#WrestleGuatemalaCity

USA gana ocho medallas de oro en el dia final de #WrestleGuatemalaCity

By Taylor Miller

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala – El Campeonato Panamericano Juvenil 2019 se acabó hoy con el estilo libre masculino en la Ciudad de Guatemala.

USA gano ocho de las 10 medallas de oro, y Cuba recogió las otra dos.

Recibiendo el Botín de Oro por ser la luchadora más destacada del torneo fue Roman BRAVO-YOUNG (USA), quien ganó el título en 61 kg.

USA reclamó su tercer título del equipo de la semana con 240 puntos. En segundo lugar fue Canadá con 120 puntos, y México resulto en tercer lugar con 113 puntos.

In English

The 2019 Junior Pan American Championships came to a close on Friday night with men’s freestyle.

The United States won eight of the 10 gold medals, and Cuba won the other two.

Receiving the Golden Boot as the tournament’s most outstanding wrestler was Roman BRAVO-YOUNG (USA), who won the title at 61 kg.

USA won its third team title of the weekend with 240 points. Canada was second with 120 points and Mexico finished third in 113 points.

Final team standings
1. USA - 240
2. Canada - 120
3. Mexico - 113
4. Ecuador - 102
5. Cuba - 70
6. Brazil - 59
7. Guatemala - 51
8. Peru - 38
9. Panama - 34
10. Colombia - 30

Finals results

57 kg
GOLD – Trevor MASTROGIOVANNI (USA) TF Elkin ESPANA SANTA (COL), 12-1
BRONZE – Brayden TODD (CAN) TF Luis MENDONZA JIMENEZ (BOL), 10-0
BRONZE – Lucas NAVARRETE VIDAL (ECU) TF Jonathan PRATA (ARG), 10-0

61 kg
GOLD – Roman BRAVO-YOUNG (USA) TF Carlos MENDOZA PENA (MEX), 10-0
BRONZE – Esteban PEREZ CASTELLANOS (GUA) TF Bryan MORA VALENZUELA (ECU), 11-1

65 kg
GOLD – Cristian SOLENZAL LOPEZ (CUB) df. Real WOODS (USA), 6-4
BRONZE – Francisco GONZALEZ TORRES (MEX) df. Oscar CALVOPINA CANCIO (ECU), 3-2
BRONZE – Eduardo AYALA PENA (ESA) TF Raul BATISTA BARRIA (PAN), 10-0

70 kg
GOLD – Peyton ROBB (USA) TF Diego SANDOVAL ZARCO (MEX), 10-0
BRONZE – Sergio GODOY VITE (ECU) TF Leonardo RIVERA CASTRO (PER), 12-2
BRONZE – Connor QUINTON (CAN) df. Jhoan SERNA RODRIGUEZ (COL), 9-8

74 kg
GOLD – Daniel BRAUNAGEL (USA)
SILVER – Raul Israel PALACIOS DOMINGUEZ (MEX)
BRONZE – Pedro ARAUJO CAMPOS (BRA)

79 kg
GOLD – Shane GRIFFITH (USA) TF Carson LEE (CAN), 12-1
BRONZE - Miguel ORENLAS REYNOSO (MEX) TF Brisd WALTTUONI ROJAS (PER), 11-0
BRONZE - Giovanni DE OLIVEIRA GAION PIAZZA (BRA) df. Jonathan LOPEZ VARGAS (GUA), fall 2:18

86 kg
GOLD – Zac BRAUNAGEL (USA)
SILVER – Arturo SILOT TORRES (CUB)
BRONZE – Gino AVILA DILBERT (HON)

92 kg
GOLD – Yonger BASTIDA POMARES (CUB)
SILVER – Jakob WOODLEY (USA)
BRONZE – Josue CAMPOS ARIZPE (MEX)

97 kg
GOLD – Tanner SLOAN (USA)
SILVER – Ikjyot RANDHAWA (CAN)
BRONZE – Victor MANCHENO JUMBO (ECU)

125 kg
GOLD – Seth NEVILLS (USA)
SILVER – Jackson SERNA (CAN)
BRONZE – Steeven YEPEZ PENAFIEL (ECU)

 

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open Flashback: Iran, U.S. opened season with success

By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (January 18) -- United World Wrestling's 2026 season will kick off with the Ranking Series in Zagreb February 4. The recent memories of Zagreb may be the September World Championships but the 2025 season also kicked off with the Ranking Series in the Croatian capital.

Iran and the United States had strong performances in the first of the four stops of the Ranking Series, a theme which continued throughout the 2025 season as the U.S. dominated Freestyle while Iran dominated Greco-Roman.

Women's Wrestling participants were less in numbers but still saw U.S. and UWW wrestlers share gold medals.

Here's a trip down memory lane of the 2025 Zagreb Open Ranking Series before the 2026 season kicks off:

WATCH ZAGREB OPEN 2025 TOP BOUTS HERE

Freestyle

A young Iranian team snapped four gold medals in Zagreb with Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) winning gold at 61kg, Abbas EBRAHIM (IRI) winning at 65kg, Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) became champion at 92kg and Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) winning the 125kg gold.

For the U.S., Spencer LEE (USA) kicked off the season with 57kg with gold, Zahid VALENCIA (USA) won at 86kg and Kyle SNYDER (USA) at 97kg. Both Valencia and Snyder went on to win gold at the World Championships later in the season.

Azerbaijan, Slovakia and France won one gold each, with Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) winning at 70kg for Azerbaijan, Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) winning gold at 74kg, and Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA) winning at 79kg for France.

Iran dominance began when Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) won gold at 61kg, beating the likes of Nuraddin NUVROZOV (AZE), Nashon GARRETT (USA), Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO) and Ebrahim KHARI (IRI). Javan would later win a silver medal at the World Championships. At 65kg, Ebrahim held his own in a thrilling final against Joseph MCKENNA (USA) to grab the second gold for Iran.

Young superstars Firouzpour and Masoumi put up a show to win gold medals at 92kg and 125kg respectively.

Lee was making a returning to competition six months after winning the silver medal at the Paris Olympics. He won the Zagreb Open gold with rather ease. For the U.S., Valencia saw himself win gold at 86kg outscoring his opponents 35-4 in four bouts. In the final, Valencia defeated world bronze medalist Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE), 8-0.

Snyder opened his season with a 33-1 scoring run in three bouts at 97kg in Zagreb. In the final, he easily defeated Abolfazl BABALOO (IRI).

Heybatov gave early warnings to the 70kg field by winning gold in Zagreb, a run which included wins over Austin GOMEZ (MEX), two back-to-back wins over Iranian wrestlers including a 12-1 one again Sina KHALILI (IRI) in the final. The two would wrestle again towards the end of the year at the U23 World Championships. Heybatov won that final with a 9-4 score.

Two veterans, Salkazanov and Khadjiev, were at their best in the opening Ranking Series tournament. Salkazanov blanked everyone, including winning 4-0 against David CARR (USA) in the final, to win 74kg gold.

Khadjiev had a tougher bat but managed to win the 79kg gold with a 5-3 win over Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI) in the final. The French wrestler would later win silver at the European Championships.