#GrecoMonday: U.S. Open champion Raymond Bunker embodies the Marine spirit
Share:
by JD Rader, USA Wrestling
Raymond Bunker celebrates his U.S. Open finals victory. Photo by Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com.
Raymond Bunker of the U.S. Marine Corps pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the U.S. Open when defeated two-time U.S. Open champion and 2016 Olympic Trials champion RaVaughn Perkins.
Bunker, a hard worker who embodies what it means to be a Marine, has made steady improvements since arriving on the Senior Greco-Roman scene four years ago. At the 2015 U.S. Open, Bunker failed to win a match. In 2016, he took sixth place at the U.S. Open. In 2017, the Marine won a University Nationals title. Now, Bunker is a Senior level national champion.
“It’s been a dream of mine since I was a kid,” Bunker said. “2015 I made my first U.S. Open appearance and I went 0-2. Four years of training every day and getting my stuff together. I won. U.S. Open champion, it’s a dream come true.”
After receiving some bad news just days before the competition, Bunker had a little extra motivation.
“My cousin recently passed away,” Bunker said. “I needed to win this for him. Now I can go home with my family and go to his funeral.”
Perkins had been dominant up until the finals match, outscoring his opponents 32-0, but Bunker trusted in his training and his team.
“We believe in our system and we believe in our coach,” Bunker said. “We have the best coach in the World. He believes in us 100 percent. When you have someone who believes in you, and you have a program and team that supports you that well, Marines fight to win. That’s what we do.”
Bunker’s coach Jason Loukides proved his importance and prowess when he threw the challenge brick in the second period of Bunker’s finals match. Down 3-2, Bunker locked up a reverse lift and threw Perkins but did not expose his back. Loukides immediately threw the brick, calling for a correct throw. This decision overturned the call on the mat and gave Bunker the go-ahead points.
By defeating Perkins and winning the U.S. Open, Bunker earned his bid to Final X and is now only two wins away from making a World Team.
“I won. At the end of the day, I won, but there’s some things I need to work on. I got turned in par terre and I got put down first. I’m going to go back, work on some things, and get ready for Final X.”
Raymond Bunker of the U.S. Marine Corps pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the U.S. Open when defeated two-time U.S. Open champion and 2016 Olympic Trials champion RaVaughn Perkins.
Bunker, a hard worker who embodies what it means to be a Marine, has made steady improvements since arriving on the Senior Greco-Roman scene four years ago. At the 2015 U.S. Open, Bunker failed to win a match. In 2016, he took sixth place at the U.S. Open. In 2017, the Marine won a University Nationals title. Now, Bunker is a Senior level national champion.
“It’s been a dream of mine since I was a kid,” Bunker said. “2015 I made my first U.S. Open appearance and I went 0-2. Four years of training every day and getting my stuff together. I won. U.S. Open champion, it’s a dream come true.”
After receiving some bad news just days before the competition, Bunker had a little extra motivation.
“My cousin recently passed away,” Bunker said. “I needed to win this for him. Now I can go home with my family and go to his funeral.”
Perkins had been dominant up until the finals match, outscoring his opponents 32-0, but Bunker trusted in his training and his team.
“We believe in our system and we believe in our coach,” Bunker said. “We have the best coach in the World. He believes in us 100 percent. When you have someone who believes in you, and you have a program and team that supports you that well, Marines fight to win. That’s what we do.”
Bunker’s coach Jason Loukides proved his importance and prowess when he threw the challenge brick in the second period of Bunker’s finals match. Down 3-2, Bunker locked up a reverse lift and threw Perkins but did not expose his back. Loukides immediately threw the brick, calling for a correct throw. This decision overturned the call on the mat and gave Bunker the go-ahead points.
By defeating Perkins and winning the U.S. Open, Bunker earned his bid to Final X and is now only two wins away from making a World Team.
“I won. At the end of the day, I won, but there’s some things I need to work on. I got turned in par terre and I got put down first. I’m going to go back, work on some things, and get ready for Final X.”
Read More#
Lee, Lilledahl to meet at 57 kg in men’s freestyle at 2025 Final X in Newark, N.J.
Media Reports: Freestyle National Team member and NCAA runner-up Sammy Sasso reportedly sh...
Drury, Matthews and Voelker pulled into repechage in Greco-Roman at U20 World Championships
Mesenbrink on to second World final, Berge drops finals rematch
