#WrestleBuenosAires

USA wins Greco-Roman team title with nine medals at #WrestleBuenosAires

By Taylor Miller

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – The Greco-Roman competition of the 2019 Pan American Championships wrapped up on Friday with USA winning the team title after collecting nine medals.

The USA picked up medals in all three weight classes on Friday night with a gold from Cheney HAIGHT, silver form Kamal BEY and bronze from Patrick MARTINEZ.

Haight won his third Pan Am title, besting the competition at 82 kg. In the finals, Haight won a 3-1 bout against 2018 Pan Am bronze medalist Carlos ESPINOZA CASTRO (PER).

Cuba and Venezuela picked up the other gold medals.

Yosvanys PENA FLORES (CUB) outlasted 2017 Junior World champion Bey in a 3-1 war at 77 kg to earn Cuba its fourth gold medal of the tournament.

At 87 kg, Luis AVENDANO ROJAS (VEN) became only the seventh Greco wrestler in Venezuela’s history to win a Pan Am title, defeating Antonio DURAN ROBLES (CUB) in the finals.

Duran scored the first two points, but Avendano put up six unanswered points, two of which came from a caution and two when Duran committed a defensive leg foul in par terre. Shortly after, Duran was penalized for another defensive leg foul, which resulted in a disqualification for the Cuban and a win for Avendano. The Venezuelan led 8-2 at the time of the DQ.

In women’s freestyle, USA and Canada split the gold medals, each winning two.

USA’s Alex HEDRICK and Julia SALATA clinched their gold medals in the morning session, each going 2-0 in their respective round robins at 55 kg and 65 kg.

On Friday night, Canadians Laurence BEAUREGARD and Dejah SLATER came out on top of their round-robins.

Beauregard went 3-0 on the day, ending her tournament with a quick 10-0 tech fall over Karoline SILVA DE SANTANA (BRA) to win the 59 kg bracket.

At 72 kg, Slater topped Rachel WATTERS (USA) in a 12-1 tech fall, thanks to a takedown and six leg laces in the first period.

Competition continues tomorrow with women’s and men’s freestyle at 10 a.m. local time (9 a.m. EST) live on unitedworldwrestling.org.                                                                                                                                              

Greco-Roman final team standings
1. USA – 205
2. Cuba – 135
3. Brazil – 98
4. Venezuela – 84
5. Mexico – 64
6. Peru – 61
7. Colombia – 48
8. Argentina – 47
9. Dominican Republic – 46
10. Ecuador – 43

Final results in Greco-Roman
77 kg
GOLD - Yosvanys PENA FLORES (CUB) dec. Kamal BEY (USA), 3-1
BRONZE - Juan ESCOBAR (MEX) tech fall David CHOC HUOC (GUA), 10-0
BRONZE - Jair CUERO MUNOZ (COL) dec. Johan BATISTA (DOM), 6-5

82 kg
GOLD - Cheney HAIGHT (USA)
SILVER - Carlos ESPINOZA CASTRO (PER)
BRONZE - Adil BARROS MACHADO (BRA)

87 kg
GOLD - Luis AVENDANO ROJAS (VEN) win by disqualification Antonio DURAN ROBLES (CUB)
BRONZE - Alfonso LEYVA YEPEZ (MEX) tech fall Carlos ADAMES PALMER (DOM), 8-0
BRONZE - Patrick MARTINEZ (USA) tech. fall Phillip BARREIRO (CAN), 9-0

55 kg
GOLD - Alex HEDRICK (USA)
SILVER - Jayd DAVIS (USA)
BRONZE - Elis AZERRAD PARODI (ARG)

59 kg
GOLD - Laurence BEAUREGARD (CAN)
SILVER - Andribeth RIVERA BELLIARD (PUR)
BRONZE - Karoline SILVA DE SANTANA (BRA)

65 kg
GOLD - Julia SALATA (USA)
SILVER - Jessica BROUILLETTE (CAN)
BRONZE - Grabriela PEDRO DA ROCHA (BRA)

72 kg
GOLD - Dejah SLATER (CAN)
SILVER - Rachel WATTERS (USA)
BRONZE - Linda MACHUCA (ARG)

 

 

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open Flashback: Iran, U.S. opened season with success

By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (January 18) -- United World Wrestling's 2026 season will kick off with the Ranking Series in Zagreb February 4. The recent memories of Zagreb may be the September World Championships but the 2025 season also kicked off with the Ranking Series in the Croatian capital.

Iran and the United States had strong performances in the first of the four stops of the Ranking Series, a theme which continued throughout the 2025 season as the U.S. dominated Freestyle while Iran dominated Greco-Roman.

Women's Wrestling participants were less in numbers but still saw U.S. and UWW wrestlers share gold medals.

Here's a trip down memory lane of the 2025 Zagreb Open Ranking Series before the 2026 season kicks off:

WATCH ZAGREB OPEN 2025 TOP BOUTS HERE

Freestyle

A young Iranian team snapped four gold medals in Zagreb with Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) winning gold at 61kg, Abbas EBRAHIM (IRI) winning at 65kg, Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) became champion at 92kg and Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) winning the 125kg gold.

For the U.S., Spencer LEE (USA) kicked off the season with 57kg with gold, Zahid VALENCIA (USA) won at 86kg and Kyle SNYDER (USA) at 97kg. Both Valencia and Snyder went on to win gold at the World Championships later in the season.

Azerbaijan, Slovakia and France won one gold each, with Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) winning at 70kg for Azerbaijan, Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) winning gold at 74kg, and Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA) winning at 79kg for France.

Iran dominance began when Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) won gold at 61kg, beating the likes of Nuraddin NUVROZOV (AZE), Nashon GARRETT (USA), Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO) and Ebrahim KHARI (IRI). Javan would later win a silver medal at the World Championships. At 65kg, Ebrahim held his own in a thrilling final against Joseph MCKENNA (USA) to grab the second gold for Iran.

Young superstars Firouzpour and Masoumi put up a show to win gold medals at 92kg and 125kg respectively.

Lee was making a returning to competition six months after winning the silver medal at the Paris Olympics. He won the Zagreb Open gold with rather ease. For the U.S., Valencia saw himself win gold at 86kg outscoring his opponents 35-4 in four bouts. In the final, Valencia defeated world bronze medalist Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE), 8-0.

Snyder opened his season with a 33-1 scoring run in three bouts at 97kg in Zagreb. In the final, he easily defeated Abolfazl BABALOO (IRI).

Heybatov gave early warnings to the 70kg field by winning gold in Zagreb, a run which included wins over Austin GOMEZ (MEX), two back-to-back wins over Iranian wrestlers including a 12-1 one again Sina KHALILI (IRI) in the final. The two would wrestle again towards the end of the year at the U23 World Championships. Heybatov won that final with a 9-4 score.

Two veterans, Salkazanov and Khadjiev, were at their best in the opening Ranking Series tournament. Salkazanov blanked everyone, including winning 4-0 against David CARR (USA) in the final, to win 74kg gold.

Khadjiev had a tougher bat but managed to win the 79kg gold with a 5-3 win over Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI) in the final. The French wrestler would later win silver at the European Championships.