Team USA Pan-Am Championship Updates
Team USA Pan-Am Championship Updates
Updates for Team USA at the 2022 Pan-Am Championships.
The 2022 Pan-Am Championships have concluded with Team USA’s men’s freestyle squad earning 7 medals on the final day of competition! Check out a recap of the action from Team USA highlighting the most notable performance from our squad in Mexico.
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Men’s Freestyle Earns Gold
The men’s freestyle team added 6 golds to the 2 already earned yesterday for a total of 8 golds and a team title at Pan-Ams. Thomas Gilman (57kg), Daton Fix (61kg), Joey McKenna (65kg), Kyle Dake (79kg), Zahid Valencia (86kg), and Kyle Snyder (97kg) are all coming home from Acapulco with golds. Of those above wrestlers, Giman, Fix, and Snyder were especially dominant with tech falls or pins in all of their matches. Take a look below at Gilman’s, Fix’s, and Snyder’s match highlights from Acapulco:
Gilman over Darian Cruz (PUR) for Gold:
Highlights of Daton Fix’s win over Joey Silva (PUR):
Highlights of Snyder’s finals win over Silot:
McKenna had a wild, 13-5 victory in the semi-finals with Olympian Agustin Destribats before tech-falling Sebastian Rivera in the finals, 10-0. Zahid Valencia’s closest match came in the finals over Cuba’s Lazaro Hernandez. Zahid secured the only takedown of the match and was able to hold off any offensive attacks from the Cuban to win 4-1. Though Dake didn’t secure a tech-fall in gold medal match, he controlled every aspect of the bout against Franklin Gomez to earn a 10-1 victory. On top of the finals match, Dake secured two tech-falls and outscored his opponents by a combined 32-2. Check out some of McKenna’s, Dake’s, and Valencia’s match highlights below:
Highlights of Joey McKenna’s finals win over Sebastian Rivera (PUR):
Highlights of Kyle Dake’s win over Franklin Gomez (PUR):
Zahid Valencia’s finals win over Lazaro Hernandez (CUB):
Gwiz Falls Just Short - Zain Weighs In For The Team
Only two wrestlers of the 10 Team USA sent to Acapulco failed to win gold - Nick Gwiazdowski and Zain Retherford. Gwiazdowski reached the finals with two tech falls to meet former Oregon State All-American Amar Dhesi. In the finals, the two traded step-outs and takedowns with Gwiz holding a criteria lead with less than 30 seconds remaining in the bout. It was then that Dhesi struck with a single leg and was able to earn 2 points off an exposure and secure the 5-3 victory handing Gwiazdowski the silver medal.
Dhesi’s win over Gwiz:
While Retherford didn’t win gold, he also never took the mat because of illness. He did however make weight for team USA - a requirement to qualify the weight to be eligible for the United States to compete at the world championships. Had Retherford not weighed in, Team USA would not have been able to send a representative to worlds this September in Serbia.
Full USA Results
Team USA won team titles in all three styles at the Pan-Am Championships and earned a total of 24 medals - 17 golds, 3 silvers, and 4 bronze. Take a look below at how every member of Team USA finished.
Men’s Freestyle Results:
- 57kg: Thomas Gilman - Gold
- 61kg: Daton Fix - Gold
- 65kg: Joey McKenna - Gold
- 70kg: Zain Retherford - DNW
- 74kg: Kyle Dake - Gold
- 79kg: Jordan Burroughs - Gold
- 86kg: Zahid Valencia - Gold
- 92kg: J’den Cox - Gold
- 97kg: Kyle Snyder - Gold
- 125kg: Nick Gwiazdowski - Silver
Women’s Freestyle Results:
- 50kg: Sarah Hildebrandt - Gold
- 53kg: Dom Parrish - Gold
- 55kg: Jacarra Winchester - Silver
- 57kg: Cam Guerin - 5th
- 59kg: Xochitl Mota-Pettis - Bronze
- 62kg: Kayla Miracle - Silver
- 65kg: Forrest Molinari - Gold
- 68kg: Alara Boyd - DNP
- 72kg: Skylar Grote - Gold
- 76kg: Dymond Guilford - Gold
Men’s Greco-Roman Results:
- 55kg: Brady Koontz - Gold
- 60kg: Randon Miranda - Gold
- 63kg: Sam Jones - Gold
- 67kg: Hayden Tuma - DNP
- 72kg: Pat Smith - Gold
- 77kg: Ravaugh Perkins - Bronze
- 82kg: Tyler Cunningham - Bronze
- 87kg: Richard Carlson - DNP
- 97kg: Nicholas Boykin - Bronze
- 130kg: Tanner Farmer - DNP
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Day 3 Update
Team USA Racking Up The Golds!
Sarah Hildebrandt, Dom Parrish, Dymond Guilford, Jordan Burroughs, and J’den Cox all won Pan-Am titles on day 3 of the competition. Hildebrandt was 3-0 on the day and had her signature leg-lace rolling with 3 tech falls - outscoring her opponents 30-0. Check out the scoring highlights from all of Hildebrandt's matches at Pan-Ams:
Dom Parrish took care of business in the finals with a pin in about 90 seconds to win her first Pan-Am title. However, her most notable victory came in the semi-finals against 2021 world bronze medalist Samantha Stewart (CAN). In that match, Stewart caught Parrish on her back twice early, almost earning the fall less than 30 seconds into the match and then again a minute later. Parrish showed incredible resilience and battled back from a 4-0 deficit to win 5-4.
Check out Parrish’s incredible come-from-behind win below:
Dymond Guilford started her tournament with 3 tech-falls to make the finals where he faced off against Ecuador’s Genesis Reasco. Reasco had notably defeated Canada’s 2018 world champion Justina Di Stasio earlier in the tournament, 10-4. In the gold medal match, Guilford and Reasco engaged in a defensive battle that saw the American come out on top in a tight, 1-1 criteria victory. With Adeline Gray sitting out this year, Guilford will be one of the main contenders to make the world team at 76kg.
Jordan Burroughs and J’den Cox got things started for the men’s freestyle team. Both brought home gold with a dominance that lived up to their expectations. Burroughs went 4-0 with 3 tech falls and 1 pin. Cox had only 3 matches and secured 3 tech falls by a combined score of 32-0. You can check out both of their scoring highlights from their entire tournament below:
Burroughs’ Pan-Am highlights:
Cox’s Pan-Am highlights:
Women Lock-Down The Team Title
Along with the gold medal winners, Kayla Miracle, Cam Guerin, and Alara Boyd were in action on Saturday for the United States. Kayla Miracle reached the finals with two wins but forfeited to her Canadian opponent, Ana Godinez, to finish second. Guerin finished 5th losing a tight bronze medal bout while Boyd went 0-1 and failed to place. Overall, it was an incredible team performance with Team USA’s women winning the team title, securing 8 total medals, and outscoring second-place Canada by 25 points (190-165).
Complete Women’s Results:
- 50kg: Sarah Hildebrandt - Gold
- 53kg: Dom Parrish - Gold
- 55kg: Jacarra Winchester - Silver
- 57kg: Cam Guerin - 5th
- 59kg: Xochitl Mota-Pettis - Bronze
- 62kg: Kayla Miracle - Silver
- 65kg: Forrest Molinari - Gold
- 68kg: Alara Boyd - DNP
- 72kg: Skylar Grote - Gold
- 76kg: Dymond Guilford - Gold
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Day 2 Update
2 More Golds For Team USA
Forrest Molinari (65kg) and Skylar Grote (72kg) added two gold medals to the 4 Team USA won yesterday! Both Grote and Molinari were dominant on their way to gold ending all of their matches by tech fall or pin and allowing zero total points. Check out highlights from their final matches below.
Highlights from Molinari’s final match:
Skylar Grote teching her way to gold:
Winchester Falls Just Short For Silver
Jacarra Winchester looked to be back to her 2019 world championship form leading up to the finals. She pinned her opening round opponent before teching U23 world champion Lucia Yepez (ECU) in the semi-finals, 11-0. However, Winchester ran into a young, worthy opponent in the finals - Canada’s Karla Godinez. Winchester got out to a 2-0 lead before Godinez responded with a big 4-point takedown to take control of the bout. Despite her best efforts, Winchester couldn’t hunt down Godinez and fell just short for the silver medal.
Winchester’s loss to Godinez:
Greco Ends With Team Gold
Ravaughn Perkins (77kg) and Tyler Cunningham (82kg) closed out the Greco tournament by earning bronze at their respective weight classes and clinching the team title for Team USA. In total, USA won 7 medals (4 golds, 3 bronze) and outscored second-place Mexico by 17 points (165-148).
Ravaughn Perkins’ win for bronze
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Day 1 Update
4 Golds On Day 1
Brady Koontz, Randon Miranda, Sam Jones, and Pat Smith all brought home gold medals on the first day of the Pan-Am Championships. At 55kg, Koontz dominated in his two matches picking up two tech falls and outsourcing his opponents by a combined 20-1. Check out a scoring highlight of his final match below.
At 60 kg, Miranda had two, wild matches both in the semi-final and finals to bring home gold from Acapulco. Just to make the finals, Miranda scored in dramatic fashion with less than 1 second left to earn the victory. Then, in the finals, Miranda and his opponent went back and forth putting up a combined 20 points in a match where Miranda ultimately held on to win 12-8. Check out that scoring highlight:
Sam Jones only had 1 match at 63kg but he made the most of his 2 minutes of wrestling by lighting up the scoreboard with some incredible throws. Jones won the match by technical superiority, 10-0, and did so in style! Jones ended the match with two, big throws for 4 and the highlight-reel win.
With only 5 wrestlers at 72kg, Pat Smith was in a round-robin bracket at went 4-0 with 3 victories by technical superiority and 1 regular decision. Smith’s closest match came in the second round of the day against the eventual silver medalist, Edison Olmos (MEX). In that match, Smith got out to a 4-0 lead against Olmos in the first before Olmos began his comeback in the second. Olmos scored on a correct throw to close the gap to 4-2 but was unable to break through Smith’s hand-fighting and defense for the remainder of the match.
Smith's win against Olmos:
The Rest Of The Greco Squad On Day 1
On top of the 4 golds, Nicholas Boykin secured a bronze medal at 97kg. Boykin went 2-1and lost only to eventual champions Kevin Mejia (HON). After Boykin, Hayden Tuma (67kg) and Tanner Farmer (130kg) were the only other wrestlers in action for Team USA and both failed to medal.