Colon and Rodriguez beat World champions, USA men's freestyle puts eight in Pan Am finals

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – The United States men’s freestyle team impressed in the morning session of the 2019 Pan American Championship on Sunday in Buenos Aires, going 21-0 and outscoring its competition 177-21.

All eight U.S. wrestlers that competed today have advanced to the finals in their respective weight classes, including World and Olympic champions Jordan Burroughs and Kyle Snyder and 2018 World champion David Taylor.

At 74 kg, four-time World champion and 2012 Olympic champion Burroughs strung together three solid wins this morning at 74 kg, bookending his session with 10-0 technical falls.

In the quarterfinals, Burroughs had a close bout with 2011 World silver medalist Franklin Gomez of Puerto Rico. With less than 15 seconds left, Gomez took down Burroughs for a 4-2 lead, but the seasoned vet Burroughs showed amazing fight, scoring on a double with 0.5 seconds left.

Gomez’s corner challenged, but it failed, giving Burroughs a 5-2 win.

Tonight Burroughs will face 2015 Pan Am silver medalist Jevon Balfour of Canada for gold.

Two-time World champion and 2016 Olympic champion Snyder made it look easy, producing back-to-back tech falls to earn a spot in the 97 kg finals.

For gold, Snyder will two-time World silver medalist and 2010 World bronze medalist Reineris Salas Perez from Cuba.

Newly crowned World champion at 86 kg, David Taylor will go for his second-consecutive Pan American title tonight, taking on Pedro Ceballos Fuentes from Venezuela, who was fifth at the 2016 Olympic Games.

To get to the finals, Taylor registered two falls for a combined time of 2:02 and picked up a first-period 10-0 tech fall over Cuba’s Lazaro Hernandez Luis.

2018 World bronze medalist Joe Colon opened his tournament at 61 kg, a round robin weight, with a satisfying win over 2018 World champion and two-time World medalist Yowlys Bonne Rodriguez from Cuba.

The last time they met was in the 2018 World Championships semifinals, where Bonne claimed a 9-4 decision. This time, Colon flipped the result, taking a 9-3 victory, thanks to second-period takedown followed immediately by three gut wrenches.

In his second bout, he rolled up 2018 Pan Am bronze medalist Juan Rodriguez Jovel with a 10-0 tech fall.

Tonight, Colon will face Scott Schiller from Canada. Should Colon win, he will take gold at 61 kg.

Nick Gwiazdowski, a two-time World bronze medalist, is on the hunt for his second-straight Pan Am title at 125 kg.

In the morning session, Gwiazdowski blanked his first two opponents with 10-0 victories. In the semifinals, he met up with two-time Greco-Roman World bronze medalist Oscar Pino Hinds of Cuba. Trailing 1-0 at the break, Gwiazdowski scored 11 unanswered points, using takedowns and leg laces for an 11-1 tech fall.

In the finals, Gwiazdowski will face nine-time Pan American medalist Korey Jarvis from Canada.

At 57 kg, Josh Rodriguez also began his day with a big win over a World champion, defeating 2017 U23 World champion Reineri Andreu Ortega of Cuba, who won the Pan Am title last year.

Rodriguez scored two takedowns in the first period and one more in the final 20 seconds for a 7-2 win.

To get to the gold-medal match, Rodriguez claimed a 10-0 tech fall over Lucas Navarrete Vidal of Ecuador and a 6-4 come-from-behind win over Darthe Capellan of Canada.

In the finals, he will face 2018 Senior Pan Am runner-up Oscar Tigreros Urbano of Colombia.

Making his Senior-level debut, 2019 NCAA champion for Rutgers Anthony Ashnault went 3-0 in round-robin action, tallying two tech falls and a 43-second pin.

Ashnault has one more bout tonight, and should he win, he will take the crown at 70 kg. In his last match, he faces Cristian Karlikowski of Argentina.

At 65 kg, Nebraska alum Colton McCrystal recorded two strong wins, including a first-round 11-0 tech and a 15-6 decision in the semifinals over multiple-time age-group Pan Am champion Augustin Destribats of host country Argentina.

Tonight, he will go head-to-head with Cuba’s Cristian Solezal Lopez.

The finals are set for 5 p.m. local time (4 p.m. EST) live on Trackwrestling.org.

2019 SENIOR PAN AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

at Buenos Aires, Argentina, April 18-21

U.S. Men’s Freestyle results
57 kg: Josh Rodriguez (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC)
WIN Reineri Andreu Ortega (Cuba), 7-2
WIN Lucas Navarrete Vidal (Ecuador), 10-0
WIN Darthe Capellan (Canada), 6-4
vs. Oscar Tigreros Urbano (Colombia)

61 kg: Joe Colon (Fresno, Calif./Titan Mercury WC/Valley RTC)
WIN Yowlys Bonne Rodriguez (Cuba), 9-3
WIN Juan Rodriguez Jovel (El Salvador), 10-0
vs. Scott Schiller (Canada)

65 kg: Colton McCrystal (Lincoln, Neb./Nebraska WTC)
WIN Sixto Auccapina Pedragas (Peru), 11-0
WIN Augustin Destribats (Argentina), 15-6
vs. Damian Solenzal Lopez (Cuba)

70 kg: Anthony Ashnault (South Plainfield, N.J./NJRTC)
WIN Nick Rowe (Canada), 12-2
WIN Mitchel Taipe Duanama (Peru), fall 0:43
WIN Hugo de Lima Viana (Brazil), 10-0
vs. Cristian Karlikowski (Argentina)

74 kg: Jordan Burroughs (Lincoln, Neb./Sunkist Kids)
WIN Freddy Vera Fajardo (Ecuador), 10-0
WIN Franklin Gomez (Puerto Rico), 5-2
WIN Adoins Arroyo (Venezuela), 10-0
vs. Jevon Balfour (Canada)

86 kg: David Taylor (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC)
WIN Rashi Mackey (Bahamas), fall 0:58
WIN Meruzhan Nikoyan (Argentina), fall 1:03
WIN Lazaro Hernandez Luis (Cuba), 10-0
vs. Pedro Ceballos Fuentes (Venezuela)

97 kg: Kyle Snyder (Columbus, Ohio/Titan Mercury WC/Ohio RTC)
WIN Evan Ramos (Puerto Rico), 11-1
WIN Jordan Steen (Canada), 10-0
vs. Reineris Salas Perez (Cuba)

125 kg: Nick Gwiazdowksi (Raleigh, N.C./Titan Mercury WC)
WIN Marcos Santos Bonnet (Puerto Rico), 10-0
WIN Eduardo Garcia Betanzos (Mexico), 10-0
WIN Oscar Pino Hinds (CUB), 11-1
vs. Korey Jarvis (Canada)