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)
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 B. Jacob 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.
