wrestleOaxtepec

Sampson of Cuba and Michaelson of USA Win Golden Boots on Day Two of #WrestleOaxtepec

By Taylor Miller

Photo of Jeisser SAMPSON SANCHEZ (CUB). Photo by Osvaldo Aguilar. 

 

OAXTEPEC, Mexico – 12 new champions across four different styles were crowned on the second day of the Cadet and Junior Pan American Championships in Oaxtepec, Mexico. The four divisions contested on Thursday included Junior Greco-Roman, Junior women’s freestyle, Cadet men’s freestyle and Cadet women’s freestyle.

This week, the top-eight in the Olympic weights of the Junior division will earn bids to the 2021 Junior Pan American Games in Cali, Colombia, in December.

Representatives from three different countries earned gold medals in Junior Greco, including Noah WACHSMUTH (USA) at 77 kg, James BURKS (USA) at 82 kg, Igor ALVES DE QUEIROZ (BRA) at 97 kg and Jeisser SAMPSON SANCHEZ (CUB) at 130 kg. Thanks to his outstanding performance, which featured four wins with two technical superiorities and two pins, Sampson received the Golden Boot.

In the Greco-Roman team race, the USA captured the crown with three champions and 177 points. Mexico came in second with 151 points and Venezuela rounded out the top-three with 102 points.

Photo of Lucia YEPEZ GUZMAN (ECU). Photo by Osvaldo Aguilar. 

There were only two weights wrestled today in Junior women’s freestyle. At 50 kg, Lucia YEPEZ GUZMAN (ECU) defeated Greili BENCOSME CARVAJAL (CUB) for the gold, and at 53 kg, Laura HERIN AVILA (CUB) took Jaslynn GALLEGOS (USA) in the finals.

The USA claimed gold at the remaining four weight classes in Cadet men’s freestyle to sweep the division. Picking up titles on Thursday were Thor MICHAELSON (USA) at 71 kg, Ryder ROGOTZKE (USA) at 80 kg, Peter CASALE (USA) at 92 kg and James MULLEN (USA) at 110 kg. With four wins on the day and a dominant performance, Michaelson won the Golden Boot.

With 10 gold medals, USA won the team title with 250 points. Mexico took silver with 170 points and Peru earned bronze with 80 points.

In Cadet women’s freestyle, USA won the two weight classes with golds from Gabrielle BRAGG (USA) at 40 kg and Emilie GONZALEZ (USA) at 43 kg.

Wrestling continues Friday at 9 a.m. CT live on uww.org.

Photo of Thor MICHAELSON (USA). Photo by Osvaldo Aguilar.

 

En español
OAXTEPEC, México – El segundo día del campeonato panamericano en Cadete y Juvenil terminó con 12 campeones nuevos entre cuatro estilos: Grecorromana juvenil, estilo libre femenino juvenil, estilo libre masculino cadete y estilo libre femenino cadete.

En los torneos juveniles, los ocho mejores luchadores en las clases de peso olímpico califican para los Juegos Panamericanos Juveniles en diciembre en Cali, Colombia.

Luchadores de tres países diferentes ganaron títulos en Grecorromana juvenil, incluyendo a Noah WACHSMUTH (USA) en 77 kg, James BURKS (USA) en 82 kg, Igor ALVES DE QUEIROZ (BRA) en 97 kg y Jeisser SAMPSON SANCHEZ (CUBA) en 130 kg. Sampson usó dos victorias de puesta espalda y dos de superioridad técnica para asegurar el botín de oro.

En la carrera del equipo en estilo grecorromano, USA ganó con tres campeones y 177 puntos. México fue segundo con 151 puntos y Venezuela fue tercero con 102 puntos.

Photo of the medalists at 53 kg in women's freestyle. Photo by Osvaldo Aguilar. 

Solo se disputaron dos categorías en el estilo libre femenino juvenil. En 50 kg, Lucia YEPEZ GUZMAN (ECU) derrotó a Greili BENCOSME CARVAJAL (CUB). Para ganar el título en 53 kg, Laura HERIN AVILA (CUB) superó a Jaslynn GALLEGOS (USA).

En estilo libre masculino cadete, USA capturo los cuatro pesos restantes para terminar el torneo con 10 medallas de oro en la división. Los campeones del jueves fueron Thor MICHAELSON (USA) en 71 kg, Ryder ROGOTZKE (USA) en 80 kg, Peter CASALE (USA) en 92 kg y James MULLEN (USA) en 110 kg. Michaelson, quien recogió cuatro victorias, recibió el botín de oro.

Con diez medallas de oro, USA ganó el título del equipo cadete con 250 puntos. México fue segundo con 170 puntos y Peru fue tercero con 80 puntos.

En el estilo libre femenino cadete, USA ganó las dos categorías con victorias de Gabrielle BRAGG (USA) en 40 kg y Emilie GONZALEZ (USA) en 43 kg.

Acción sigue mañana a las 9 a.m. CT en uww.org.

JUNIOR GRECO-ROMAN RESULTS
72 kg
GOLD - Noah WACHSMUTH (USA)
SILVER - Wilfredo LOPEZ (PAN)
BRONZE - Leag GUZMAN PADILLA (MEX)

82 kg
GOLD - James BURKS (USA)
SILVER - Christian MEDINA NUNEZ (MEX)
BRONZE - Augusto NIEVA (ARG)

97 kg
GOLD - Igor ALVES DE QUEIROZ (BRA)
SILVER - Daniel Alejandro VELIZ PEREZ (MEX)
BRONZE- Liober BETANCOURT HECHAVARRIA (CUB)
BRONZE - Max MADRID DE LEON (PAN)

130 kg
GOLD - Jeisser SAMPSON SANCHEZ (CUBA)
SILVER - Peter CHRISTENSEN (USA)
BRONZE - Juan CANTILLO TORRES (PAN)
BRONZE - Jami GRUESO NUNEZ (VEN)

JUNIOR WOMEN’S FREESTYLE RESULTS
50 kg
GOLD - Lucia YEPEZ GUZMAN (ECU)
SILVER - Greili BENCOSME CARVAJAL (CUB)
BRONZE - Gloria ASCA VILCAPOMA (PER)
BRONZE - Yusmy CHAPARRO URREGO (COL)

53 kg
GOLD - Laura HERIN AVILA (CUB)
SILVER - Jaslynn GALLEGOS (USA)
BRONZE - Mariana ROJAS DIAZ (VEN)
BRONZE - Zeltzin HERNANDEZ GUERRA (MEX)

CADET MEN’S FREESTYLE RESULTS
71 kg
GOLD - Thor MICHAELSON (USA)
SILVER - Carlos SERRANO LOPEZ (MEX)
BRONZE - Darío CUBAS CASTILLO (PER)

80 kg
GOLD - Ryder ROGOTZKE (USA)
SILVER - Alexander CUSINGA GOMEZ (PER)
BRONZE - Miguel Angel GONZALEZ GOMEZ (MEX)

92 kg
GOLD - Peter CASALE (USA)
SILVER - Alan Yahir PEREZ URIBE (MEX)

110 kg
GOLD - James MULLEN (USA)
SILVER - Rhian CAVALINI ENGEL (BRA)
BRONZE - Angel RAMIREZ NAVARRO (MEX)

CADET WOMEN’S FREESTYLE RESULTS
40 kg
GOLD - Gabrielle BRAGG (USA)
SILVER - Veronica AMARO GARCIA (MEX)

43 kg
GOLD - Emilie GONZALEZ (USA)
SILVER - Vicky LEON GOMEZ (ECU)
BRONZE- Ana PALACIOS HERNANDEZ (MEX)

#WrestleParis

Paris 2024: For France wrestling trio, Olympics come home. Literally

By United World Wrestling Press

PARIS (July 17) -- To compete at a home Olympics can be an unparalleled career high for the best of athletes. Even more so for the three French wrestlers, for whom the Games have come home — quite literally.

When Koumba LARROQUE, Ameline DOUARRE and Mamadassa SYLLA check in at the Athletes Village in Seine Saint Denis and step on the mat at the picturesque venue in Champs de Mars, it’ll mark a culmination of their stories that took shape just a stone's throw away, at the Club Bagnolet Lutte 93.

 Koumba LARROQUE (FRA)
Koumba LARROQUE (FRA) at Club Bagnolet Lutte 93.

Indeed, there are many wrestling strongholds in France. Dijon, roughly 320 km from Paris, is one such hub that is home to many young stars. And quite a few of them train at France’s National Institute of Sport, Expertise, and Performance — commonly known as INSEP, a facility that’s also designated as the United World Wrestling Center.

However, the presence of wrestling stars who have honed their skills at Bagnolet, the famous Parisian club, in the French team is steeped in symbolism. Not least because it is located close to the two Olympic landmark sites.

But by competing at the home Games, the trio will also carry forward the commune’s century-long wrestling tradition, which also captures the growth of the sport between the two Olympics Paris has hosted.

Ameline DOUARRE (FRA)Ameline DOUARRE (FRA) will compete at Paris Olympics in 62kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

It was exactly a hundred years ago, in 1924, that the Association Sportive et Gymnasnique de Bagnolet reinvented and transformed itself into a sports club, kick-starting a revolution of sorts in the area not too far from Paris’s city center.

Nothing nails down Bagnolet’s wrestling culture more than the fact that, according to a survey on the club’s website, two out of three youngsters wrestled. However, it was only after an agreement was reached with the department of Seine Saint Denis — the heart of the Games where the Athletes Village is located — that the sport really took off and the Club Bagnolet Lutte 93 came into being in its current form in 2005.

From Mélonin NOUMONVI, the 2014 Greco-Roman world champion, to Olympic gold medalist Steeve GUENOT and his bronze medal-winning brother Christophe as well as the latest sensation, the former U20 and U23 world champion Larroque – many French champions have spent key years of their development at the club.

But Larroque, Douarre and Sylla have a chance to do something none of their predecessors could: compete in their own backyard.

Mamadassa SYLLA (FRA)Mamadassa SYLLA (FRA) after his qualification for the 2024 Paris Games. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Sylla, who discovered wrestling at age 15, finished fifth at the European Championships this year and will compete in the 67 kg Greco-Roman category. Douarre is a last-minute entrant to the draw after withdrawals in the 62 kg weight class.

Sylla, who was a second-choice wrestler for the qualification tournament in Baku, became the first wrestler from France to qualify in Grec-Roman since the 2012 London Games, the last time France won an Olympic medal in wrestling, a bronze by 2008 Beijing champion Steve GUENOT (FRA).

Larroque, though, remains the flag-bearer for French wrestling at the Paris Olympics. Introduced to wrestling at age 9, a youth Olympics medallist at 16, and U23 world champion when she was 19 and a senior worlds silver medallist in the same year, Larroque was destined for greatness.

But her career arc suffered a setback. An injury in the 2018 World Championship final meant she was away from the mat for almost a year. Once she recovered, Larroque looked like a shadow of her past self as she could not manage any podium finishes. And although she made it to Tokyo, she was eliminated after the first round itself.

Paris provides the 68kg wrestler a path to redemption. To finish among medals in front of her family and friends — and a short distance away from her club — would undoubtedly be an unparalleled high in Larroque’s career.