAJAL (CUB). Para ganar el título en 53 kg, Laura HERIN AVILA (CUB) superó a Jaslynn GALLEGOS (USA).

En estilo libre masculino cadete, USA capturo los cuatro pesos restantes para terminar el torneo con 10 medallas de oro en la división. Los campeones del jueves fueron Thor MICHAELSON (USA) en 71 kg, Ryder ROGOTZKE (USA) en 80 kg, Peter CASALE (USA) en 92 kg y James MULLEN (USA) en 110 kg. Michaelson, quien recogió cuatro victorias, recibió el botín de oro.

Con diez medallas de oro, USA ganó el título del equipo cadete con 250 puntos. México fue segundo con 170 puntos y Peru fue tercero con 80 puntos.

En el estilo libre femenino cadete, USA ganó las dos categorías con victorias de Gabrielle BRAGG (USA) en 40 kg y Emilie GONZALEZ (USA) en 43 kg.

Acción sigue mañana a las 9 a.m. CT en uww.org.

JUNIOR GRECO-ROMAN RESULTS
72 kg
GOLD - Noah WACHSMUTH (USA)
SILVER - Wilfredo LOPEZ (PAN)
BRONZE - Leag GUZMAN PADILLA (MEX)

82 kg
GOLD - James BURKS (USA)
SILVER - Christian MEDINA NUNEZ (MEX)
BRONZE - Augusto NIEVA (ARG)

97 kg
GOLD - Igor ALVES DE QUEIROZ (BRA)
SILVER - Daniel Alejandro VELIZ PEREZ (MEX)
BRONZE- Liober BETANCOURT HECHAVARRIA (CUB)
BRONZE - Max MADRID DE LEON (PAN)

130 kg
GOLD - Jeisser SAMPSON SANCHEZ (CUBA)
SILVER - Peter CHRISTENSEN (USA)
BRONZE - Juan CANTILLO TORRES (PAN)
BRONZE - Jami GRUESO NUNEZ (VEN)

JUNIOR WOMEN’S FREESTYLE RESULTS
50 kg
GOLD - Lucia YEPEZ GUZMAN (ECU)
SILVER - Greili BENCOSME CARVAJAL (CUB)
BRONZE - Gloria ASCA VILCAPOMA (PER)
BRONZE - Yusmy CHAPARRO URREGO (COL)

53 kg
GOLD - Laura HERIN AVILA (CUB)
SILVER - Jaslynn GALLEGOS (USA)
BRONZE - Mariana ROJAS DIAZ (VEN)
BRONZE - Zeltzin HERNANDEZ GUERRA (MEX)

CADET MEN’S FREESTYLE RESULTS
71 kg
GOLD - Thor MICHAELSON (USA)
SILVER - Carlos SERRANO LOPEZ (MEX)
BRONZE - Darío CUBAS CASTILLO (PER)

80 kg
GOLD - Ryder ROGOTZKE (USA)
SILVER - Alexander CUSINGA GOMEZ (PER)
BRONZE - Miguel Angel GONZALEZ GOMEZ (MEX)

92 kg
GOLD - Peter CASALE (USA)
SILVER - Alan Yahir PEREZ URIBE (MEX)

110 kg
GOLD - James MULLEN (USA)
SILVER - Rhian CAVALINI ENGEL (BRA)
BRONZE - Angel RAMIREZ NAVARRO (MEX)

CADET WOMEN’S FREESTYLE RESULTS
40 kg
GOLD - Gabrielle BRAGG (USA)
SILVER - Veronica AMARO GARCIA (MEX)

43 kg
GOLD - Emilie GONZALEZ (USA)
SILVER - Vicky LEON GOMEZ (ECU)
BRONZE- Ana PALACIOS HERNANDEZ (MEX)

#WrestleUlaanbaatar

Kamal survives scare in Ulaanbaatar amid Turkiye gold rush

Friday, May 30, 2025 - 13:58 By Vinay Siwach

Share this article

ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (May 30) -- Turkiye captured all three Greco-Roman gold medals on offer on Friday with European champion Kerem KAMAL (TUR) surviving a tough final to win at 63kg, and Paris Olympians Enes BASAR (TUR) and Hamza BAKIR (TUR) winning at 60kg and 130kg respectively.

Kamal, who won European Championships gold in dominant fashion, could not replicate that performance from April but still managed to win gold. In the final, he survived a scare against Asian Championships bronze medalist Hanjae CHUNG (KOR), winning 6-6 on criteria, thanks to a foul from Chung.

Both had wrestled in the group stages as well as this weight category only had seven wrestlers and were divided into two groups. Kamal came out on top 6-3 in that match.

But the final began with Chung scoring a takedown in the first minute and then adding another point when he was given the par terre advantage. However, he failed to score from that position.

In the second period, Kamal scored a push from par terre and had Chung's back on the mat for two points. He then lifted Chung upside down and completed a throw during which Chung committed a defensive leg foul.

Korea challenged the call but lost which gave Kamal a 6-4 lead. Chung tried to score and during the final 10 seconds, he pushed Kamal to the zone and the Turkish wrestler lost his balance, giving up a takedown.

Chung tied it 6-6 but Kamal led on criteria as Chung had committed the leg foul earlier. Chung realized it later that he was losing the final.

"I think it was a bit of a misjudgment because I thought I was winning and I didn't try hard for last 7 seconds at the end," Chung said. "I'm training hard with [former world champion] Hansu RYU (KOR) as my role model, and I'm trying to copy his style a lot."

For Kamal, the tournament was an eye-opener, especially for his performance against the Asian wrestlers.

"It was a very difficult tournament," Kamal said. "From the first round to the final match, I had very strong and very tough opponents. It was one of the hardest matches I've had this year. Winning is important, but in this tournament I realized that I have many mistakes. I'm thinking that I'm going to watch all my matches over and over again and analyze them and try to wrestle in a way that is more error-free and less pointless."

As he gears up to win his first senior world title in Zagreb later this September, Kamal is now wary of his opponents from Asia and wants to tackle them with more conviction.

"All my opponents are Asian," he said. "Kyrgyz, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Iranian. These are my strongest opponents. When you look at it, most of my opponents are from Asia, so I try to wrestle like Asians. I try to train like them, because they are very difficult to keep up with, they are very active. But as I said, as much as I can stop them, as much as I can do, as long as I can, I will continue to wrestle with them and wrestle like him."

Despite his close matches against Chung, Kamal looked in supreme form, especially while defending on par terre, as he captured his second Ranking Series gold medal of the year. His first gold was in Tirana, Albania.

"I don't think about it there [on the mat], to be honest, because I'm in a completely negative position," he said. "I'm trying to get out of it by doing all the weird things I can. The important thing is that I don't get scored there. It doesn't matter how I do it, what I do, the important thing is not to give points to my opponent and to continue in that way. So I'm very happy that I was able to do that."

Enes BASAR (TUR)Enes BASAR (TUR), blue, won gold medal at 60kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Basar, who was at the Paris Olympics at 60kg, won four bouts in the day to claim the gold medal. He began with an 8-3 win over Kurmanbek ZHAPAROV (KGZ) but his second against Akyl SULAIMANOV (KGZ) tested him to the limits. He made two comebacks to win 16-5, using a strong gut-wrench.

He followed that win by beating SURAJ (IND), 8-0, in a minute and 13 seconds before finishing his campaign with a 10-2 win over Ganbayar NAMSRAI (MGL).

Hamza BAKIR (TUR)Hamza BAKIR (TUR) claimed the 130kg gold medal in Ulaanbaatar. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

The most dominant run of the day came from Hamza BAKIR (TUR) at 130kg, as he won all his four bouts via technical superiority.

In his first bout, he gave up a point for passivity but still managed to win 9-1 against Erlan MANATBEKOV (KGZ). That was the only point he gave in the competition, winning his next three bouts via technical superiority.

He defeated Turbat BATBAYAR (MGL), 8-0, in Round 2, PREM (IND) with identical scoreline in Round 3 and in Round 5, he won against Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL), 8-0.

RESULTS

60kg
GOLD: Enes BASAR (TUR)
SILVER: SURAJ (IND)
BRONZE: Akyl SULAIMANOV (KGZ)

63kg
GOLD: Kerem KAMAL (TUR) df. Hanjae CHUNG (KOR), 6-6

BRONZE: Aref MOHAMMADI (QAT) df. Mohammad KESHTKAR (IRI),

130kg
GOLD: Hamza BAKIR (TUR)
SILVER: Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL)
BRONZE: Erlan MANATBEKOV (KGZ)