Toronto, Pan American Games

U.S. Advances Three to Gold Medal Finals in Pan Am Games Wrestling

By William May

TORONTO, Canada (July 14) – World bronze medalist Andrew BISEK (USA) notched a pair of one-sided wins in the opening session of Greco-Roman wrestling at the Pan American Games on Wednesday while leading a trio of 2014 Pan American finalists into the evening’s gold medal bouts.

Bisek stopped Juan ESCOBAR (MEX) by technical fall in the semifinals at 75kg to advance to the championship match against Alvis ALMENDRA (PAN), who finished seventh at the Pan American championships in April.

Bisek, last year’s winner at the Pan American championships, will be joined by fellow Pan American champ Jon ANDERSON (85kg) and 2014 silver medalist Bryce SADDORIS (66kg).

Saddoris will square off with Wuileixis RIVAS (VEN), the Pan American champ last year at 71kg, while Anderson is slated to meet Querys PEREZ (VEN) in the evening’s finale at 85kg. Rivas reached the 66kg final with a 2-1 win over last year’s Pan Am champ Miguel MARTINEZ (CUB).

 

For the Cubans, the opening session was a disaster as three-time Pan Am champ Ismael BORRERO (CUB) fell to Spenser MANGO (USA), 3-3, on a last-second force-out in the 59kg quarterfinals.

At the same time, Alan VERA (CUB) was stunned early in the semifinals with a duck-behind to back-arching throw by Anderson, who rolled into the gold medal final with an 8-0 technical fall.

In the first gold medal final of the evening at 59kg, 2013 Pan Am bronze medalist Ali SOTO (MEX) will square off with 2012 silver medal winner Andres MONTANO (ECU).

Montano advanced to the final with a 9-1 win over Mango, countering the U.S. wrestler’s front headlock with a duck-under and short back arch that dropped Mango on his back for four points.

 

Greco-Roman
59kg

GOLD: Ali SOTO (MEX) v Andres MONTANO (ECU)

BRONZE: Dylan WILLIAMS (CAN) v Cristobal TORRES (CHI)

BRONZE: Jansel RAMIREZ (DOM) v Spenser MANGO (USA)

66kg

GOLD: Wuileixis RIVAS (VEN) v Bryce SADDORIS (USA)

BRONZE: Jair Alexis CUERO (COL) v Miguel MARTINEZ (CUB)

BRONZE: Mario MOLINA (PER) v Jefrin MEJIA (HON)

75kg

GOLD: Alvis ALMENDRA (PAN) v Andrew BISEK (USA)

BRONZE: Maximiliano PRUDENZANO (ARG) v Carlos MUNOZ (COL)

BRONZE: Luis AVENDANO (VEN) v Juan ESCOBAR (MEX)

85kg

GOLD: Querys PEREZ (VEN) v Jon ANDERSON (USA)

BRONZE: Alfonso LEYVA (MEX) v Cristian MOSQUERA (COL)

BRONZE: Oscar MARTINEZ (HON) v Alan VERA (CUB)

#development

ISF Gymnasiade in Zlatibor adds coaching seminar for Serbian coaches

By United World Wrestling Press

ZLATIBOR, Serbia (April 24) -- United World Wrestling partnered with the International School Sports Federation (ISF) to provide a coaching education seminar for Serbian coaches at the ISF Gymnasiade, which was held in Zlatibor, Serbia, from April 4-12, with the wrestling competition being held from April 6-8.

Wrestling has been a part of each of the Gymnasiade events, and the previous edition was held in Bahrain last October.

As part of the Gymnasiade events, ISF focuses on providing education to coaches and PE teachers. UWW was fortunate to give a training session for Serbian coaches at this event.

The training was led by UWW Educators Georgi SREDKOV (BUL), Neven ZUGAJ (CRO and Nenad ZUGAJ (CRO).

The seminar was attended by 23 coaches over the two sessions. The morning session focused on sound strategies for coaching and better understanding wrestling rules. The afternoon session was a practical session on the mats that focused on sharing wrestling techniques and implementing interactive games. 

Sredkov also participated in the ISF Forum on Beyond the Events: How School Sports Shape Future Leaders, which was held on April 9.

During the Forum, Sredkov discussed how wrestling helps athletes learn to find solutions to problems, how competing helps handle pressure and remain calm and focused, and the importance of collaboration for success. 

The wrestling competition was held in Freestyle, Greco-Roman and Women's Wrestling, and 303 athletes from 16 countries participated. The results can be found here.