U.S. Junior Greco team puts together successful morning session at 2018 Junior Pan Am Championships

FORTALEZA, Brazil – The first session of the 2018 Junior Pan American Championships wrapped up with the Junior U.S. Greco-Roman team winning 21 matches and producing six undefeated wrestlers.

The first day of the tournament was primarily round-robin action with the exception of 67 kg.

Two wrestlers have basically sealed gold after undefeated performances in the morning session, including Lenny Merkin at 72 kg and Austin Harris at 97 kg.

Neither of them will wrestle tonight as they have completed their round-robin bouts. 

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

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

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.

Four U.S. wrestlers are going for gold tonight, while two others will wrestle for bronze.

Seeking the top of the podium is 2017 Junior World silver medalist Cevion Severado at 55 kg, Dylan Gregerson at 63 kg, Cameron Caffey at 87 kg and two-time Junior Pan American champion Anthony Cassioppi at 130 kg.

To start his tournament, Severado defeated 2016 Cadet World silver medalist Nestor Delgado of Mexico, the only other World medalist in the field. The American won in dominant fashion with a second-period pin.

In his second match, Severado came out on top in a back-and-forth battle with Luis Morales of Ecuador, 11-9.

Gregerson went 3-0 in the first session, winning two matches by shut out tech fall. The American started the day with a 9-0 tech over three-time Pan Am medalist and 2017 Junior Pan Am runner up Jose Davila Cabello of Peru.

For 63 kg gold, Gregerson will face off against two-time Cadet Pan Am medalist Irving Salazar of Mexico.

At 87 kg, Cameron Caffey started with a 10-1 tech fall against 2017 Cadet Pan Am champion Luis Lopez Vasquez of Mexico.

After falling behind quickly in his second bout against Fabio Conceicao of Brazil, 4-0, Caffey scored 13 unanswered points for a 13-4 technical fall.

Tonight, Caffey will face 2017 Junior Pan Am freestyle bronze winner Nicolas Baez of Argentina for gold.

Cassioppi, a double champion at last year’s Pan Ams, went unscored on in his first three matches, claiming tech falls in all three.

To start his tournament, Cassioppi, who will start his college career at Iowa this fall, faced off against University of North Carolina wrestler Andrew Gunning of Peru in the first round. Cassioppi won an 8-0 match.

In tonight’s match, Cassioppi will take on 2016 Cadet Pan Am silver medalist Paul Morales of Mexico.

Wrestling for bronze tonight is Logan Treaster at 60 kg and Anthony Mantanona at 77 kg.

The medal matches begin Friday evening at 5 p.m. ET live on Trackwrestling.com.

2018 JUNIOR PAN AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

at Fortaleza, Brazil

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

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

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

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

72 kg: Leonard Merkin (Brooklyn, N.Y./New Jersey RTC)
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)
WIN Bastian LEON VEGA (CHI), 9-0
WIN Eli GOMEZ TEJEDA (ECU), 8-0
LOSS Jhonny ARIAS BERDUGO (COL), loss by cautions

82 kg: Thomas Brackett (Eads, Tenn./Wave WC)
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)
WIN Luis LOPEZ VAZQUEZ (MEX), 10-1
WIN Fabio CONCEICAO RODRIGUES (BRA), 13-4

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

130 kg: Anthony Cassioppi (Roscoe, Ill./ISI)
WIN Andrew Gunning (PER), 9-0
WIN Samir VARGAS VALOR (COL), 8-0
WIN Diego ALMENDRAS RODRIQUEZ (CHI), 9-0