Akin wins bronze medal at 54 kg/119 lbs. at 1999 Pan American Games freestyle wrestling competition; Seven U.S. wrestlers qualify for Wednesday night's gold medal matches 
 Eric Akin (Overland Park, Kan./ Dave Schultz WC) won a bronze medal at 54 kg/119 lbs. during the morning session at the 1999 Pan American Games freestyle wrestling competition on Wednesday, July 28 at Winnipeg Convention Centre B. 
 Akin locked up a cradle and pinned Geovanny Mora of Mexico in 3:54. He was leading 6-0 when he secured the winning move. Akin finished with a 4-1 record for the tournament, losing only to 1997 World Champion Wilfredo Garcia of Cuba, 3-2 in the preliminaries. 
 Semifinals were held in three weight classes, and the United States won all three of their bouts, qualifying the athletes for the gold-medal finals 
 Eric Guerrero (Stillwater, Okla./Sunkist Kids), at 58 kg/127.75 pounds, locked up a cradle and pinned David Ortiz of Venezuela in 1:57  in the semifinals. He will face 1996 Olympic silver medalist Giuvi Sissaouri of Canada in the gold-medal match. It will be a rematch of a preliminary round match, won by Sissauori, 6-3. 
 Cary Kolat (Bethlehem, Pa./Dave Schultz WC) pinned Marty Calder of Canada in 2:42 at 63 kg/138.75 pounds. Kolat will battle Carlos Ortiz of Cuba in the gold-medal match. 
 Lincoln McIlravy (Iowa City, Iowa/Gateway WC) qualified for the gold-medal round with an exciting 3-1 overtime victory over Daniel Igali of Canada at 69 kg/152 pounds. Igali scored the first point on a takedown, but McIlravy hit a two-point gutwrench late in the second period for a 2-1 lead. Since neither athlete had scored the mandatory three points in regulation, the bout went into overtime. McIlravy scored a takedown 1:35 into overtime for the victory. It was a rematch of the 1998 World Championships bronze medal match in Tehran, Iran, also won by McIlravy. 
 McIlravy will battle Yosmany Sanchez of Cuba in the gold medal finals. 
 Four other U.S. wrestlers will compete for gold medals in their weight classes on Wednesday night: Joe Williams (Iowa City, Iowa/Hawkeye WC) at 76 kg/167.5 lbs., Les Gutches (Corvallis, Ore./Sunkist Kids) at 85 kg/187.25 lbs., Dominic Black (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) at 97 kg/213.75 lbs. and Stephen Neal (Bakersfield, Calif./Dave Schultz WC) at 130 kg/286 lbs. 
 Combined with the Wednesday morning semifinal winners, the United States has placed seven of its eight wrestlers in the gold-medal finals. 
 Williams will face Yosmany Romero of Cuba in the gold-medal finals. Gutches will battle Gary Holmes of Canada in the gold-medal finals. Black is paired against Cuba's Wilfredo Morales in the gold-medal finals. Neal will face 1998 World Champion Alexis Rodriguez for the gold-medal title. 
 The U.S. team is led by head coach John Smith of Stillwater, Okla. and assistant coach Greg Strobel of Bethlehem, Pa. 
 Other bronze medal winners along with Akin were Yeondris Albear of Cuba at 58 kg/127.75 lbs., Marty Calder of Canada at 63 kg/138.75 lbs., Daniel Igali of Canada at 69 kg/152 lbs., Manuel Garcia of Puerto Rico at 76 kg/167.5 lbs., Yoel Romero of Cuba at 85 kg/187.25 lbs., Dean Schmeichel of Canada at 97 kg/213.75 lbs. and Wayne Weathers of Canada at 130 kg/286 lbs. 
 Weathers is also a professional football player with the CFL Winnipeg Blue Bombers. 
 PAN AMERICAN GAMES FREESTYLE WRESTLING 
 At Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada 
 Wednesday, July 28, Morning Session 
 Semifinal matches 
 57 kg/127.75 lbs. 
 Giuvi Sissaouri, Canada dec.Yeondris Albear, Cuba, 3-2 
 Eric Guerrero, United States, pin David Ortiz, Venezuela, 1:57 
 63 kg/138.75 lbs. 
 Carlos Ortiz, Cuba won by tech. fall over Edison Hurtado, Colombia, 10-0, 1:34 
 Cary Kolat, United States pin Marty Calder, Canada, 2:42 
 69 kg/152 lbs. 
 Lincoln McIlravy, United States, dec.Daniel Igali, Canada, 3-1, ot, 7:25 
 Yosmany Sanchez, Cuba, dec. Alex Coriano, Puerto Rico, 9-0 
 Bronze Medal matches 
 54 kg/119 lbs. 
 Bronze - Eric Akin, United States, pin Geovany Mora, Mexico, 3:54 
 58 kg/127.75 lbs, 
 Bronze - Yeondris Albear, Cuba, dec. David Ortiz, Venezuela, 9-0 
 63 kg/138.75 lbs. 
 Bronze - Marty Calder, Canada, won by tech. fall over Edison Hurtado, Colombia, 11-0, 3:42 
 69 kg/152 lbs.  
 Bronze - Daniel Igali, Canada, won by tech. fall over Alex Coriano, Puerto Rico, 11-0, 1:24 
 76 kg/167.5 lbs. 
 Bronze - Manuel Garcia, Puerto Rico, dec. Gustavo Dominguez, Venezuela, 7-0 
 85 kg/187.25 lbs. 
 Bronze - Yoel Romero, Cuba, won by tech. fall over Felix Isisola, Peru, 10-0, 5:37 
 97 kg/213.75 lbs. 
 Bronze - Dean Schmeichel, Canada, dec. Arnulfo Hernandez, Colombia, 5-0 
 130 kg/286 lbs. 
 Bronze - Wayne Weathers, Canada, pin Jose Morin, Venezuela, 0:35 
 Gold medal pairings for Wednesday night's session at 7:00 p.m. 
 54 kg/119 lbs. 
 Gold - Wilfredo Garcia, Cuba, vs. Paul Ragusa, Canada 
 57 kg/127.75 lbs. 
 Gold - Eric Guerrero, United States, vs. Giuvi Sissaouri, Canada 
 63 kg/138.75 lbs. 
 Gold - Cary Kolat, United States, vs. Carlos Ortiz, Cuba 
 69 kg/152 lbs. 
 Gold - Lincoln McIlravy, United States, vs. Yosmany Sanchez, Cuba 
 76 kg/167.5 lbs. 
 Gold - Joe Williams, United States, vs. Yosmany Romero, Cuba, 
 85 kg/187.25 lbs. 
 Gold - Les Gutches, United States, vs. Gary Holmes, Canada 
 97 kg/213.75 lbs. 
 Gold - Dominic Black, United States, vs. Wilfredo Morales, Cuba 
 130 kg/286 lbs. 
 Gold - Stephen Neal, United States, vs. Alexis Rodriguez, Cuba