U.S. receives Greco-Roman draws for final day of Pan American Championships in Texas
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by Taylor Miller
Patrick Martinez, shown at the 2015 World Championships in Las Vegas, headlines a talented USA team for the Pan American Championships. Photo by Tony Rotundo, Wrestlers Are Warriors.
FRISCO, Texas – Team USA received the draws for the final day of the Pan American Championships on Sunday, February 28, featuring the Greco-Roman competition.
“My goal is to win this. We have a great group of young wrestlers, some of our top guys, National Team caliber athletes. We are going to go out here, compete hard and really get a chance to look at these other countries before next week’s qualifier. It’s an important competition for us in that respect,” said National Greco-Roman Coach Matt Lindland.
2015 World Team member Patrick Martinez (Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP) at 85 kg/187 lbs. will face off against Alfonso Antonio Leyva Yepez of Mexico to open his tournament.
2011 World Team member Cheney Haight (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) will compete at 80 kg/174 lbs., where he will wrestle two-time South American champion Enrique Cuero Ortiz of Ecuador.
Wrestling at 71 kg/156 lbs., 2014 University World silver medalist Patrick Smith (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota Storm) will also open his tournament against an Ecuadorian in Jose Sanchez Betancourt, the 2015 South American champion and 2014 Junior Pan American Championships runner-up.
2011 Junior World bronze medalist Toby Erickson (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 130 kg/286 lbs. takes on Josue Encarnacion Ovanido of the Dominican Republic. Encarnacion Ovanido took third at last year’s Pan American Games.
Also competing are 2016 Dave Schultz runner-up Sam Jones (Folsom, La./NYAC/NMU) at 59 kg/130 lbs., 2015 World Team Trials runner-up Alejandro Sancho, Miami, Fla. (NYAC/NMU) at 66 kg/145.5 lbs., 2016 U.S. Open champion Geordan Speiller, Oviedo, Fla. (Florida Jets) at 75 kg/165 lbs., and young Jacob Kasper (Mansfield, Ohio/Roughhouse) at 98 kg/215 lbs.
Jones will face Canada’s Steven Hakatashi, who was a bronze medalist at both the 2014 and 2015 Pan American Championships, while Sancho will go head-to-head with Jose Magallanes Durand of Peru.
Speiller faces Juan Angel Escobar of Mexico, who finished eighth at the 2014 World Championships. Kasper makes his international debut, facing Oscar Loango Solis of Colombia, who was a 2012 Junior Pan American champion.
“We had a really good training camp. We have the guys who are training for the qualifier still back home working with the rest of our National Team athletes. We will bring those guys down here a week from now. We trained alongside the guys getting ready for the Qualifier. We tapered off the last couple of days. There is a little bit of training through this tournament because they are trying to peak for the Trials, and peak again for Rio this summer,” said Lindland.
Greco-Roman competition begins with preliminaries and repechage at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, with the medal match finals at 6:00 p.m. The event is being broadcast by Flowrestling.
PAN AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Frisco, Texas
U.S. Greco-Roman first round draw for Sunday
59 kg/130 lbs. – Sam Jones, Folsom, La. (NYAC/NMU)=
Vs. Steven Takahashi (Canada), 3rd in 2014 and 2015 Pan American Championships
66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Alejandro Sancho, Miami, Fla. (NYAC/NMU)
Vs. Jose Magallanes Durand (Peru), 1st at 2012 and 2015 South American Championships, 5th at 2014 Pan American Championships
71 kg/156 lbs. - Patrick Smith, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm)
Vs. Jose Sanchez Betancourt (Ecuador), 1st at 2015 South American Championships, 2nd at 2014 Junior Pan American Championships
75 kg/165 lbs. - Geordan Speiller, Oviedo, Fla. (Florida Jets)
Vs. Juan Angel Escobar (Mexico), 8th at 2014 World Championships, 3rd at 2015 Pan American Games
80 kg/174 lbs. - Cheney Haight, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC)
Vs. Enrique Cuero Ortiz (Ecuador), 1st at 2014 and 2015 South American Championships
85 kg/187 lbs. - Patrick Martinez, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP)
Vs. Alfonso Antonio Leyva Yepez (Mexico)
98 kg/215 lbs. - Jacob Kasper, Mansfield, Ohio (Roughhouse)
Vs. Oscar Loango Solis (Colombia), 1st at 2012 Junior Pan American Championships, 2nd at 2014 Pan American Championships
130 kg/286 lbs. - Toby Erickson, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC)
Vs. Josue Encarnacion Ovanido (Dominican Republic), 3rd at 2015 Pan American Games
FRISCO, Texas – Team USA received the draws for the final day of the Pan American Championships on Sunday, February 28, featuring the Greco-Roman competition.
“My goal is to win this. We have a great group of young wrestlers, some of our top guys, National Team caliber athletes. We are going to go out here, compete hard and really get a chance to look at these other countries before next week’s qualifier. It’s an important competition for us in that respect,” said National Greco-Roman Coach Matt Lindland.
2015 World Team member Patrick Martinez (Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP) at 85 kg/187 lbs. will face off against Alfonso Antonio Leyva Yepez of Mexico to open his tournament.
2011 World Team member Cheney Haight (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) will compete at 80 kg/174 lbs., where he will wrestle two-time South American champion Enrique Cuero Ortiz of Ecuador.
Wrestling at 71 kg/156 lbs., 2014 University World silver medalist Patrick Smith (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota Storm) will also open his tournament against an Ecuadorian in Jose Sanchez Betancourt, the 2015 South American champion and 2014 Junior Pan American Championships runner-up.
2011 Junior World bronze medalist Toby Erickson (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 130 kg/286 lbs. takes on Josue Encarnacion Ovanido of the Dominican Republic. Encarnacion Ovanido took third at last year’s Pan American Games.
Also competing are 2016 Dave Schultz runner-up Sam Jones (Folsom, La./NYAC/NMU) at 59 kg/130 lbs., 2015 World Team Trials runner-up Alejandro Sancho, Miami, Fla. (NYAC/NMU) at 66 kg/145.5 lbs., 2016 U.S. Open champion Geordan Speiller, Oviedo, Fla. (Florida Jets) at 75 kg/165 lbs., and young Jacob Kasper (Mansfield, Ohio/Roughhouse) at 98 kg/215 lbs.
Jones will face Canada’s Steven Hakatashi, who was a bronze medalist at both the 2014 and 2015 Pan American Championships, while Sancho will go head-to-head with Jose Magallanes Durand of Peru.
Speiller faces Juan Angel Escobar of Mexico, who finished eighth at the 2014 World Championships. Kasper makes his international debut, facing Oscar Loango Solis of Colombia, who was a 2012 Junior Pan American champion.
“We had a really good training camp. We have the guys who are training for the qualifier still back home working with the rest of our National Team athletes. We will bring those guys down here a week from now. We trained alongside the guys getting ready for the Qualifier. We tapered off the last couple of days. There is a little bit of training through this tournament because they are trying to peak for the Trials, and peak again for Rio this summer,” said Lindland.
Greco-Roman competition begins with preliminaries and repechage at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, with the medal match finals at 6:00 p.m. The event is being broadcast by Flowrestling.
PAN AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Frisco, Texas
U.S. Greco-Roman first round draw for Sunday
59 kg/130 lbs. – Sam Jones, Folsom, La. (NYAC/NMU)=
Vs. Steven Takahashi (Canada), 3rd in 2014 and 2015 Pan American Championships
66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Alejandro Sancho, Miami, Fla. (NYAC/NMU)
Vs. Jose Magallanes Durand (Peru), 1st at 2012 and 2015 South American Championships, 5th at 2014 Pan American Championships
71 kg/156 lbs. - Patrick Smith, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm)
Vs. Jose Sanchez Betancourt (Ecuador), 1st at 2015 South American Championships, 2nd at 2014 Junior Pan American Championships
75 kg/165 lbs. - Geordan Speiller, Oviedo, Fla. (Florida Jets)
Vs. Juan Angel Escobar (Mexico), 8th at 2014 World Championships, 3rd at 2015 Pan American Games
80 kg/174 lbs. - Cheney Haight, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC)
Vs. Enrique Cuero Ortiz (Ecuador), 1st at 2014 and 2015 South American Championships
85 kg/187 lbs. - Patrick Martinez, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP)
Vs. Alfonso Antonio Leyva Yepez (Mexico)
98 kg/215 lbs. - Jacob Kasper, Mansfield, Ohio (Roughhouse)
Vs. Oscar Loango Solis (Colombia), 1st at 2012 Junior Pan American Championships, 2nd at 2014 Pan American Championships
130 kg/286 lbs. - Toby Erickson, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC)
Vs. Josue Encarnacion Ovanido (Dominican Republic), 3rd at 2015 Pan American Games
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