Cuba and Venezuela each won two Greco-Roman titles as the Pan American Olympic Games wrestling qualifier concluded tonight at the Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco, Texas.
The last 12 Olympic wrestling qualifying spots of the weekend were determined today with the top two finishers in each of the six Greco-Roman weight classes clinching Rio 2016 berths.
Former junior world champion Yasmany Lugo Cabrera of Cuba won by medical forfeit over Venezuela’s Luillys Perez Mora to take the gold medal at 98kg.
His compatriot Yurisandy Hernandez Rios gained a workmanlike 6-0 win over Colombia’s Carlos Munoz Jaramillo in the finals at 75kg.
Cuba has now qualified for the Olympics in five of six Greco-Roman weight categories, matching their feat in men’s freestyle.
Venezuela’s Wuileixis Rivas Espinoza erased a 2-0 deficit late in his 66kg gold medal bout against Cuba’s Miguel Martinez Palacio to rally to a 3-2 win.
Erwin Caraballo Cabrera, also of Venezuela, capped the three-day event with an 8-0 technical fall over Brazil’s Antoine Abou Jaoude in the finals at 130kg.
Toronto 2015 Pan American Games champion Andres Montano Arroyo of Ecuador continued his superb run, defeating Venezuela’s Raiber Rodriguez Orozco by a 9-0 technical fall in the 59kg finals.
The United States’ Jordan Holm rolled to a 9-0 technical fall over Mexico’s Alfonso Leyva Yepez to earn gold at 85kg.
America qualified for the Olympics in just one of four Greco-Roman weight classes it entered in Frisco.
They qualified for Rio 2016 in four of 13 weight classes this weekend and have now qualified in nine of 18 weight classes overall.
There will be two more Olympic Games qualifiers after the Pan Am Olympic qualifier; one in Mongolia in April and another in Turkey in May.
Pan American countries landed a total of four Olympic berths in Greco-Roman during the 2015 World Championships in Las Vegas.
Cuba punched two Olympic tickets in the 59kg and 130kg, while the US did so in the 75kg and 130kg.
- By Daniel Etchells
- Republished with permission insidethegames.biz