ALL THEY SEE IS GOLD! USA earns 3 more gold medals to cap superb showing at Pan Am Games
Share:
by Craig Sesker USA Wrestling
Gold medalists (from left) Zach Rey, Kyle Snyder, Brent Metcalf and Jordan Burroughs at the Pan American Games on Saturday night in Toronto. Tony Rotundo photo.
TORONTO, Canada – All they see is gold.
Jordan Burroughs, Kyle Snyder and Zach Rey joined teammate Brent Metcalf as gold medalists to cap a superb Pan American Games for the U.S. men’s freestyle team.
Americans Jake Herbert and Angel Escobedo added silver medals for the powerful American team.
The United States captured first place in the Pan Am Games medal count in freestyle along with winning the overall medal count in wrestling.
The U.S. medaled in 15 of the 16 weight classes it competed in here in men’s and women’s freestyle, and Greco-Roman. American wrestlers won eight gold medals overall. The Greco team also won the medal count here.
Burroughs repeated as Pan American Games champion on Saturday night at the Hershey Center while Snyder and Rey also won titles with Herbert earning his silver.
Metcalf struck gold and Escobedo silver at the Pan Am Games on Friday night.
Greco-Roman wrestlers Andy Bisek and Jon Anderson also struck gold in Toronto along with women’s wrestlers Whitney Conder and Adeline Gray.
Burroughs overpowered Ecuador’s Yoan Blanco by an 11-0 technical fall in the finals at 74 kg/163 lbs. Blanco placed seventh at the 2014 Worlds at 70 kg/154 lbs.
“Gold never gets old,” Burroughs said, flashing a smile. “(U.S. Coach) Bruce Burnett talked to me before the match and said the guy would stay down, stay low, back up and give you a hard time early. I knew that would happen but I just stayed had to stay the course.
“The focus was on continuing to move and continuing to work, and get angles and then obviously I thought he would break a little bit at the end.”
Burroughs, an Olympic gold medalist and two-time World champion, now has a remarkable 108-2 career record at the international level.
Burroughs outscored his three opponents 35-3, including a 13-3 technical fall over Olympic and World medalist Livan Lopez of Cuba in the quarterfinals.
“Isn’t that crazy how that can pan out?” Burroughs said. “There were only two medalists in the weight and we wrestled first round. I saw Lopez came back to place third and we will see him again at the Worlds in Vegas.”
Burroughs graciously spent nearly 30 minutes posing for photos and signing autographs with fans after his gold-medal ceremony.
“It was awesome to get this experience,” Burroughs said. “That keeps me sharp going into the Worlds.”
Snyder built a quick early lead and scored five takedowns en route to a 10-0 technical fall over Canada’s Arjun Gill in the finals at 97 kg/213 lbs.
Snyder, a 2013 Junior World champion, outscored his three opponents 31-1 on Saturday.
“I felt like I was very prepared for this event,” Snyder said. “I trained really hard leading up to it. This is something I marked down on my calendar as a goal that I wanted to win the Pan Am Games moving forward to the World Championships to build some momentum. I was very prepared and he’s a good opponent, but I was just ready to wrestle.”
Rey earned a hard-fought 3-0 win over Canada’s Korey Jarvis in the finals at 125 kg/275 lbs.
“I controlled the center of the mat,” Rey said, “Anytime I had an opportunity to get a pushout off an attack I capitalized on it and got the point.”
Rey replaced World Team member Tervel Dlagnev in the U.S. lineup in Toronto.
“I planned on winning a tournament this week, regardless of where it was,” Rey said. “I got a call and USA Wrestling needed me, so I came here and I wrestled pretty good.”
Herbert, a 2009 World silver medalist, ran into a tough finals opponent in two-time World silver medalist Reineris Salas of Cuba. Salas came out strong with a four-point arm throw en route to a 12-7 win over Herbert at 86 kg/189 lbs.
Salas is now 4-0 in his career against Herbert, including two wins over him this year. Herbert said it was important to face Salas before the Worlds in September.
“It was huge,” said Herbert, a 2011 Pan Am Games champion. “That could be my first-round match at the Worlds. I’m not peaking for this. It’s good to get a hard match against a World class competitor. It’s great to be able to have that feel against him. I will have a great game plan next year.”
Pan American Games, July 15-18
Hershey Centre, Toronto, Canada
Medal winners
74 kg/163 lbs.
Gold – Jordan Burroughs (USA)
Silver – Yoan Blanco (Ecuador)
Bronze – Livan Lopez (Cuba)
Bronze – Cristian Sarco (Venezuela)
86 kg/189 lbs.
Gold – Reineris Salas (Cuba)
Silver – Jake Herbert (USA)
Bronze – Tamerlan Tagziev (Canada)
Bronze – Jaime Espinal (Puerto Rico)
97 kg/213 lbs.
Gold – Kyle Snyder (USA)
Silver – Arjun Gill (Canada)
Bronze – Jose Diaz (Venezuela)
Bronze – Jesse Ruiz (Mexico)
125 kg/275 lbs.
Gold – Zach Rey (USA)
Silver – Korey Jarvis (Canada)
Bronze – Edgardo Lopez (Puerto Rico)
Bronze – Andres Ramos (Cuba)
Gold-medal matchups
Men’s freestyle
74 kg/163 lbs.
Jordan Burroughs (USA) won by tech. fall Yoan Blanco (Ecuador), 11-0
86 kg/189 lbs.
Reineris Salas (Cuba) won by tech. fall over Jake Herbert (USA), 12-7
97 kg/213 lbs.
Kyle Snyder (USA) won by tech. fall over Arjun Gill (Canada), 10-0
125 kg/275 lbs.
Zach Rey (USA) dec. Korey Jarvis (Canada), 3-0
U.S. results
Men’s freestyle
74 kg/163 lbs. – Jordan Burroughs, Lincoln, Neb. (Sunkist Kids) – GOLD MEDAL
WIN Livan Lopez (Cuba), tech. fall 13-3
WIN Jevon Balfour (Canada), tech. fall 11-0
WIN Yoan Blanco (Ecuador), 11-0
86 kg/189 lbs. – Jake Herbert, Ann Arbor, Mich. (New York AC) – SILVER MEDAL
WIN Ricardo Baez (Argentina), tech. fall 11-0
WIN Jaime Espinal (Puerto Rico), tech. fall 10-0
LOSS Reineris Salas (Cuba), 12-7
97 kg/213 lbs. – Kyle Snyder, Woodbine, Md. (Titan Mercury WC) – GOLD MEDAL
WIN Yuri Maier (Argentina), tech. fall 11-1
WIN Jose Diaz (Venezuela), tech. fall 10-0
WIN Arjun Gill (Canada), 10-0
125 kg/275 lbs. – Zach Rey, Bethlehem, N.J. (Lehigh Valley WC) – GOLD MEDAL
WIN Rene Silva Rios (Nicaragua), fall 1:41
WIN Andres Ramos (Cuba), 2-0
WIN Korey Jarvis (Canada), 3-0
TORONTO, Canada – All they see is gold.
Jordan Burroughs, Kyle Snyder and Zach Rey joined teammate Brent Metcalf as gold medalists to cap a superb Pan American Games for the U.S. men’s freestyle team.
Americans Jake Herbert and Angel Escobedo added silver medals for the powerful American team.
The United States captured first place in the Pan Am Games medal count in freestyle along with winning the overall medal count in wrestling.
The U.S. medaled in 15 of the 16 weight classes it competed in here in men’s and women’s freestyle, and Greco-Roman. American wrestlers won eight gold medals overall. The Greco team also won the medal count here.
Burroughs repeated as Pan American Games champion on Saturday night at the Hershey Center while Snyder and Rey also won titles with Herbert earning his silver.
Metcalf struck gold and Escobedo silver at the Pan Am Games on Friday night.
Greco-Roman wrestlers Andy Bisek and Jon Anderson also struck gold in Toronto along with women’s wrestlers Whitney Conder and Adeline Gray.
Burroughs overpowered Ecuador’s Yoan Blanco by an 11-0 technical fall in the finals at 74 kg/163 lbs. Blanco placed seventh at the 2014 Worlds at 70 kg/154 lbs.
“Gold never gets old,” Burroughs said, flashing a smile. “(U.S. Coach) Bruce Burnett talked to me before the match and said the guy would stay down, stay low, back up and give you a hard time early. I knew that would happen but I just stayed had to stay the course.
“The focus was on continuing to move and continuing to work, and get angles and then obviously I thought he would break a little bit at the end.”
Burroughs, an Olympic gold medalist and two-time World champion, now has a remarkable 108-2 career record at the international level.
Burroughs outscored his three opponents 35-3, including a 13-3 technical fall over Olympic and World medalist Livan Lopez of Cuba in the quarterfinals.
“Isn’t that crazy how that can pan out?” Burroughs said. “There were only two medalists in the weight and we wrestled first round. I saw Lopez came back to place third and we will see him again at the Worlds in Vegas.”
Burroughs graciously spent nearly 30 minutes posing for photos and signing autographs with fans after his gold-medal ceremony.
“It was awesome to get this experience,” Burroughs said. “That keeps me sharp going into the Worlds.”
Snyder built a quick early lead and scored five takedowns en route to a 10-0 technical fall over Canada’s Arjun Gill in the finals at 97 kg/213 lbs.
Snyder, a 2013 Junior World champion, outscored his three opponents 31-1 on Saturday.
“I felt like I was very prepared for this event,” Snyder said. “I trained really hard leading up to it. This is something I marked down on my calendar as a goal that I wanted to win the Pan Am Games moving forward to the World Championships to build some momentum. I was very prepared and he’s a good opponent, but I was just ready to wrestle.”
Rey earned a hard-fought 3-0 win over Canada’s Korey Jarvis in the finals at 125 kg/275 lbs.
“I controlled the center of the mat,” Rey said, “Anytime I had an opportunity to get a pushout off an attack I capitalized on it and got the point.”
Rey replaced World Team member Tervel Dlagnev in the U.S. lineup in Toronto.
“I planned on winning a tournament this week, regardless of where it was,” Rey said. “I got a call and USA Wrestling needed me, so I came here and I wrestled pretty good.”
Herbert, a 2009 World silver medalist, ran into a tough finals opponent in two-time World silver medalist Reineris Salas of Cuba. Salas came out strong with a four-point arm throw en route to a 12-7 win over Herbert at 86 kg/189 lbs.
Salas is now 4-0 in his career against Herbert, including two wins over him this year. Herbert said it was important to face Salas before the Worlds in September.
“It was huge,” said Herbert, a 2011 Pan Am Games champion. “That could be my first-round match at the Worlds. I’m not peaking for this. It’s good to get a hard match against a World class competitor. It’s great to be able to have that feel against him. I will have a great game plan next year.”
Pan American Games, July 15-18
Hershey Centre, Toronto, Canada
Medal winners
74 kg/163 lbs.
Gold – Jordan Burroughs (USA)
Silver – Yoan Blanco (Ecuador)
Bronze – Livan Lopez (Cuba)
Bronze – Cristian Sarco (Venezuela)
86 kg/189 lbs.
Gold – Reineris Salas (Cuba)
Silver – Jake Herbert (USA)
Bronze – Tamerlan Tagziev (Canada)
Bronze – Jaime Espinal (Puerto Rico)
97 kg/213 lbs.
Gold – Kyle Snyder (USA)
Silver – Arjun Gill (Canada)
Bronze – Jose Diaz (Venezuela)
Bronze – Jesse Ruiz (Mexico)
125 kg/275 lbs.
Gold – Zach Rey (USA)
Silver – Korey Jarvis (Canada)
Bronze – Edgardo Lopez (Puerto Rico)
Bronze – Andres Ramos (Cuba)
Gold-medal matchups
Men’s freestyle
74 kg/163 lbs.
Jordan Burroughs (USA) won by tech. fall Yoan Blanco (Ecuador), 11-0
86 kg/189 lbs.
Reineris Salas (Cuba) won by tech. fall over Jake Herbert (USA), 12-7
97 kg/213 lbs.
Kyle Snyder (USA) won by tech. fall over Arjun Gill (Canada), 10-0
125 kg/275 lbs.
Zach Rey (USA) dec. Korey Jarvis (Canada), 3-0
U.S. results
Men’s freestyle
74 kg/163 lbs. – Jordan Burroughs, Lincoln, Neb. (Sunkist Kids) – GOLD MEDAL
WIN Livan Lopez (Cuba), tech. fall 13-3
WIN Jevon Balfour (Canada), tech. fall 11-0
WIN Yoan Blanco (Ecuador), 11-0
86 kg/189 lbs. – Jake Herbert, Ann Arbor, Mich. (New York AC) – SILVER MEDAL
WIN Ricardo Baez (Argentina), tech. fall 11-0
WIN Jaime Espinal (Puerto Rico), tech. fall 10-0
LOSS Reineris Salas (Cuba), 12-7
97 kg/213 lbs. – Kyle Snyder, Woodbine, Md. (Titan Mercury WC) – GOLD MEDAL
WIN Yuri Maier (Argentina), tech. fall 11-1
WIN Jose Diaz (Venezuela), tech. fall 10-0
WIN Arjun Gill (Canada), 10-0
125 kg/275 lbs. – Zach Rey, Bethlehem, N.J. (Lehigh Valley WC) – GOLD MEDAL
WIN Rene Silva Rios (Nicaragua), fall 1:41
WIN Andres Ramos (Cuba), 2-0
WIN Korey Jarvis (Canada), 3-0
