#WrestleBuenosAires

Cuba and USA each collect three Greco-Roman golds at #WrestleBuenosAires

By Taylor Miller

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – After day one of the 2019 Pan American Championships in Buenos Aires, Cuba and the USA earned six of seven Greco-Roman gold medals, each winning three.

Leading the way for Cuba was 2015 World and 2016 Olympic champion Ismael BORRERO MOLINA, who claimed the crown at 67 kg.

In the finals, Borrero Molina bested 2012 Olympian and two-time Junior World bronze medalist Ellis COLEMAN (USA) with an 11-1 technical fall.

Other Cubans winning on Thursday included reigning Pan Am champion Luis ORTA SANCHEZ and returning Pan Am bronze medalist Gabriel ROSILLO KINDELAN.

Orta Sanchez finished atop the 60 kg podium after a dominating 9-0 finals performance against Samuel GURRIA VIGUERAS (MEX).

At 97 kg, Rosillo Kindelan shut down 2016 Junior World bronze medalist G’Angelo HANCOCK (USA) with a 10-2 technical fall victory, which started with a four-point throw.

Winning titles for the USA was Max NOWRY, RaVaughn PERKINS and Adam COON.

2018 World silver medalist Coon registered his third pin of the day in the 130 kg finals, sticking Luciano DEL RIO (ARG) in the first period. Trailing on a passivity call, Coon steamrolled Del Rio to his back for the pin at the 1:59-mark.

Nowry went 3-0 on the day, winning a round robin at 55 kg. His finals match only lasted 34 seconds, as he scored a pair of takedowns, coupled with gut wrenches, for an 8-0 win over Marcelo TORRES (ARG).

Perkins had already clinched the title at 72 kg in the morning session, going 2-0 in a three-man round-robin bracket.

Winning the other gold medal was Andres MONTANO ARROYO (ECU), who emerged victorious from the 63 kg round-robin. In his last match of the day, Montano Arroyo knocked off 2018 Pan American champion Ryan MANGO (USA), 9-0.

Competition continues tomorrow at 10 a.m. local time (9 a.m. EST) live on unitedworldwrestling.org.

2019 SENIOR PAN AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
at Buenos Aires, Argentina, April 18-21

Finals results
55 kg
GOLD - Max NOWRY (USA)
SILVER - Sargis KHACHATRYAN (BRA)
BRONZE - Joshua MEDINA (PUR)

60 kg
GOLD - Luis ORTA SANCHEZ (CUB) TF Samuel GURRIA VIGUERAS (MEX), 9-0
BRONZE - Anthony PALENCIA PUENTES (VEN) dec. Dalton ROBERTS (USA), 1-1
BRONZE - Dicther TORO CASTANEDA (COL) dec. Maikol JOSEFA (DOM), 4-3

63 kg
GOLD - Andres MONTANO ARROYO (ECU)
SILVER - Ryan MANGO (USA)
BRONZE - Jose DAVILA CABELLO (PER)

67 kg
GOLD - Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) TF Ellis COLEMAN (USA), 11-1
BRONZE - Shalom VILLEGAS REQUENA (VEN) TF Cristhian RIVAS CASTRO (ECU), 8-0
BRONZE - Joilson DE BRITO RAMOS JUNIOR (BRA) dec. Manuel LOPEZ SALCERO (MEX), 3-1

72 kg
GOLD – RaVaughn PERKINS (USA)
SILVER - Kenedy MORAES PEDROSA (BRA)
BRONZE - Francisco BARRIO (ARG)

97 kg
GOLD - Gabriel ROSILLO KINDELAN (CUB) TF G’Angelo HANCOCK (USA), 10-2
BRONZE - Kevin MEJIA CASTILLO (HON) wins by injury default Jose ARIAS PAREDES (DOM)
BRONZE - Luillys PEREZ MORA (VEN) dec. Oscar LOANGO SOLIS (COL), 3-1

130 kg
GOLD - Adam COON (USA) fall Luciano DEL RIO (ARG)
BRONZE - Angel PACHECO ROMERO (CUB) TF Diego ALMENDRAS RODRIQUEZ (CHI), 8-0
BRONZE - Edgardo LOPEZ MORELL (PUR) dec. Charles THOMS (CAN), 11-7

 

#WrestleBudapest

Yazdani: 'I was 60 percent fit in Budapest, want to win Olympic gold'

By Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (June 8) -- Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) returned to the mat for the first time in eight months. After winning the Asian Games, Yazdani underwent shoulder surgery and returned to training only a month ago. The selection process for the Paris Olympics needed him to participate in the Ranking Series in Budapest to prove his fitness.

Yazdani wrestled like he was never away. Yazdani ended a long day with a 12-2 win over Trent HIDLAY (USA), his fourth win via technical superiority in as many bouts.

"I thank God that I was able to get on the mat in international competitions after seven months and 13 days," Yazdani said. "I started wrestling training a month ago and, it was good. With my relative preparation, I tried to get an acceptable result in this course of competition."

Yazdani said that he still needs to work on a few of his weaknesses which were exposed in the tournament. Yazdani gave up six points in his four matches and was stuck in a danger position a couple of times.

"I had a little preparation and it was around 60 percent," he said. "I hadn’t wrestled for a long time and when they announced my name for this tournament, I had about 25 days to train and it got better as time passed. When you’re not ready, you may face problems. My opponents used this opportunity and scored some points on me."

"I have some weaknesses that I hope I can fix before the Olympics so that I can wrestle better than these competitions and get the gold medal. I hope that until the Olympics, I can eliminate my weaknesses so I can win the best medal for my country and our good people."

For his return to the mat, Yazdani expressed his gratitude to several individuals but was grateful for the support from his family.

"I want to thank all those who have been by my side during this time," he said. "Dr. Rezaei, my physiotherapist and also Samereh Ghanbari as they didn’t leave me alone during this time. Dr. Aslani, my doctor and Javad Rahmani, my bodybuilding coach, and of course, my old coach Mehdi Yegane Jafari, who was by my side during these difficult days after the shoulder surgery. My family has its own place but these loved ones contribute to winning this medal and the Olympics medal. So far everything has been successful, I hope we can get the best result in the future.

RESULTS

Freestyle

74kg
GOLD: Razambek JAMALOV (UZB) df. Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN), 7-4

BRONZE: Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ) df. Bekzod ABDURAKHMONOV (UZB), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Ali Abbas REZAEI (IRI) df. Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO), 5-3

86kg
GOLD: Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) df. Trent HIDLAY (USA), 12-2

BRONZE: Hayato ISHIGURO (JPN) df. Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ), 5-1
BRONZE: Evsem SHVELIDZE (GEO) df. Bobur ISLOMOV (UZB), 7-3

92kg
GOLD: Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
SILVER: Iuza TSERTSVADZE (GEO)
BRONZE: Balasz JUHASZ (HUN)