#WrestleRio

U17 Pan-American Championships 2025 Entries

Monday, June 16, 2025 - 19:19 By United World Wrestling Press

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RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (June 16) -- The U17 Pan-American Championships will kick off in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from June 19 to 21.

The tournament will begin with Greco-Roman on June 19, Women's Wrestling on June 20 and Freestyle on June 21. For full schedule, click here

Note: The entries are subject to change. For final entries and draws, refer to UWW Arena.

Freestyle

45kg
Willian RIBEIRO (BRA)
Jack AUCOIN (CAN)
Duglas URRUTIA (GUA)
Israel AMARO (MEX)
Francesko CANAYO (PER)
Thales SILVA (USA)

48kg
Enrique PARRA (CAN)
Jose QUINTERO (MEX)
Carlos BELMO (PAN)
Andre HUARCAYA (PER)
Fabian SANCHEZ (PUR)
Ariah MILLS (USA)
Anderson FRANCO (VEN)

51kg
Mykael CAETANO (BRA)
Jonrex CASA (CAN)
David MORALES (COL)
Luis AGUSTIN (GUA)
Jorge RIOS (MEX)
Kadir QUINONES (PAN)
Fabrizio MOCARRO (PER)
Cruz LITTLE (PUR)
Carter SHIN (USA)
Luigeth ANTUNEZ (VEN)

55kg
Bernardo MIRANDA (BRA)
Aaharen PIRANAVAN (CAN)
Jovanni TOVAR (COL)
Angel VALDEZ (GUA)
Edgar BOCANEGRA (MEX)
Ian ARROCHA (PAN)
Nathaniel LYTTLE (PUR)
Thomas WURSTER (USA)
Gabriel LICON (VEN)

60kg
Santiago CHRISJOHN (ARG)
Fabian LIMA (BRA)
Nathan NASH (CAN)
Emanuel LAZCANO (CHI)
Adrian CANALES (ESA)
Jose JEREZ (GUA)
Johan CRUZ (MEX)
Juan CRISTALDO (PER)
Frederick BACHMANN (PUR)
Nicholas SORROW (USA)
Haniel RODRIGUEZ (VEN)

65kg
Thiago AMARILLA (ARG)
Pedro ARAPIRACA (BRA)
Liam GORTON (CAN)
Valentino GODOY (CHI)
Dylan FERNANDEZ (ESA)
Austreberto CORDOVA (MEX)
Cameron HAINES (PAN)
Joao MONTESINOS (PER)
Yandro SOTO (PUR)
Arseni KIKINIOU (USA)
Emiliano AGUILAR (VEN)

71kg
Benjamin CASAS (ARG)
Antonio ARGUELLO (ESA)
Brandon HERNANDEZ (GUA)
Daniel TEJEDA (HON)
Gabriel VARGAS (PAN)
Anthony MOLINA (PER)
Joab CARRILLO (PUR)
Jayden JAMES (USA)
Axiel MONTERO (VEN)

80kg
Eduardo NUNES (BRA)
Beau CHARTRAND (CAN)
Gabriel RIVERA (ESA)
Arat GONZALEZ (MEX)
Maycki FLORES (PER)
Alan GARCIA (PUR)
Isai FERNANDEZ (USA)
Joaquin BARRANCOS (VEN)

92kg
Allan DE SOUSA (BRA)
Harjot SHERGILL (CAN)
Jose PEREZ (COL)
Alvaro VILLA (PER)
Franco LATORRE (PUR)
James SMITH (USA)

110kg
Wandson RODRIGUES (BRA)
Udaypartap BILLEN (CAN)
Santiago PALOMINO (COL)
Carlos CABRALES (MEX)
Elias BETANCOURT (PUR)
Alexander TAYLOR (USA)

Greco-Roman

45kg
Willian RIBEIRO (BRA)
Duglas URRUTIA (GUA)
Dannys GONZALES (HON)
Cristofer QUINTERO (MEX)
Francesko CANAYO (PER)
Thales SILVA (USA)

48kg
Pedro SANTOS (BRA)
Jeremy LOPEZ (HON)
Christopher RAMIREZ (MEX)
Carlos BELMO (PAN)
Andre HUARCAYA (PER)
Fabian SANCHEZ (PUR)
Ariah MILLS (USA)
Anderson FRANCO (VEN)

51kg
Maycon DE CASTRO (BRA)
David MORALES (COL)
Jiug ALVAREZ (MEX)
Kadir QUINONES (PAN)
Jules CASALINO (PER)
Carter SHIN (USA)
Luigeth ANTUNEZ (VEN)

55kg
Lavozier WADIK (BRA)
Dante BARRA (CHI)
Erick CHOC (GUA)
Mateo PEREZ (MEX)
Ian ARROCHA (PAN)
Giancarlos YOVERA (PER)
Thomas WURSTER (USA)
Haniel RODRIGUEZ (VEN)

60kg
Luiz DOS SANTOS (BRA)
Adrian CANALES (ESA)
Zeus GONZALEZ (MEX)
Juan CRISTALDO (PER)
Edwin MORALES (PUR)
Nicholas SORROW (USA)
Gabriel LICON (VEN)

65kg
Victor NASCIMENTO (BRA)
Raul CASTILLO (MEX)
Joao MONTESINOS (PER)
Arseni KIKINIOU (USA)
Emiliano AGUILAR (VEN)

71kg
Fernando BENCKE (BRA)
Cristobal ALIAGA (CHI)
Antonio ARGUELLO (ESA)
Daniel TEJEDA (HON)
Heder SALDANA (MEX)
Gabriel VARGAS (PAN)
Anthony MOLINA (PER)
Alexander BARROS (PUR)
Jayden JAMES (USA)
Axiel MONTERO (VEN)

80kg
Miguel XAVIER (BRA)
Angel LAGOS (CHI)
John SAENZ (GUA)
Diego CAMPOS (MEX)
Maycki FLORES (PER)
Isai FERNANDEZ (USA)
Reynniel YEPEZ (VEN)

92kg
Joao AMORIM (BRA)
Tomas ESPINOZA (CHI)
Jose PEREZ (COL)
Cristhoper PEREZ (GUA)
Jose ESPARZA (MEX)
Alvaro VILLA (PER)
Franco LATORRE (PUR)
James SMITH (USA)

110kg
Raphael RODRIGUES (BRA)
Santiago PALOMINO (COL)
Angel GARCIA (MEX)
Elias BETANCOURT (PUR)
Alexander TAYLOR (USA)

Morgan TURNER (USA)Former world U17 champion Morgan TURNER (USA) will compete at 49kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Women's Wrestling

40kg
Heloisa FERNANDES (BRA)
Andrea FLORES (HON)
Zoe VASQUEZ (MEX)
Corangelys TORRES (PUR)
Maisie ELLIOTT (USA)
Merlis LINARES (VEN)

43kg
Mariza NASU (CAN)
Isabela GARNICA (COL)
Kristel GODINEZ (GUA)
Karen RIOS (MEX)
Margarita QUITO (PER)
Natalie RADECKI (USA)
Elianny CLEVIERT (VEN)

46kg
Maria TESSARO (BRA)
Iraabir SOOCH (CAN)
Alejandra SALINAS (CHI)
Mayllin ESCOBAR (GUA)
Aleyvi CELIS (MEX)
Sheyla RODRIGUEZ (PER)
Heklanys RIVERA (PUR)
Jaclyn BOUZAKIS (USA)
Valeria NARVAEZ (VEN)

49kg
Kamryn MASON (CAN)
Ivon OVALLE (COL)
Siria GAMBOA (GUA)
Ana MORA (MEX)
Akemy GOMEZ (PER)
Miayalee ORTIZ (PUR)
Morgan TURNER (USA)
Asia SANCHEZ (VEN)

53kg
Yasmin VENANCIO (BRA)
Clara PERRY (CAN)
Alejandra SERRANO (COL)
Sharon MACKEPEACE (GUA)
Camila PEREZ (MEX)
Yumaira RUSSELL (PAN)
Clara RAMIREZ (PER)
Emma PEAKE (PUR)
Stevie MARTIN (USA)
Javianny GIMENEZ (VEN)

57kg
Natalia PROBOSTE (ARG)
Yasmim NEPER (BRA)
Kai Nessa PARE (CAN)
Fernanda RIFFO (CHI)
Sofia LUNA (MEX)
Milagros SALGADO (PAN)
Stacy RODRIGUEZ (PER)
Paola RAMIREZ (PUR)
Emma BACON (USA)
Nairam JAIME (VEN)

61kg
Danna COSTA (ARG)
Kauany SOARES (BRA)
Natalie WOJCIECHOWSKI (CAN)
Susana SANCHEZ (COL)
Yolayni ROSADO (DOM)
Sara ROBLES (MEX)
Michely GUTIERREZ (PER)
Marisa ITURRINO (PUR)
Taina FERNANDEZ (USA)

65kg
Anabella VALLE (ARG)
Beatriz CALASANS (BRA)
Cassidy PACE (CAN)
Shantallee BARRIOS (COL)
Sylvia ESPINOSA (MEX)
Violette LASURE (USA)
Luz CUAURO (VEN)

69kg
Sofia BAZAN (ARG)
Mayara NEPER (BRA)
Khushleen JHALLI (CAN)
Linda MARTINEZ (MEX)
Cassandra GONZALES (USA)

73kg
Ana VICENTE (BRA)
Jolina HEALEY (CAN)
Deborah GARCIA (MEX)
Chelse CARHUALLANQUI (PER)
Ella POALILLO (USA)
Perla PENA (VEN)

#JapanWrestling

Paris Olympic Champ Sakurai Retires at Age 24

Sunday, April 5, 2026 - 09:12 By Ken Marantz

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TOKYO (April 4) -- Having never really regained the motivation that led her to achieve her ultimate goal of an Olympic gold, Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN) has decided to retire at the tender age of 24.

Sakurai, the women’s 57kg champion at the Paris Olympics, has announced that she will hang up her singlet and begin a second career nurturing a new generation of wrestlers and serving as a goodwill ambassador of sports for her native Kochi Prefecture in western Japan.

“After 21 continuous years, I feel I have reached the cutoff point of my wrestling career, so I have decided to retire,” Sakurai said at a press conference Friday at the Kochi Prefecture government office.

“I gave everything I had for the Olympics, and I was able to experience the feeling of achievement and the ultimate joy. It's difficult to win the Olympics without determination. I couldn't get back to the mindset I had before Paris. That is the biggest reason [for retiring].”

Known for her steely aggressiveness belying a quiet demeanor, and a wicked use of a 2-on-1 arm bar, Sakurai prefaced her triumph in Paris by winning three consecutive world titles, at 55kg in 2021 and back-to-back golds at 57kg in 2022 and 2023.

A U17 world champion in 2016, she won golds at the Asian Championships and Asian Games in 2022 and 2023, respectively, but suffered the second of just two career international losses at the 2024 Asian Championships, where she fell to Yongxian FENG (CHN) in the final.

She bounced back five months later for her crowning achievement in Paris, where she defeated 2016 Rio Olympic champion Helen MAROULIS (USA) 10-4 in the semifinals, then took the gold with a 6-0 victory over Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) in a rematch of the 2023 world final.

Making the win in Paris even more special was the fact that not only did Sakurai strike gold, but so did another Japanese wrestler who started the sport together with her at the kids wrestling club in Kochi run by her father.

Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN), the freestyle 65kg champion in his Olympic debut, and Sakurai became the toast of Kochi, a rural prefecture fronting the Pacific on the island of Shikoku. They were paraded through the streets of the prefectural capital of Kochi City and hailed as heroes.

Like almost all of Japan’s medalists in Paris, the two took time off from the sport to run the gauntlet of TV interviews and variety shows, and just chill out in general. Sakurai, who returned to Kochi and started graduate studies in sport sciences at Kochi University, was particularly slow in returning to the mat.

In what would prove to be her first – and last – competition after Paris, she won the 57kg title at the second-tier Japan Women’s Open in October 2025, ostensibly to qualify for the Emperor’s Cup All-Japan Championships the following December. That would be the starting point for domestic qualifying for major global tournaments.

But Sakurai never made it to the Emperor’s Cup, and has now fully turned the corner on a new career.

“Over the past year, this decision was made after talking to many people, fretting about it, and thinking things through,” she said.

Sakurai said that as an extension of her father’s Kochi Wrestling Club, she wants to run a series of clinics outside of the city, mainly in her hometown of Konan just to the east of Kochi, to expose more children to wrestling and help it grow.

“Aside from wrestling, I'm learning so many things in graduate school right now, so I want to acquire a wide range of knowledge so that I can give back to Kochi Prefecture properly,” Sakurai said. “I think there will be various problems when I put things into practice, so I want to acquire solid knowledge so that I can solve those problems.”

Fans at this week’s Asian Championships in Bishkek will see another product of the Kochi Wrestling Club in action in Moe KIYOOKA (JPN), Kotaro’s younger sister and a former world champion who will be looking to add the 53kg gold to the one she won at 55kg in 2024. She and Sakurai were also teammates at Ikuei University.

And the name Sakurai might soon be appearing on the world stage again. Her younger sister, Tsukino SAKURAI (JPN), won the Asian U15 title last year.