#WrestleAcapulco

Sunday Night's Pan-American Finals Set

By Eric Olanowski & Vinay Siwach

ACAPULCO, Mexico (May 8) -- The final day of the Pan-Am Championships is here. Eight freestyle weight classes will be in action after two were played out Saturday. Both the 79kg and 92kg gold medals were won by the USA.

After winning the Greco-Roman and women's wrestling team titles, the USA will be looking to clinch the freestyle team title as the tournament nears its close Sunday. (Day three recap: Hildebrandt helps USA win team title)

MATCH ORDER | WATCH LIVE

Finals matches:
57kg: Thomas Patrick GILMAN (USA) vs. Darian Toi CRUZ (PUR) 
61kg: Nordic-style bracket 
65kg: Sebastian C RIVERA (PUR) vs. Joseph Christopher MC KENNA (USA) 
70kg: Vinicius DA SILVA JOAQUIM (BRA)  vs.  Emmanuel Olufemi OLAPADE (CAN) 
74kg: Kyle Douglas DAKE (USA) vs. Franklin GOMEZ MATOS (PUR) 
86kg: Lazaro Daniel HERNANDEZ LUIS (CUB) vs. Zahid VALENCIA (USA) 
97kg: Kyle Frederick SNYDER (USA) vs. Arturo SILOT TORRES (CUB)
125kg: Nicholas Edward GWIAZDOWSKI (USA) vs. Amarveer DHESI (CAN) 

1:56: That'll do it for this session. I would say it's time for lunch, but it's time for our sit-down interview with Jordan BURROUGHS (USA)! Lunch can wait. We'll see you back here at 17:00 (local time) for the closing session at the 2022 Pan-American Championships. 

1:51: The swag is real. Arturo SILOT TORRES (CUB) ​​is one of my new favorite guys to watch. He ​has some style and attitude to his wrestling. He'll need to bring it tonight when he takes on world and Olympic champ Kyle Snyder in the 97kg finals.

1:49: That was a fun one to way. Vinicius DA SILVA JOAQUIM (BRA) and Alexis OLVERA MAGALLANES (MEX) just put up 24 points on the board, with the Brazilian scoring a late four to win the match. He'll wrestle the winner of Emmanuel Olufemi OLAPADE (CAN) vs. Jhon Wilmer CHUNGA CARRENO (PER) tonight for 70kg gold.

 
1:44: I feel like there's no break in the action. It's one match ending early after another. Kyle Frederick SNYDER (USA) stormed to an 11-0  Nishan Preet Singh RANDHAWA (CAN) 

1:41: Gomez grabs a finals spot at 74kg with an 11-0 shutout win against Rego.
 
1:34:
That was short-lived! Dake demolished Maren Castillo in 40 seconds. He'll wrestle the winner of Cesar BORDEAUX REGO ALVAN (BRA) vs. Franklin GOMEZ MATOS (PUR) in tonight's 74kg finals.

1:33: It's Dake time on Mat A! The two-time world champ and Olympic bronze medalist is wrestling Cuba's world bronze medalist Maren Castillo.

1:26: That was the most intense match I've seen here at the Pan-American Championships. Valencia pulled away in the second period and punched his ticket to the 86kg finals. He'll wrestle Cuba's Lazaro Daniel HERNANDEZ LUIS (CUB).

1:15: What a battle! Zahid VALENCIA (USA) and two-time Olympian Carlos Arturo IZQUIERDO MENDEZ (COL) are going toe-to-toe on Mat B. 

1:05: I'm back! We just shot a sit-down interview with two-time world champion J'den COX (USA), so be on the lookout for that over on our Youtube in the next few weeks.

11:55: Wrestling now: Thomas GILMAN (USA) is up on Mat A and Joey MCKENNA (USA) is up on Mat B.

11:45: We had a real tight one over on Mat BJacob Tizoc ALEXANDER TORRES (CAN) trailed Cristian Bernardo SANTIAGO PEREZ (MEX) but scored a takedown with 18 seconds left and hung on to the 5-5 criteria win.

11:35: Despite picking up the W, Sebastian C RIVERA (PUR) limped off the match after his win via fall over Albaro RUDECINDO CAMACHO (DOM).

11:13: This just in: Zain RETHERFORD (USA) has pulled out of the 2022 Pan-American Championships due to an illness. He did weigh in this morning, qualifying the United States for the Belgrade World Championships at 70kg.

11:03: The 35-year-old world bronze medalist Franklin MAREN CASTILLO (CUB) is heading to Mat A to take on Sergio Peter GODOY VITE (ECU) at 74kg. He's looking for a second career Pan-American title and first since the 2017 Pan-Ams.

11:01: Interesting note: Pablo Dario VERA INSFRAN (PAR) is wrestling Angel Eduardo CORTES BONILLA (PAN) over on Mat A. He's looking to become the second wrestler ever from Paraguay to win a Pan-American medal.

10:54: The Americans won both freestyle golds last night and will be heavily favored in a lot of the weights today. But it'll be a while until any of them are up. The first guy that fans will see will be reigning world champion Thomas GILMAN (USA), who will be up on Mat A/ bout 254.

10:53: This is Eric Olanowski, taking back over on the live blog. We just wrapped up shooting some fun content with Sarah Hildebrant, which will come out on our Youtube over the next few weeks. 

10:45: 
Darian CRUZ (PUR) decided to sit on his 7-0 lead and was cautioned for fleeing But he manages to beat Oscar TIGREROS (COL) 7-2 at 57kg.

10:30: Tokyo Olympian Agustin DESTRIBATS (ARG) had to scrape hard for his win against Wber CUERO MUNOZ (COL) at 65kg. He was leading 4-0 but Cuero scored a step out. He added another and Destribats was cautioned for fleeing. It became 4-4 with seven seconds left. Cuero tried hard but failed to get the win.

10:20: Emmanuel OLAPADE (CAN) has a technical superiority win over Vinicius DA SILVA JOAQUIM (BRA) in Round 1 of 70kg

10:15: Brandon ESCOBAR (HON) and Enrique HERRERA (PER) are invovled in absolute scramble. Escobar had built an 8-4 lead before Herrera's comeback who now leads 8-8. Herrera steers clear with three takedowns but Escobar manages one in dying seconds. Herrera wins 14-8

10:09: On Mat B, Olvera takes longer but manages to beat Karlikowski 10-0 in the Round 1 bout at 70kg

10:07: Fix has a great start to the tournament. Silva tried to challenge the USA wrestler but there is a lot of gulf in the class. Fix wins 11-0 inside the first period

10:00: Daton FIX (USA) on Mat A to kickoff proceedings. The World silver medalist is taking on Joseph Andres SILVA (PUR) in Round 1 at 61kg. On Mat B, Alexis OLVERA MAGALLANES (MEX) is up against Cristian KARLIKOWSKI (ARG) at 70kg.

9:45: Welcome to the final day of what has been an exceptional, action-packed Pan-Am Championships so far. For one final time, wrestlers will on the mat in this beautiful town of Acapulco, Mexico.

#Grappling

Grappling Gi: Kazakhstan, Poland emerge best teams at World Championships

By Vinay Siwach

ASTANA, Kazakhstan (October 12) -- Kazakhstan stole the show in men's Grappling Gi, winning four of the nine gold medals on the final day of the World Grappling Championships.

Alikhan ALSHINBAY (KAZ) won the gold medal at 58kg, Samat AITPANBET (KAZ) claimed a submission victory at 62kg, Sarsen ZHETIBAYEV (KAZ) defeated former world champion Iker CAMARA (ESP) 2-1 at 71kg and Ruslan ISRAILOV (KAZ) held on to a 5-2 win at 92kg.

Kazakhstan won the team title with 185 points, well clear of second-placed United States which could get only 68 points and third-placed Poland 66 points.

In women's grappling gi, Poland continued its dominance with yet another solid performance, earning it the team title. Led by returning champion Justyna SITKO (POL), Poland claimed two gold medals and 110 points overall to finish first. Kazakhstan was second with 43 points and Ukraine was third with 40 points.

Poland had five finalists with two winning the gold medals. Sitko defended her gold medal at 90kg with a 7-1 win over Alena VLASOVA (AIN) while Weronika ROT (POL) defeated Anna REMNEVA (AIN), 10-0, in the 71kg to win gold.

Alicja STYPULKOWSKA (POL) was also in the final but she came up short. Carlota PRENDES LARIOS (ESP) defeated her, 6-4, in the 53kg final. Magdalena GIEC (POL) ended up with a silver medal for the second year in a row, dropping the 58kg final 9-5 against Nikolett KIS (HUN).

In the 64kg final, Alsu IANSHINA (AIN) won via submission against Adrianna MAZUR (POL).

RESULTS

Men's Grappling Gi

58kg
GOLD: Alikhan ALSHINBAY (KAZ) df. Jerzy IZDEBSKI (POL), 4-2

BRONZE: Zhyldyzbek ABYLBEKOV (KGZ) df. Vahid ALAKBAROV (AZE), via submission (3-2)
BRONZE: Nurbek SATYBALDY (KAZ) df. Jad HERZHAFT (FRA), 12-5

62kg
GOLD: Samat AITPANBET (KAZ) df. Nurbek MYRZALINOV (KAZ), via submission (0-2) 

BRONZE: Sultan SHARIPOV (AIN) df. Guillermo GUTIERREZ (ESP), via submission (4-0) 
BRONZE: Joseph DIEHL (USA) df. Daniiar ZHAMANKULOV (KGZ), 8-3

66kg
GOLD: Giorgi RAZMADZE (GEO) df. Mayis NERSESYAN (ARM), 6-4

BRONZE: Anthony DE OLIVEIRA (FRA) df. Yurii CHERKALIUK (UKR), via submission (9-0)
BRONZE: Daulet ZHUMADULLAYEV (KAZ) df. Zack ZINZOW (USA), 3-2

71kg
GOLD: Sarsen ZHETIBAYEV (KAZ) df. Iker CAMARA (ESP), 2-1

BRONZE: Jedrzej LOSKA (POL) df. Cole MORRISON (USA), via submission (0-2)
BRONZE: Oleksandr HULIAIEV (UKR) df. Nico PULVERMUELLER (GER), 2-2

77kg
GOLD: Imam AMAGAEV (AIN) df. Adlan MADAYEV (KAZ), 6-4

BRONZE: Dmitriy MIKHAILIDI (KAZ) df. Pierre MANZO (FRA), 5-1
BRONZE: Arthur LEROY (FRA) df. Jakub NAJDEK (POL), 4-2

84kg
GOLD: Ruslan VALIEV (FRA) df. Hajimurad PURTIYEV (AZE), 6-0

BRONZE: Jeremie BLAIN (CAN) df. Bekarys SHYNGGYSBEK (KAZ), in overtime (1-1)
BRONZE: Igor DZIAG (POL) df. Samy MEZACHE (FRA), via submission (6-2)

92kg
GOLD: Ruslan ISRAILOV (KAZ) df. Mantas DAUBLYS (LTU), 5-2

BRONZE: Ramazan KUSSAINOV (KAZ) df. Borja ALVAREZ (ESP), via submission (6-0)
BRONZE: Pablo ESTEPA NIETO (ESP) df. Julian VANDERLINDEN (USA), 4-3

100kg
GOLD: Kristof SZUCS (HUN) df. Ramazan ABDRAKHIMOV (KAZ), via submission (10-2)

BRONZE: Ivan MALIN (UKR) df. Konstantin LI (KGZ), 6-1
BRONZE: Roman LUKASHEVICH (AIN) df. Pavlos VLACHOS (GRE), via submission (5-0)

130kg
GOLD: Abu GUDANATOV (AIN) df. Saulet ABUSSALIKHOV (KAZ), 2-1

BRONZE: John HANSEN (USA) df. Ioannis KARGIOTAKIS (GRE), 3-2
BRONZE: Eldar RAFIGAEV (MDA) df. Akhmed GAIRBEKOV (AIN), via submission (0-4)

Justyna SITKO (POL)Justyna SITKO (POL), center, defended her gold medal at 90kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Women's Grappling Gi

53kg
GOLD: Carlota PRENDES LARIOS (ESP) df. Alicja STYPULKOWSKA (POL), 6-4

BRONZE: Zuzanna KOWALSKA (POL) df. Alina KASKINOVA (KAZ), via submission (2-2)
BRONZE: Polina KRUPSKAIA (AIN) df. Anna BEZHENAR (UKR), 3-2

58kg
GOLD: Nikolett KIS (HUN) df. Magdalena GIEC (POL), 9-5

BRONZE: Tetiana ASTAKHOVA (UKR) df. Rachel GUTIERREZ (USA), via submission (5-2)
BRONZE: Breanna STIKKELMAN (USA) df. Joanna ZABULEWICZ (POL), 4-4

64kg
GOLD: Alsu IANSHINA (AIN) df. Adrianna MAZUR (POL), via submission (2-2)

BRONZE: Fariza KULYNTAY (KAZ) df. Raluca ROSCA (ITA), 7-2
BRONZE: Veronika KARAKHONOVA (AIN) df. Sylwia WIERZBOWSKA (POL), via submission (5-0)

71kg
GOLD: Weronika ROT (POL) df. Anna REMNEVA (AIN), 10-0

BRONZE: Kateryna SHAKALOVA (UKR) df. Valeriia PROKOPIUK (UKR), 7-1
BRONZE: Emily GUENZLER (GER) df. Tatiana KABANOVA (AIN), via submission (0-4)

90kg
GOLD: Justyna SITKO (POL) df. Alena VLASOVA (AIN), 7-1

BRONZE: Tammy GRIEGO (USA) df. Vlada BOIAKHCHIEVA (AIN), via submission (2-2)