2024 Pan-Am Wrestling Championships

[SIACfan]

Nick Lee & Mason Parris win Gold at 65 kg & 125 kg respectively.

 

Actually USA swept gold in Men's Freestyle.

 

Indiana showing up for team USA!

[maligned]

3 hours ago, SIACfan said:

Nick Lee & Mason Parris win Gold at 65 kg & 125 kg respectively.

 

Actually USA swept gold in Men's Freestyle.

 

Indiana showing up for team USA!

Kayla Miracle also took gold (which matters a lot..explained below). Jacob Moran wrestled for Puerto Rico and lost his only match, 3-1, to the Ecuadorian who took bronze.

 

These Pan Am championships matter for international seeding points, including for the Olympics, so we took them seriously.

 

However, the real event is this weekend--the Pan Am Olympic Qualifier tournament. All 18 Olympic weights will wrestle until there is a Top 2, who will qualify their country for that given weight at the Olympics this summer. Nations who already qualified at a given weight by placing Top 5 at the 2023 Worlds will not have an entry at that weight.

 

Nick Lee will attempt to qualify us for the Olympics at 65kg and Kayla Miracle will attempt to qualify us at 62kg, where neither was successful in placing Top 5 at 2023 Worlds. Jacob Moran will once again compete for Puerto Rico as well. In addition to Lee at freestyle 65 and Kayla at women's 62, the U.S. will also attempt to qualify 57kg in freestyle, all 6 weights of Greco, and 53kg and 68kg in women's.

 

Kayla's gold at the regular Pan Am Championships  was important because she took the head-to-head gold medal match from the Canadian in a nail biter, 6-6. This gives Kayla the #1 seed and puts her opposite both the very tough Canadian and a very tough Brazilian in the Olympic Qualifier event. There is no True 2nd, so it paves the way for a much easier path to winning in the semi-finals and guaranteeing our place at the Olympics.

 

Even if Nick and Kayla qualify the weights for us, they have to come through our Olympic Trials in April like everyone else to be our representatives this summer.

 

Edited February 26 by maligned

[maligned]

Draws are out for the Olympic Games qualifier.

 

To get top 2 to qualify the weight, Kayla Miracle will probably face a tough 20yo Venezuelan who has two age group world medals to her credit. Kayla was losing to her 5-4 before pinning her with 1:30 left in their match last week. 

 

Nick Lee will probably have Austin Gomez, past NCAA AA, wrestling for Mexico in the quarters; and then Canadian NCAA AA for North Carolina, Lachlan McNeil, in the semis. Gomez is very dynamic and did upset Yianni in the college season last year. 

 

Jacob Moran is out and NCAA champ Darian Cruz is in for Puerto Rico at 57kg. For the US at that weight, Zane Richards' biggest test in qualifying the weight should be Cruz in the semis.

[maligned]

The event starts today with Greco, where we haven't qualified any of the 6 weights yet. 

 

To qualify the 6, we're significant favorites in 2 weights, slight favorites in another 2, a coin flip in one, and heavy underdogs to a Cuban in one.

 

We never qualify all the Greco weights for the Olympics, but we should get 3 to 5 today.

Edited February 28 by maligned

[wrestlenewbie]

On 2/28/2024 at 6:46 AM, maligned said:

Draws are out for the Olympic Games qualifier.

 

To get top 2 to qualify the weight, Kayla Miracle will probably face a tough 20yo Venezuelan who has two age group world medals to her credit. Kayla was losing to her 5-4 before pinning her with 1:30 left in their match last week. 

 

Nick Lee will probably have Austin Gomez, past NCAA AA, wrestling for Mexico in the quarters; and then Canadian NCAA AA for North Carolina, Lachlan McNeil, in the semis. Gomez is very dynamic and did upset Yianni in the college season last year. 

 

Jacob Moran is out and NCAA champ Darian Cruz is in for Puerto Rico at 57kg. For the US at that weight, Zane Richards' biggest test in qualifying the weight should be Cruz in the semis.

 

Though Lee pinfelled Gomez at Worlds in Serbia.

[maligned]

Kayla Miracle is about to go on the mat in her semi-final match to attempt to seal United States qualification of a slot at 62kg. She has the rising young Venezuelan that we'd expected she'd face. Again, she beat her last week by pin in 4:30, but she was trailing, 5-4, at the time.

 

Our girls at 53 and 68kg are also in the semis. We previously qualified the other 3 weights.

 

We also qualified 3 of the 6 weights yesterday in Greco, losing a couple tough ones and picking up a huge upset in the one weight I thought we had no chance. 

[maligned]

Kayla gets it done! She beats the Venezuelan, 3-0, this time. Now she "only" needs to win the Trials and she's into another Olympic Games! 

 

Parrish at 53kg also qualified the weight for us. It's only Amit Elor, possibly the best female wrestler on the planet, needing to qualify 68kg that's left (she's emerged the last 2 seasons as an unbeatable force at 72kg, but cut down for the Olympic year..our other rep didn't qualify 68 at Worlds).

[maligned]

Tragically, Lee gets outscored 18-2 by Austin Gomez after owning a 10-4 lead and ends up teched. This is the 3rd straight Olympic cycle at this weight that we are taking a shocking loss and not qualifying this weight. 

 

Zane Richards moves to tonight's semis against Darian Cruz at 57kg.

[SIACfan]

2 hours ago, maligned said:

Tragically, Lee gets outscored 18-2 by Austin Gomez after owning a 10-4 lead and ends up teched. This is the 3rd straight Olympic cycle at this weight that we are taking a shocking loss and not qualifying this weight. 

 

Zane Richards moves to tonight's semis against Darian Cruz at 57kg.

 

What happened?

 

Did he get caught in a leg-lace or gut-wrench & get rolled repeatedly?

 

Or was it a slow methodical take-over of the match?

[RAJR]

58 minutes ago, SIACfan said:

 

What happened?

 

Did he get caught in a leg-lace or gut-wrench & get rolled repeatedly?

 

Or was it a slow methodical take-over of the match?

 

IIRC,  take down to back, takedown and several laces, and I think a final takedown.  Here is a link of the match Flo put on X/Twitter if interested:

 

https://twitter.com/FloWrestling/status/1763617545435681152

 

Edited March 1 by RAJR

[SIACfan]

13 minutes ago, RAJR said:

 

IIRC,  take down to back, takedown and several laces, and I think a final takedown.  Here is a link of the match Flo put on X/Twitter if interested:

 

https://twitter.com/FloWrestling/status/1763617545435681152

 

 

At about the 5:30 mark with Nick up 10-4, Gomez gets the push out. The official signals 1 & you can see it comfirmed by one of the judges. But the score goes to 10-6.

 

Does anyone know why Gomez was awarded 2 there instead of 1?

[maligned]

14 hours ago, SIACfan said:

 

Does anyone know why Gomez was awarded 2 there instead of 1?

Caution and 1 for leaving the mat. There's always a step out point when you're not trying to go out. But if you just leave like that, it's a caution and 1 on top of it. Like the technical violation in folkstyle, but much stricter in its application.

[SIACfan]

2 hours ago, maligned said:

Caution and 1 for leaving the mat. There's always a step out point when you're not trying to go out. But if you just leave like that, it's a caution and 1 on top of it. Like the technical violation in folkstyle, but much stricter in its application.

 

Ok, thanks!

 

Does it appear that something is wrong with Lee after Gomez takes the injury time? And what is the rule on injury time in Freestyle?

 

Gomez basically scores at will with ease. And Lee suddenly seems to have no defense.

[maligned]

On 3/2/2024 at 10:48 AM, SIACfan said:

 

Ok, thanks!

 

Does it appear that something is wrong with Lee after Gomez takes the injury time? And what is the rule on injury time in Freestyle?

 

Gomez basically scores at will with ease. And Lee suddenly seems to have no defense.

I just know that Gomez is always explosive in spurts but can fade. He came out blazing at the beginning, post-break, and post-injury timeout when he hit the 4-pointer. I think getting put to your back like Nick did always takes a lot out of you mentally and physically, especially late in a match. In retrospect, I'm sure Nick would say he was a little rattled and should have taken a moment to gather himself physically and mentally, instead of launching blindly into all-out attack mode with a minute still left.

Edited March 5 by maligned

[SIACfan]

1 hour ago, maligned said:

I just know that Gomez is always explosive in spurts but can fade. He came out blazing at the beginning, post-break, and post-injury timeout when he hit the 4-pointer. I think getting put to your back like Nick did always takes a lot out of you mentally and physically, especially late in a match. In retrospect, I'm sure Nick would say he was a little rattled and should have taken a moment to gather himself physically and mentally, instead of launching blindly into all-out attack mode with a minute still left.

 

Thanks!

 

Do you know the rule on injury time in Freestyle?

[maligned]

28 minutes ago, SIACfan said:

 

Thanks!

 

Do you know the rule on injury time in Freestyle?

It's very easy to exploit in terms of getting a timeout, but they put pressure on wrestlers to get back to wrestling quickly and will hit cautions quickly if they are dragging. They're also quick to award a point to the other wrestler for repeat stoppages, even though the way the rules are written make it seem easy to get multiple timeouts or long timeouts. This is from the rules:

 

"If a wrestler is clearly injured/bleeding, the bout must be stopped immediately, and the wrestler must be attended to by medical staff. Coaches are allowed to attend to the injured or bleeding wrestler but must not interfere with the medical staff or use the time to coach the wrestler.  The unaffected wrestler must remain on the mat at all times but can be attended by coaches. The medical staff will determine bleeding management versus injury time and take appropriate actions. Bleeding time is limited to Four (4) minutes from the time the medical staff declares bleeding time. If the bleeding time exceeds four minutes (4) the bout is awarded to the opponent as a medical default. Clean-up time is not considered part of the Bleeding time.

 

Injury Time is unlimited if the medical staff requests the time and the referee grants the time. The medical staff must determine when the injury is assessed and recovery time is completed. If the medical staff allows the wrestler to continue, the wrestler must be instructed that any additional stoppage for this injury in the bout could result in a point being awarded to the opponent in the 16U categories and older. It is the refereeing team’s discretion to award a point to the opponent for an athlete who repeatedly stops the match for injury management.  Medical staff will only serve to assess and treat injuries and determine if a wrestler can safely continue in the match.

 

The coach may not request recovery time and abuse could result in the refereeing team issuing a yellow card. "

 

Again, it seems willy-nilly, but because the medical staff could unilaterally stop the match; guys are usually quick to get back going and show they're ok. Also, like I said, they don't allow them to drag. So if a guy keeps dragging, he either takes a second injury and risks getting hit with a point or getting the match stopped by medical staff--or he doesn't take a timeout and risks getting hit with "caution and 1" penalties. So there's less abuse in the practical application than the "unlimited" time makes it seem.

 

But there's no stopping a guy whose engine is less than his opponent from crying out in pain late in a match, taking a minute to recover, and gaining another burst of energy. 

 

Edited March 5 by maligned

[Beamaker]

Just watched Snyder snatch with Cuba’s Silot Torres. The Cuban started off strong but faded quickly. Serious potential there if he can get a gas tank.

Edited March 6 by Beamaker
Name

[SIACfan]

On 3/5/2024 at 11:49 AM, maligned said:

It's very easy to exploit in terms of getting a timeout, but they put pressure on wrestlers to get back to wrestling quickly and will hit cautions quickly if they are dragging. They're also quick to award a point to the other wrestler for repeat stoppages, even though the way the rules are written make it seem easy to get multiple timeouts or long timeouts. This is from the rules:

 

"If a wrestler is clearly injured/bleeding, the bout must be stopped immediately, and the wrestler must be attended to by medical staff. Coaches are allowed to attend to the injured or bleeding wrestler but must not interfere with the medical staff or use the time to coach the wrestler.  The unaffected wrestler must remain on the mat at all times but can be attended by coaches. The medical staff will determine bleeding management versus injury time and take appropriate actions. Bleeding time is limited to Four (4) minutes from the time the medical staff declares bleeding time. If the bleeding time exceeds four minutes (4) the bout is awarded to the opponent as a medical default. Clean-up time is not considered part of the Bleeding time.

 

Injury Time is unlimited if the medical staff requests the time and the referee grants the time. The medical staff must determine when the injury is assessed and recovery time is completed. If the medical staff allows the wrestler to continue, the wrestler must be instructed that any additional stoppage for this injury in the bout could result in a point being awarded to the opponent in the 16U categories and older. It is the refereeing team’s discretion to award a point to the opponent for an athlete who repeatedly stops the match for injury management.  Medical staff will only serve to assess and treat injuries and determine if a wrestler can safely continue in the match.

 

The coach may not request recovery time and abuse could result in the refereeing team issuing a yellow card. "

 

Again, it seems willy-nilly, but because the medical staff could unilaterally stop the match; guys are usually quick to get back going and show they're ok. Also, like I said, they don't allow them to drag. So if a guy keeps dragging, he either takes a second injury and risks getting hit with a point or getting the match stopped by medical staff--or he doesn't take a timeout and risks getting hit with "caution and 1" penalties. So there's less abuse in the practical application than the "unlimited" time makes it seem.

 

But there's no stopping a guy whose engine is less than his opponent from crying out in pain late in a match, taking a minute to recover, and gaining another burst of energy. 

 

 

Thanks Maligned! I appreciate the insight.

 

I can't say that I have ever seen any controversy over this, but I've never watched much Freestyle until the last 4-5 years.