Men's freestyle wins six gold medals and team title on last day of Pan Am Championships in Canada

OTTAWA, Canada – The U.S. men’s freestyle team won all six of its finals on Monday night at the Pan American Championships in Ottawa, Canada, and ran away with the team trophy, scoring 205 points.

In second place was Canada with 120, and Cuba rounded out the top-three with 100 points.

Those picking up individual titles for the USA included Jordan Burroughs, Kyle Snyder, Anthony Ashnault, Yianni Diakomihalis, Tyler Graff and Tony Nelson.

2012 Olympic champion and four-time World champ Burroughs won his fourth Pan American Championships gold medal after a tense bout with 2011 World silver medalist Franklin Gomez of Puerto Rico.

Burroughs used a second-period takedown and leg lace to propel him to an eventual 8-1 win.

Snyder, a 2016 Olympic champ and two-time World gold medalist, sailed to the title at 97 kg, obliterating three-time World medalist Reineris Salas Perez of Cuba with an 11-1 technical fall.

Snyder widened the gap after last year’s Pan Am Games, where he won only 3-1 over Salas.

Ashnault pick up his second-consecutive Pan Am title on Monday, securing a pin his final match of a five-man round-robin.

Taking on Hugo De Lima Viana De Souza of Brazil, Ashnault scored a takedown and gut before pinning the Brazilian in 51 seconds, collecting his third pin of the day. With the impressive performance, Ashnault was named the Outstanding Wrestler.

Thanks to his golden performance, Ashnault has earned a bid to the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, April 4-5.

Final X runner-up Diakomihalis spent less than a minute on the mat in his final, sticking Mauricio Sanchez Saltos of Guatemala in 49 seconds. Overall, Diakomihalis finished his first Pan Ams with a 4-0 record and the gold medal.

In his first bout of the day, 2019 World Team member Graff used a single-leg takedown as his weapon of choice to defeat 2019 Pan American bronze medalist Scott Schiller of Canada, 11-0, to earn his first Pan Am title at 61 kg.

At 125 kg, Nelson won by injury default over 2014 Junior World champion Amarveer Dhesi of Canada.

Earlier in the day, Nelson picked up two decisions and then a win by fall in the semifinals.

In his bronze medal match at 57 kg, 2019 National Team member Darian Cruz dominated Edwin Segura Guerra from Guatemala, rattling off takedown after takedown to earn a first-period 10-0 technical fall.

Bouncing back from a tough semifinals loss was Final X runner-up Alex Dieringer, who won the bronze at 86 kg with a dominant 11-1 technical fall over Carlos Izquierdo Mendez of Colombia, who was fifth at the 2019 World Championships.

The Pan American Olympic Qualifier will take place later this week, March 13-15, in Ottawa, Canada. The top-two from each weight will qualify their weight for the Tokyo Olympic Games.

2020 PAN AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

at Ottawa, Canada (March 6-9)

Freestyle team results
1. USA – 205
2. Canada – 120
3. Cuba – 100
4. Venezuela – 66
5. Mexico – 59
6. Puerto Rico – 57
7. Dominican Republic – 44
8. Peru – 35
9. Argentina – 35
10. Brazil – 30

Final men’s freestyle results
57 kg
GOLD – Reineri ANDREU ORTEGA (CUB) df. Pedro MEJIAS RODRIGUEZ (VEN), 4-2
BRONZE – Darian CRUZ (USA) df. Edwin SEGURA GUERRA (GUA), 10-0
BRONZE - Juan Rubelin RAMIREZ BELTRE (DOM) df. Ligrit SADIKU (CAN), injury default

61 kg
GOLD – Tyler GRAFF (USA)
SILVER – Scott SCHILLER (CAN)

65 kg
GOLD – Yianni DIAKOMIHALIS (USA) df. Mauricio Javier SANCHEZ SALTOS (ECU), fall
BRONZE – Sixto AUCCAPINA PEDRAGAS (PER) df. David DOS SANTOS MOREIRA (BRA), 9-0
BRONZE - Agustin DESTRIBATS (ARG) df. Jose Javier RODRIGUEZ COLON (PUR), 10-0

70 kg
GOLD – Anthony ASHNAULT (USA)
SILVER – Brandon Disair DIAZ RAMIREZ (MEX)
BRONZE – Cruiz Saint Luc MANNING (CAN)

74 kg
GOLD – Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) df. Franklin GOMEZ (PUR), 8-1
BRONZE – Anthony MONTERO CHIRINOS (VEN) df. Enrique PEREZ CASTELLANOS (GUA), 12-2
BRONZE - Jeandry GARZON CABALLERO (CUB) df. Jorge Ivan LLANO (ARG), 11-0

86 kg
GOLD – Yurieski TORREBLANCA QUERALTA (CUB) df. Pool AMBROCIO GREIFO (PER), injury default
BRONZE – Alex DIERINGER (USA) df. Carlos Arturo IZQUIERDO MENDEZ (COL), 11-1
BRONZE – Clayton PYE (CAN) df. Ricardo Adrian BAEZ (ARG), 11-0

97 kg
GOLD – Kyle SNYDER (USA) df. Reineris SALAS PEREZ (CUB), 11-1
BRONZE – Luis Miguel PEREZ SOSA (DOM) df. Jose Daniel DIAZ ROBERTTI (VEN), 5-3

125 kg
GOLD – Anthony NELSON (USA) df. Amarveer DHESI (CAN), injury default
BRONZE – Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB) df. Brandon AGUIANO FLORES (MEX), 10-0

Men’s freestyle results
57 kg: Darian Cruz (Lehigh Valley WC) – BRONZE
LOSS Reineri Andreu Ortega (Cuba), 12-2
WIN Edwin Segura Guerra (Guatemala), 10-0

61 kg: Tyler Graff (Titan Mercury WC/NJRTC) – GOLD
WIN Scott Schiller (Canada), 11-0

65 kg: Yianni Diakomihalis (Titan Mercury WC/Finger Lakes WC) – GOLD
WIN Luis Orta Sanchez (Cuba), win by injury default
WIN Jose Rodriguez Colon (Puerto Rico), 9-2
WIN Augustin Destribats (Argentina), 7-4
WIN Mauricio Sanchez Saltos (Ecuador), fall 0:49

70 kg: Anthony Ashnault (NJRTC) – GOLD
WIN Ranico Howard (Barbados), fall 0:21
WIN Brandon Diaz Ramirez (Mexico), fall 2:44
WIN Cruiz Manning (Canada), 12-2
WIN Hugo De Lima Viana De Souza (Brazil), fall 0:51

74 kg: Jordan Burroughs (Sunkist Kids/Nebraska WTC) – GOLD
WIN Jorge Llano (Argentina), 10-0
WIN Jeandry Garzon Caballero (Cuba), 3-0
WIN Franklin Gomez (Puerto Rico), 8-1

79 kg: Jason Nolf (Nittany Lion WC) – GOLD
WIN Guesyn Ruslanzada (Canada), 10-0
WIN Victor Hernandez Luna (Mexico), injury default

86 kg: Alex Dieringer (Titan Mercury WC) – BRONZE
WIN Pedro Ceballos Fuentes (Venezuela), fall 2:54
WIN Ethan Ramos (Puerto Rico), 9-2
LOSS Yurieski Torreblanca Queralta (Cuba), 2-1
WIN Carlos Izquierdo Mendez (Colombia), 11-1

97 kg: Kyle Snyder (Titan Mercury WC/Nittany Lion WC) – GOLD
WIN Luis Perez Sosa (Dominican Republic), 14-4
WIN Evan Ramos (Puerto Rico), 12-2
WIN Jose Diaz Robertii (Venezuela), 9-1
WIN Reineris Salas Perez (Cuba), 11-1

125 kg: Anthony Nelson (Minnesota Storm) – GOLD
WIN Oscar Pino Hinds (Cuba), 2-2
WIN Zach Merrill (Puerto Rico), 4-0
WIN Brandon Augiano Flores (Mexico), fall 1:10
WIN Amarveer Dhesi (Canada), injury default