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United World Wrestling Assists in Delivery of Mats and Equipment to Puerto Rico

Monday, December 17, 2018 - 00:14 By United World Wrestling Press

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (December 17) – United World Wrestling and USA Wrestling’s Wrestling4Peace initiative successfully delivered two new wrestling mats, two donated wrestling mats and a variety of training equipment and clothing last week to the Puerto Rico Wrestling Federation.

The donated mats and equipment were collected by USA Wrestling’s Wrestling4Peace with two new mats and delivery payments provided by United World Wrestling. The donations are part of an ongoing commitment by United World Wrestling to help the island in their recovery from hurricanes that pummeled the nation in 2017.

“Puerto Rico is one of the strongest wrestling nations in the Americas,” said United World Wrestling president Nenad Lalovic. “We are here to better serve our athletes, especially those who’ve had to overcome obstacles like the hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico. This is just a part of what we’d like to accomplish, and it’s a great start.”

Lorraine RORABAUGH (USA) and Steve FRASER (USA) of USA Wrestling4Peace join Puerto Rico National Olympic Committee president Sara ROSALES (PUR), UWW Americas president Francisco LEE (GUA), and Puerto Rico national wrestling federation president Manual GARCIA (PUR) for a discussion of the recent donations (Photo: Luis Marin).

Puerto Rico has enjoyed plenty of wrestling success in recent years, with Jaime ESPINAL snatching Olympic silver with his runner-up finish in Beijing in freestyle at 86kg.

“We would like thank United World Wrestling for the coordination of the mats donated by USA Wrestling,” said Manuel GARCIA, president of the Puerto Rico National Wrestling Federation. “This donation has been a blessing to our island and act of kindness that you cannot find words to express how thankful we are.”

The donated mats were put to immediate use as 1984 Greco-Roman Olympic champion Steve FRASER (USA) put on a pair a clinics at local wrestling clubs in San Juan. Fraser taught a variety of techniques and talked with the young wrestlers about what it takes to win at the Olympic level.

“It was Wrestling4Peace’s pleasure to help Puerto Rico recover from the challenges it faced after Hurricane Maria,” said Fraser. “With the assistance of United World Wrestling, we were happy to collect over 1000 pieces of wrestling gear, including wrestling shoes, singlet’s, shorts, shirts, two wrestling mats and some strength training equipment and deliver to Puerto Rico Wrestling Federation.”

#WrestleCoralville

Pan-American Championships 2026 Day 1 Highlights

Thursday, May 7, 2026 - 14:28 By Eric Olanowski

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CORALVILLE, USA (May 7) -- The opening day of the Pan-American Championships is set to kick off this morning at 10:00 (local time) with Greco-Roman action. The eight weight classes that'll take the mat this morning are 55kg, 60kg, 63kg, 67kg, 77kg, 82kg, 87kg and 130kg. 

Start in Action: 
- Luis ORTA (CUB) – Tokyo 2020 gold, Paris 2024 bronze
- Yasmani ACOSTA (CHI) - Paris 2024 silver
- Oscar PINO HINDS - Returning Pan-Am champion, World silver
- Beka MELELASHVILI (USA) - Returning Pan-Am champion
- Jeremy Renzo PERALTA (ECU) - Returning Pan-Am champion

BOUT ORDER | SCHEDULE 

1:11: We're going to take a short four-minute break before heading into the semifinal matches. We'll see you over on UWW+ for those at 1:15 (local time).

12:18: Terrible scene here in Iowa. Olympic runner-up Yasmani ACOSTA (CHI) went for a throw in his semifinal match and suffered a tournament-end injury to his right knee. He was take off on a wheel chair, ending his day and tournament here at the Pan-American Championships.

12:01:  Eduardo BERNAL MOLINA (CHI) was just about to give up the tech fall when he caught Diego MARTINEZ DE LEIJA (MEX) on his back for the fall. He moved into the 77kg semifinals with that fall, and will meet the winner of Justin BOYCE (BAR) and Oscar Antonio BARRIOS ROCHEZ (HON).

11:31: U23 world bronze medalist Otto BLACK (USA) earns the 8-0 win in his senior Pan-Am debut, punching his ticket to the 67kg semifinals later today.

11:10: Orta moves into the 67kg semifinals with a fall over Horta after leading 9-0. He awaits the winner of Alejandro VARELA (GUA) and Angelo CAFE DE OLIVEIRA (BRA). That match is underway on Mat B, with the Guatemalan  winning, 9-2

11:01: For a second time today, we have a meeting of Pan-Am champions. This time, it's four-time Pan-Am champ Orta Sanchez taking on Julian HORTA (COL). The Cuban has an early 2-0 lead coming from a pair of step outs.

10:51: As expected when you have two high level Greco guys like Melelashvili and Gregorich, it was a low scoring affair, but in the end it was a 1-1 criteria win for the American. He scored the first point, which gave him the criteria advantage at the end of the bout. I'll tell you what, though, it was weird seeing a Cuban Olympic champion in Borrero, cornering an American, who was beating a Cuban. Borrero certainly knew Gregorich's strengths and helped Melelashvili use them to his advantage.

10:31: We have a pair of Pan-Am champions coming up on Mat B next in Beka MELELASHVILI (USA) and Daniel GREGORICH (CUB). The American is the reigning champ, while the Cuban won the event in 2024. 

10:23: Not wrestling related, but Cuban world and Olympic champion Ismael BORRERO (CUB) is cornering USA WRESTLING athletes. He is now living in Colorado Springs, USA, where he is an Assistant Greco-Roman Coach.

10:08 - Whistles are ringing through the Xtream Arena here in Iowa, which means wrestling is underway. We're only running two mats here. The first star that'll be in action will be world and Olympic champion Luis ORTA (CUB). He's currently 16-0 at the Pan-American Championships and is looking for his fifth continental title.