TexasWrestling
Plano East Head Coach Bryan Kenney was one of the coaches for the USA U15 men’s team that traveled to the Panama last week for the U15 Pan American Greco Roman and Freestyle Championships. The USA won all 9 weights in both Greco Roman and Freestyle that they was entered into making all the wrestlers double champions .
Congratulations to Coach Kenney
USA wins nine U15 Pan American freestyle titles, as all team members win double titles
Photo of the U.S. men’s freestyle Pan American U15 team, courtesy of Kelli Shuffler.
PANAMA CITY, Panama – All nine U.S. wrestlers who entered the 2019 Pan American U15 Championships in won the gold medal on Sunday. These victories made all nine boys double champions at the tournament. These same nine wrestlers won Pan American U15 Greco-Roman titles on Friday.
Team USA won the team title with 225 points, followed by Mexico with 135 and Colombia with 122. There were 11 nations in the tournament. The USA was the team champion in all three styles, also winning in women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman.
Winning the Golden Boot as the Outstanding Wrestler in the tournament was Jayden Colon of Hanover Park, Ill.. the champion at 57 kg. Colon opened with a forfeit, won his next two matches by technical fall, then scored an 8-0 decision over Axel Medrano Garcia of Mexico in the finals.
The other U.S. individual freestyle champions were:
• Elias Navida of San Diego, Calif. at 38 kg
• Paul Kelly of Chandler, Ariz. at 44 kg.
• Greyson Clark of Wrightstown, Wis. at 48 kg
• Lane Gilbert of Sullivan, Ind. at 52 kg
• Braden Stauffenberg of Plano, Ill. at 62 kg
• Thor Michaelson of Bremerton, Wash. at 68 kg
• Antony Tuttle of North St. Paul, Minn. at 75 kg
• Nathan Wemstrom of Buffalo Grove, Ill. at 85 kg
For the day, the USA men’s freestylers went 32-0, with 24 bonus point wins, including 16 technical falls and 8 pins.
Over the last week, this group became a team and then more like a family. We had a fantastic group of athletes, staff and parents. They pulled for each other for every point in every match,” said U.S. coach Kyle Martin. “The focus of the camp was to score early and often. The athletes bought into this for all of their matches but two. It translated to success by getting the opponents out of their comfort zone. It is a statement to how coachable these athletes are. They are anxious to learn and anxious to grow in the sport. This is just a step in their bright futures. They are ambassadors for our sport and great representatives of USA Wrestling.”
A trophy was awarded combining all three styles, and the USA won the team award easily with 625 points, including 29 individual medals. Second place went to Panama with 350 points and third place to Colombia with 323 points. There were 12 teams in the tournament.
