Greco wins six golds at Junior Pan Ams in Brazil

FORTALEZA, Brazil – The U.S. Greco-Roman team collected seven medals, including six gold and one bronze, at the 2018 Junior Pan American Championships in Fortaleza, Brazil.

2017 Junior World medalist Cevion Severado added another international medal to his repertoire, winning the Pan Am title at 55 kg.

Severado capped up a solid day, making quick work of Carlos Oliveira of Brazil in his final bout of round robin competition. Severado was first on the board after drawing a passivity from Oliveira for a 1-0 lead. The Brazilian went down in par terre and Severado strung together four turns for a 9-0 win.

At 63 kg, Dylan Gregerson won the gold medal for USA, scoring all of his points in the first period of the final against two-time Cadet Pan Am medalist Irving Salazar of Mexico.

It was his third shutout win on the day as he recorded a 9-0 tech and an 11-0 tech in the first session.

Earlier in the day, Severado defeated 2016 Cadet World silver medalist Nestor Delgado of Mexico.

In his last match of the Greco tournament, Cameron Caffey was on the match for less than a minute, defeating Nicolas Baez of Argentina with an 8-0 tech fall for the crown.

Caffey went 3-0 on the day with three tech falls.

2017 Junior Pan Am double champion Anthony Cassioppi added another Junior continental medal, stringing together three quick technical falls and a pin to secure the 130 kg title.

In the finals, Cassioppi stuck Paul Morales of Mexico in the first period.

Thanks to his dominant performance, Cassioppi was recognized as the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler and was awarded the Golden Boot.

Lenny Merkin and Austin Harris had already claimed Junior Pan Am titles, putting together championship performances in the morning session and did not have to wrestle in the evening session, thanks to the round-robin format.

Merkin tallied four wins, three of which were technical falls, on Friday morning in a five-person round-robin bracket at 72 kg.

One of his wins came over 2016 Cadet Pan Am bronze medalist Jhonier Guzman of Colombia, which was an 8-0 tech fall.

At 97 kg, Harris spent only 1:18 on the mat, winning a 9-0 tech over 2017 Junior Pan Am bronze winner Bryan Cruz Palacios of Peru before sticking Gabriel Rocha de Lira of Brazil in 40 seconds.

Winning bronze for the U.S. was 77 kg representative Anthony Mantanona, who snagged the medal with style in the bronze bout, sticking Eli Gomez of Ecuador in 1:28.

Logan Treaster fell short in his bronze-medal match at 60 kg, holding a lead for most of the bout before Ecuador’s Ricardo Quinonez took over and eventually got the fall in the closing moments of the match.

Overall, the U.S. won the team title, defeating second-place Mexico, which had two individual champions. 

Mantanona, Caffey, Harris and Cassioppi will also compete for the U.S. in freestyle action on Sunday.

2018 JUNIOR PAN AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

at Fortaleza, Brazil

Final results

55 kg
GOLD - Cevion SEVERADO (USA)
SILVER - Nestor DELGADO (MEX)
BRONZE- Luis MORALES (ECU)

60 kg
GOLD - Andres CORTES (COL)
SILVER - Samuel UGALDE (MEX)
BRONZE - Ricardo QUINONEZ (ECU)

63 kg
GOLD - Dylan GREGERSON (USA)
SILVER - Irving SALAZAR (MEX)
BRONZE - Jharold DE LA TORRE (ECU)

67 kg
GOLD - Joilson DE BRITO RAMOS (BRA)
SILVER- Julian Horta (COL)
BRONZE - Juan Palma (ECU)
BRONZE- Manuel Herrera (MEX)

72 kg
GOLD - Leonard MERKIN (USA)
SILVER - Evaristo HERNANDEZ (MEX)
BRONZE - Michael Nascimento (BRA)

77 kg
GOLD - Hector RODRIGUEZ (MEX)
SILVER - Jhonny ARIAS (COL)
BRONZE- Anthony MANTANONA (USA)

82 kg
GOLD - Alfredo DE STEFANO MUNOZ (MEX)
SILVER - Carlos ESPINOZA CASTRO (PER)
BRONZE - Jhon CARMONA ALCANTARA (COL)

87 kg
GOLD - Cameron CAFFEY (USA)
SILVER - Fabio CONCEICAO RODRIGUES (BRA)
BRONZE - Nicolas BAEZ (ARG)

97 kg
GOLD - Austin HARRIS (USA)
SILVER - Bryan CRUZ PALACIOS (PER)
BRONZE - Gabriel ROCHA DE LIRA (BRA)

130 kg
GOLD - Anthony CASSIOPPI (USA)
SILVER - Paul MORALES BOJORQUEZ (MEX)
BRONZE - Andrew GUNNING (PER)

U.S. Greco-Roman results

55 kg: Cevion Severado (St. Peters, Mo./New York AC) – GOLD
WIN Nestor DELGADO RAMIREZ (MEX), fall
WIN Luis MORALES MAYANCHA (ECU), 11-9
WIN Carlos OLIVEIRA LIMA (BRA), 9-0

60 kg: Logan Treaster (Annapolis, Md./Newton HS) – FOURTH
WIN Ricardo QUINONEZ ROSADO (ECU), 8-7
WIN Erivan CONSTANTINO ROCHA (BRA), 7-3
LOSS Andres CORTES HERRERA (COL), 8-0
LOSS Ricardo QUINONEZ ROSADO (ECU), 5:59

63 kg: Dylan Gregerson (Riverton, Utah/Utah Valley RTC) – GOLD
WIN Jose DAVILA CABELLO (PER), 9-0
WIN Irving SALAZAR CABRERA (MEX), 7-4
WIN Pablo PALMA MUNOZ (CHI), 11-0
WIN - Irving SALAZAR CABRERA (MEX), 4-0

67 kg: Britton Holmes (Peyton, Colo./NMU-OTS) – SEVENTH/DNP
LOSS Gerardo OLIVA MONTES (PER), 10-2

72 kg: Leonard Merkin (Brooklyn, N.Y./New Jersey RTC) – GOLD
WIN Mauro GONZALEZ CARDOZO (ARG), 8-0
WIN Evaristo HERNANDEZ REYNA (MEX), 5-3
WIN Jhonier GUZMAN POLANIA (COL), 8-0
WIN Michael NASCIMENTO DA SILVA LIMA (BRA), 8-0

77 kg: Anthony Mantanona (Indio, Calif./Oklahoma RTC) – BRONZE
WIN Bastian LEON VEGA (CHI), 9-0
WIN Eli GOMEZ TEJEDA (ECU), 8-0
LOSS Jhonny ARIAS BERDUGO (COL), loss by cautions
WIN Eli GOMEZ TEJEDA (ECU), fall 1:28

82 kg: Thomas Brackett (Eads, Tenn./Wave WC) – FOURTH
LOSS Jhon CARMONA ALCANTARA (COL), 4-0
LOSS Alfredo DE STEFANO MUNOZ (MEX), 8-6
LOSS Carlos ESPINOZA CASTRO (PER), 5-2
WIN William MORENO CHUC (GUA), medical forfeit

87 kg: Cameron Caffey (Carbondale, Ill./Michigan State) – GOLD
WIN Luis LOPEZ VAZQUEZ (MEX), 10-1
WIN Fabio CONCEICAO RODRIGUES (BRA), 13-4
WIN Nicolas BAEZ (ARG), 8-0

97 kg: Austin Harris (Stillwater, Okla./Titan Mercury/Cowboy WC) - GOLD
WIN Bryan CRUZ PALACIOS (PER), 9-0
WIN Gabriel ROCHA DE LIRA (BRA), fall 0:40

130 kg: Anthony Cassioppi (Roscoe, Ill./ISI) – GOLD
WIN Andrew GUNNING (PER), 9-0
WIN Samir VARGAS VALOR (COL), 8-0
WIN Diego ALMENDRAS RODRIQUEZ (CHI), 9-0
WIN Paul MORALES (MEX), fall