Leathers, Molinari and Speiller secure medals at Pan Ams in Lima

LIMA, Peru – Becka Leathers, Geordan Speiller and Forrest Molinari have already sealed medals for the USA in Friday’s morning session of the Pan American Championships.

On day two of Pan Ams, three Greco weights and four women’s weights competed.

Five of USA’s seven wrestlers competed in round robin brackets on Friday morning, including Becka Leathers, Kelsey Campbell, Forrest Molinari, Hannah Gladden in women’s freestyle and Geordan Speiller in Greco.

With a perfect 2-0 record in the morning session, 2017 World bronze medalist Becka Leathers has already sealed the gold medal at 55 kg. A past WCWA champion, Leathers defeated Lady Valenzuela of Ecuador, who took fifth at the 2017 Junior Worlds, with a fall in 40 seconds before defeating 2014 Junior Pan Am champion Cara Nania of Canada, 4-2.

Leathers will not wrestle tonight. Valenzuela and Nania will battle it out for silver at 55 kg.

With only two people in her weight class, Molinari will wrestle for gold at 65 kg against Canada’s Breanna Graham, a veteran who has two medals from University World Championships and finished third at the 2016 Pan Ams. Two-time U23 World Team member Molinari did not wrestle any matches in the morning session.

The other two women competing for the USA, Kelsey Campbell at 59 kg and Hannah Gladden at 72 kg, each went 0-2 in the first session of competition.

One of Campbell's losses came from 2017 WCWA champion Andribeth Rivera, who is representing Puerto Rico. 

On the Greco side, two-time Olympian and 2017 World Team member Ben Provisor advanced to the 87 kg semifinals before being handed his first loss by 2017 Pan American runner-up Daniel Gregorich of Cuba, 9-0. In his first two matches, Provisor recorded a 7-1 win over Jose Moreno Bustos of Chile and a 6-1 victory against Ricardo Cardenas of Peru.

Provisor will wrestle for bronze tonight against Alfonso Leyva Yepez of Mexico, who is a three-time Pan Am medalist. Last year, Leyva took bronze at the weight.

Speiller, a 2016 Pan Am champion, has secured silver at 82 kg, which was contested in round robin form. Having already wrestled all four of his matches, Speiller holds a 3-1 record, the second best in the field. His only loss on the day came at the hands of Luis Avendano, who has won two Pan American bronzes in the last two years.

Regardless of Avendano’s outcome in his final match tonight, Speiller will finish with silver as Avendano has the head-to-head win.

At 77 kg, 2017 Junior World champion Kamal Bey suffered a rib injury in his first match against Jair Cuero of Colombia that forced him out of the tournament.

The medal matches are set for 7 p.m. ET and can be watched live on Trackwrestling.

SENIOR PAN-AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Lima, Peru, May 3-6 

U.S. Greco-Roman results

77 kg/170 lbs. – Kamal Bey, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids)
LOSS Jair Cuero Munoz (Colombia), injury default

82 kg/181 lbs. – Geordan Speiller, Oviedo, Fla. (Florida Jets)
WIN Carlos Espinoza Castro (Peru), fall 4:08
LOSS Luis Eduardo Avendano Rojas (Venezuela), 8-0
WIN Adil Barros Machado (Brazil), 8-0
WIN Brayden Ambo (Canada), 8-0

87 kg/192 lbs. – Ben Provisor, State College, Pa. (New York AC/Nittany Lion WC)
WIN Jose Moreno Bustos (Chile), 7-1
WIN Ricardo Cardenas (Peru), 6-1
LOSS Daniel Gregorich (Cuba), 9-0
vs. Alfonso Leyva Yepez (Mexico)

U.S. women’s freestyle results

55 kg/121 lbs. – Becka Leathers (Choctaw, Okla./Titan Mercury WC)
WIN Lady Valenzuela (Ecuador), fall 0:40
WIN Cara Nania (Canada), 4-2

59 kg/130 lbs. – Kelsey Campbell (Tempe, Ariz./Sunkist Kids)
LOSS Laurence Beauregard (Canada), 3-0
LOSS Andribeth Rivera (Puerto Rico), 10-2
vs. Karoline Silva (Brazil)

65 kg/143 lbs. – Forrest Molinari, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Titan Mercury)
vs. Breanne Graham (Canada)

72 kg/158 lbs. – Hannah Gladden (Gadsden, Ala./Lions WC)
LOSS Diana Cruz Arroyo (Peru), 3-1
LOSS Veronica Keefe (Canada), 12-4
vs. Josselyn Portillo Mejia (El Salvador)