#WrestleBuenosAires

Pan-Ams Preview: USA juggernaut the challenge for others

Wednesday, May 3, 2023 - 12:14 By Gaurav Bhatt

Share this article

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (April 28) -- It’s Pan-American Championships time again, which means the best wrestlers in North, Central, and South America will square off for continental supremacy. This time, the Pan-Am showpiece will run from May 3 to 6 in Buenos Aires. 

280 athletes from 19 nations are in the fray, but only one burning question: Can anybody stop the American juggernaut?

While they couldn’t replicate the 2021 Guatemala City heroics of capturing all ten freestyle gold medals, Team USA triumphed in 8 categories last year in Acapulco, topping the freestyle team charts for the eleventh straight year. And this year is shaping up to be more of the same. 

The USA men’s freestyle team competes May 5-6 and comprises seven 2022 World Championships medalists. This star-studded line-up includes World champions Kyle DAKE (74 kg), Jordan BURROUGHS (79 kg), David TAYLOR (86 kg), Kyle SNYDER (97 kg), and world silver medalists Thomas GILMAN (57 kg), Yianni DIAKOMIHALIS (65 kg) and Zain RETHERFORD (70 kg).

Leading the charge will be Dake, the four-time world champion who is looking for a Pan Am title hat trick. Last September, the Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist joined John SMITH (USA) as the only Americans to accomplish a four-peat at the Worlds. Dake won his first two World championship titles at the non-Olympic 79kg weight class and the last at 74kg.

The 32-year-old is also a 2018 World Cup champion, winning U.S. Open titles in 2016 and 2018. Dake was a four-time NCAA champion for Cornell, winning titles in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. He was the first wrestler to win four NCAA Division I title in four different weight classes.

But his Twitter bio sums up Dake’s intentions best: “Made History! But I still have a few things I want to do.”

The Lansing, N.Y.-native will start as the favorite in Argentina in a bracket that has familiar names in Franklin GOMEZ (PUR), Franklin MAREN (CUB), and Cesar ALVAN (BRA). Those three grapplers rounded off the podium in Acapulco last year, and the 36-year-old Gomez — a former Pan Am champion and world silver medalist — would look to avenge his 10-1 defeat in last year’s final against Dake. 

Burroughs, Taylor, and Snyder are the other three reigning world champions in action.

Jordan BURROUGHS (USA)Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) is the defending Pan-Am champ at 74kg. (Photo: UWW) 
Burroughs, with his three Pan American Games crowns, six world titles, and an Olympic gold medal, has little left to prove. Last year — after winning the 79kg world title in Belgrade to become his nation’s most decorated freestyle wrestler ever — the 34-year-old sat down with Team USA to disclose what’s fuelling him now.

“I wanted to win the tallest trophy when I was a kid. Then I wanted to have my name in the paper and get a varsity jacket. Then I wanted to get a scholarship, get my name up in the rafters at my college, and then it became, I wanted to gain followers and make money and establish myself. Then it became I wanted to be the best ever,” Burroughs said. “Now, honestly, I'm getting back to the essence of why I started this, and that's just because I love it.”

Of course, there’s Paris on the horizon as well.

“It's gold or bust for me, literally every single year. 2023 is an exciting time because it leads up to 2024 [Paris Olympic Games]. You want to get that ball rolling and start to gain momentum,” Burroughs added.

Snyder, the 27-year-old phenom, meanwhile, is looking for a Pan Am-threepeat of his own. The 2016 Olympic champion has won a World or Olympic medal for Team USA for eight straight years, a run that has fetched him a 2020 Olympic silver, three World gold, two silver, and a bronze medal.

The reigning Olympic and World champion Taylor will be gunning for his fourth gold at the event. The ‘Magic Man’ — who was named United World Wrestling Freestyle Wrestler of the Year in 2018 — has won the 86 kg Pan Am title thrice, including in Buenos Aires in 2019.

The Pan-American Championships, taking place prior to the USA World Team Trials in June, are often considered a warm-up for American wrestlers. The last time the US failed to bring home a gold medal was in 2001 when Cuba dominated the tournament. However, for the past two decades, the US has won at least one gold medal at the event, and they are poised to continue this trend with their decorated team.

Alejandro VALDES (CUB)

A few challengers, however, could thwart USA’s clean-sweep bid.

Among them is Alejandro VALDES (CUB) who is returning to the tournament after five years. The two-time world medalist, who won the Pan-Am title in 2013 and 2014, will look to challenge the likes of Diakomihalis.

Yurieski TORREBLANCA (CUB) has won the 86 kg gold at the Pan-American Championships thrice (2015, 2017, 2020) and has a silver (2018) to boot. That defeat in 2018, however, came against American Taylor with a tight 3-2 scoreline.

Queralta’s compatriot Reineris SALAS (CUB), meanwhile, will throw down the gauntlet in the 125 kg category. The three-time World medallist earned a bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. With defending champion Amarveer DHESI (CAN) not entered, Salas will be the favorite to win the gold, his eighth.

Several of Puerto Rico’s silver linings from last year will take the mat with the hopes of upgrading their medals. These contenders include Darian CRUZ (57 kg), Joseph ANDRES SILVA (61 kg), Sebastian RIVERA (65 kg), and the aforementioned Gomez (74 kg).

Follow the Pan-American Championships live on uww.org or the official UWW App from May 3.

#WrestleTirana

Elor wins eighth world title, sets sights on Paris Olympics

Friday, October 27, 2023 - 21:38 By Vinay Siwach

Share this article

TIRANA, Albania (October 27) -- If you were logging in to watch Amit ELOR (USA) compete in the 72kg final of the U23 World Championships, most likely you missed the final. That's because she was lightning fast in winning the bout in mere 21 seconds.

And if you think that was quick, Elor finished her first bout in 16 seconds and the second in 18 seconds. Only her semifinal against Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL) was for six minutes. Out of the 24 minutes for four bouts, Elor spent only six minutes and 55 seconds on the mat to win the U23 World Championships in Tirana, Albania on Friday.

ALSO READ: Despite nine wrestlers, Japan wins team title

At the age of 19, Amit Elor now holds an impressive record of eight world titles across different age groups, including two senior, two U23, three U20, and one U17 world gold.

While her remarkable stats speak about her dominance on the mat, Elor herself has kept no record of her international wins or scores.

"Maybe I should go over," she says. "We used to do it in high school. And ever since I got into international wrestling, I haven't thought about it as much. But it would be really cool to look back and see how many matches they've had and how many wins and losses. I remember the competitions, but not always every single match unless it was really meaningful."

Amit ELOR (USA)Amit ELOR (USA) used the lace to win her 72kg final. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

For most, the final would mean a lot but for Elor, the semifinal at the U23 World Championships against Choluj was the stand-out match. Choluj managed to stop Elor from scoring a fall or win via technical superiority and lost only 5-0.

"Probably my semi-final had a strong opponent and our styles matched up against each other," she says. "It was kind of similar styles which made it difficult. A lot of hand-fighting. I had some injuries from senior Worlds that made it difficult to hand fight. But I stayed composed and in good position and I was able to win."

The final against Jyoti BERWAL (UWW) was unbelievably one-sided as by the time Berwal could try any move on Elor, the American had laced her for a 10-0 victory.

With that, Elor extended her international career record to 38-1, the one loss coming at the U17 World Championships in 2019. "I'll get it next year," a 16-year-old Elor would say back then. She won the gold at the next U17 Worlds without conceding a point.

"It's not easy," Elor says. "There's so much work involved that leads up to the competition. There's a lot of pressure and I want to do my best and I have high expectations for myself. When you go out there and you wrestle it seems so short and easy but that's just the result of all the work leading up to the competition."

In the lead-up to the U23 Worlds, Elor trained with six-time world champion Adeline GRAY (USA), trained at her home in California and also used her experience at the U20 and senior worlds which she called the 'perfect preparation.'

"Training with Adeline has been amazing for me," she says. "I am constantly learning so much from her. Not just about wrestling but about being an athlete and taking care of yourself. She is a very confident, strong person and so I've kind of learned how to think more for myself and what I need as an athlete.

"The two World Championships were perfect preparation for this."

It was the same script last year in which Elor won three world titles, becoming the first from the U.S. to win all the world titles. She just repeated the three-peat.

 

But the season is not over for her. Elor will soon be challenging herself to make the Olympic weight of 68kg (72kg is not an Olympic weight) in her bid to be at Paris 2024. 

"The most important thing for me is that I feel my best when I'm wrestling," she says. "Right now my plan is to drop my weight to 68kg and see how I feel there. That's going to be a big challenge, a different weight."

Elor says she has not reduced weight for a competition. Though she spent her early days in international wrestling at 68kg, that was at the U17 level.

"I was 68kg in 2021, so it's nothing new but it's still been two years," she says. "It's going to be challenging but I'm really excited and I'm ready to do everything I possibly can because it's the Olympic year."

Being at the Olympics will make Elor the second wrestler in the world to win all world titles and also compete at the Games. A gold in Paris will put her next to Yui SUSAKI (JPN), the only wrestler to have won all world titles and the Olympic gold. 

But just to be in Paris, Elor will have a marathon stretch. In the U.S., she will have to first wrestle at the team trials to be at the Pan-Am Olympic Qualifiers in March. If the country qualifies the weight for Paris, Elor will have to go through the Olympic Team Trials in April.

"Unfortunately, 68kg wasn't qualified yet for the Olympics," she says. "There's going to be a wrestle-off in February and whoever wins will go to Pan Ams and try to qualify the weight there. I would really need to work more on my speed and coordination and definitely add more to my arsenal. I'll wrestle in the wrestle-off at 68 and see how I do."