#WrestleSantiago

WATCH LIVE: 2023 Pan-American Games, Day One

By Eric Olanowski

SANTIAGO, Chile (November 1) --- Kyle SNYDER (USA) and Mason PARRIS (USA) headline the entries for the opening day at the 2023 Pan-American Games in Santiago, Chile.

The first day will feature freestyle action at 57kg, 74kg, 97kg and 125kg.

Snyder, the three-time world champion and Olympic gold medalist, will look to repeat his gold-medal-winning performance from the 2019 Lima Pan-American Games. His biggest threats are Arturo SILOT TORRES (CUB), Nishan RANDHAWA (CAN) and Luis PEREZ (DOM).

Snyder defeated Silot Torres to win gold at the Pan-American Championships in Buenos Aires earlier this year, while Randhawa and Perez finished in third in Argentina.

Parris, the newly minted world medalist, makes his third appearance in the Red, White and Blue singlet. His heavyweight bracket features three reigning Pan-American medalists: Jose DIAZ ROBERTTI (VEN), Aaron JOHNSON (JAM) and Catriel MURIEL (ARG), the silver through bronze medal finishers from this year's Pan-American Championships.

Wednesday’s opening round matches begin at 10:00 (local time), while the gold and bronze-medal bouts begin at 17:00.

Watch Wednesday’s action: Freestyle 57kg, 74kg, 97kg and 125kg.
- 2023 Pan-American Games brackets.

Wednesday’s Entries:

57kg
Hernan David ALMENDRA (ARG)
Oscar Eduardo TIGREROS URBANO (COL)
Osmany DIVERSENT MARTÍNEZ (CUB)
Juan RAMIREZ (DOM)
Edwin Alexi SEGURA GUERRA (EAI)
Darian CRUZ (PUR)
Zane RICHARDS (USA)
Pedro Jesus MEIJIAS RODRIGUEZ (VEN)

74kg
Alvan BORDEAUX REGO (BRA)
Adam THOMSON (CAN)
Leon PERALTA LANAS (CHI)
Franklin MAREN CASTILLO (CUB)
Luis BARRIOS ROCHEZ (HON)
Anthony VALENCIA (MEX)
Shane JONES (PUR)
Tyler BERGER (USA)
Anthony Jose MONTERO CHIRINOS (VEN)

97kg
Ricardo BAEZ (ARG)
Nishan RANDHAWA (CAN)
Matias Ignacio URIBE SEPULVEDA (CHI)
Carlos Hernan ANGULO MURILLO (COL)
Maxwell LACEY GARITA (CRC)
Arturo SILOT TORRES (CUB)
Luis PEREZ (DOM)
Kyle SNYDER (USA)
Cristian SARCO COLMENAREZ (VEN)

125kg
Catriel MURIEL (ARG)
Ibrain TORRES ESPINOSA (CUB)
Elison ADAMES (DOM)
Aaron JOHNSON (JAM)
Jonovan SMITH (PUR)
Mason PARRIS (USA)
Jose DIAZ ROBERTTI (VEN)

#UWWAwards

Kougioumtsidis, Antim, Jafarov named 2023 Rising Stars

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 13) -- Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE), ANTIM (UWW) and Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) have been named as UWW's Rising Stars of the Year for their phenomenal performances in 2023.

Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) has shown his mettle in the past but the 2023 World Championships made him the one for the future. He began the year with gold at the U23 Europeans, silver at the senior Europeans and his run in Belgrade made him the Rising Star in Freestyle.

At the Olympic weight of 74kg, he opened the World Championships by beating Olympic silver medallist Magomedkhabib KADIMAGOMEDOV (AIN), stunned world silver medallist Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) and almost checked Kyle DAKE (USA) in the semifinals. He then returned to earn a Paris Olympic quota by beating Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE).

 

In women's wrestling, ANTIM (UWW) was awarded the Rising Star for her performances in 2023. She won a silver medal in her senior Asian Championships debut, defended her U20 world title and then won a bronze medal at the World Championships at 53kg. It was her first senior-level World Championships and an unfazed Antim handed defeats to world champion Dom PARRISH (USA), Roksana ZASINA (POL) and European champion Jonna MALMGREN (SWE). She came in touching distance of entering the final but was stunned in the final second of the semifinal by Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA.

The medal in Belgrade made the 19-year-old the youngest Indian to win a medal at the World Championships. Soon after, Antim traveled to Hangzhou, China for the Asian Games and won a bronze medal at 53kg.

Teenage phenom Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) Hasrat Jafarov another step towards stardom as he added a World Championships silver medal to his resume as he reached the 67kg Greco-Roman final. Not only that, Jafarov won his first European title, gold at the Ranking Series and is now the biggest threat for gold for the Paris Olympics. In Belgrade, he defeated Kristizan VANCZA (HUN), Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) and Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM) before settling for silver.

Jafarov already has world titles at the U20 and U23 level and his remarkable rise at just 20 years of age wins him the Rising Star award in Greco-Roman.