GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (May 18) – Two-time world champion Kyle DAKE (USA) and three-time Olympian Franklin GOMEZ (PUR) headline the seven-man 74kg bracket at next week’s Pan-American Championships (May 27-30).
Last month, Dake defeated Olympic champion Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) two matches to none in the finals of the United States Olympic Trials and solidified himself as The Stars and Stripes’ representative for the Pan-American Championships and the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Dake, who won back-to-back world titles at 79kg, will be competing at the continental championships for the first time in his career and is on a mission to keep his 40-month win streak alive. ‘Kid Dynamite’ will be lacing up his boots at 74kg for a third consecutive international competition beginning his run to August’s Tokyo Games.
In his previous two showings, Dake went undefeated and claimed golds at the ’21 Henri Deglane and the ’20 Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series event.
Undoubtedly, Dake’s toughest competition will be Puerto Rico’s ’11 world finalist Franklin Gomez. The four-time Pan-Am medalist and returning silver-medal winner is on a quest to reach the top of the continental podium for the first time in over a decade. Despite winning medals in three of his last four continental appearances, the Puerto Rican has fallen short of winning gold since his first continental appearance back in ’11.
The Pan-American Championships will be Gomez’s second competition back since the COVID layoff. He competed in Rome’s Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series event earlier this year where he won a pair of matches – including a 6-4 win over Rio Olympic bronze medalist Yakup GOR (TUR) – but fell to two-time world champion Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) and ’19 world silver medalist Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ) and settled for fifth place.
Wrestling at the Pan-American Championships kicks off on May 27 and can be followed live on www.uww.org.
74kg Pan-American Entries
Renato Patricio DA SILVA (BRA)
Jasmit Singh PHULKA (CAN)
Hossman Eduardo CARVAJAL ROJAS (COL)
Malhcon Alizon PINEDA CUNIL (GUA)
Victor Eduardo HERNANDEZ LUNA (MEX)
Franklin GOMEZ MATOS (PUR)
Kyle DAKE (USA)
