U.S. CLAIMS SIX SILVER MEDALS IN GRECO-ROMAN AT PAN AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS IN SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO; CUBA CLAIMS ALL EIGHT GOLD MEDALS TO WIN THE TEAM TITLESix U.S. wrestlers won silver medals at the 1997 Pan American Greco-Roman Wrestling Championships at the Pedrin Zorrilla Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico, May 23.
Cuba had champions in all eight weight divisions to claim the team title with 64 points. The United States was second with 54 points, and Mexico was third with 31.5 points. A total of 14 nations participated in the Greco-Roman event.
The tournament featured the top wrestling athletes from nations in North, South and Central America. This event is held three out of every four years, and is not held the year that the Pan American Games are hosted.
Lazaro Rivas of Cuba defeated Broderick Lee (Portland, Ore./Peninsula WC), in the finals at 119 pounds, 4-1.
Luis Sarmiento of Cuba stopped James Gruenwald (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) in the 127.75 pound-finals, 4-1.
1996 Olympic silver medalist Juan Maren of Cuba beat Kevin Bracken (Dekalb, Ill./New York AC) in the 138.75 pound-finals, 5-3. It was the third time this season that Maren has defeated Bracken.
Liubal Colas of Cuba defeated Chris Saba (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC), with a 3-0, overtime win at 6:52 in the 152-pound gold-medal match.
1996 Olympic champion Filiberto Azcuy of Cuba edged Matt Lindland (Lincoln, Neb./Sunkist Kids) in the finals at 167.5 pounds, in a 2-1 overtime referee's decision. Lindland had defeated Azcuy in the finals of the 1996 World Cup, held in Colorado Springs, Colo.
1992 Olympic Champion Hector Millian of Cuba beat Rulon Gardner (Phoenix, Ariz./Sunkist Kids) to win the gold medal at 275.5 pounds, 3-0. It was also a rematch of the finals of the 1996 World Cup, which was won by Gardner.
The other two U.S. team members claimed bronze medals: Tod Giles (Nanuet, N.Y./New York AC) at 187.25 pounds and Randy Couture (Corvallis, Ore./Sunkist Kids) at 213.75 pounds.
Giles defeated Javier Broschini of Argentina, 4-0 in the bronze-medal match, while Couture won by technical fall over Daniel Iglesias of Argentina, 10-0 in 1:44. Both Giles and Couture lost to Cuban opponents in the semifinals on Thursday.
The last time that the U.S. did not win a Greco-Roman gold medal at the Pan American Championships was in 1988 in Santa Clara, Cuba.
The U.S. Greco-Roman team was coached by Jim Hall of Syracuse, N.Y. and Dan Mello of Quantico, Va.
The Pan American Freestyle Championships are set for Saturday, May 24 and Sunday, May 25. The Pan American Women's Championships were held on Friday, May 23.
1997 PAN AMERICAN GRECO-ROMAN CHAMPIONSHIPS at San Juan, Puerto Rico, May 23
Greco-Roman results
54 kg/119 lbs. - 1st - Lazaro Rivas, Cuba, dec. Broderick Lee, Portland, Ore., 4-1; 3rd - Mauricio Velez, Colombia, dec. Julio Maldonado, Guatamala, 6-1; 5th - David Ochoa, Venezuela; 6th - Erick Caballero, Panama; 7th (tie) - Javier Solis, Puerto Rico and Josue M Galvan, Mexico
58 kg/127.75 lbs. - 1st - Luis Sarmiento, Cuba, dec. James Gruenwald, Colorado Springs, Colo., 4-1; 3rd - Armando Fernandez, Mexico, dec. Luis Cortez, Colombia, 5-4, ot, 5:16; 5th - Geovanni Ramirez, Guatemala; 6th - Cesar Troncoso, Chile; 7th - Luis Palencia, Venezuela; 8th - Daniel Cruz, Puerto Rico
63 kg/138.75 lbs. - 1st - Juan Maren, Cuba, dec. Kevin Bracken, Dekalb, Ill., 5-3; 3rd - Winston Santos, Venezuela, dec. Tomiaki Castillo, Panama, 4-0; 5th - Victor Castellanos, Mexico; 6th - Fernando Aponte, Puerto Rico; 7th - Cristian Cortes, Chile; 8th - Sebastian Manito, Uruguay
69 kg/152 lbs. - 1st - Liubal Colas, Cuba, dec. Chris Saba, Colorado Springs, Colo., 3-0, ot, 6:52; 3rd - Yorli Patino, Venezuela, dec. Ruben Olvera, Mexico, 3-0; 5th - Humberto Galviria, Colombia; 6th - Alex Raptis, Jamaica; 7th - Williams Fernandez, Uruguay; 8th - Manuel Rodriguez, Puerto Rico
76 kg/167.5 lbs. - 1st - Filiberto Azcuy, Cuba, won by ref. dec. over Matt Lindland, Lincoln, Neb., 2-1, ot, 8:00; 3rd - Elias Marcano, Venezuela, dec. Leigh Vierling, Canada, 4-3; 5th - Gonzalo Pelaez, Argentina; 6th - Ruben Cedres, Uruguay
85 kg/187.25 lbs. - 1st - Luis Mendez, Cuba, won by tech. fall over Jose L. Ayala, Mexico, 12-2, 1:51; 3rd - Tod Giles, Nanuet, N.Y., dec. Javier Broschini, Argentina, 4-0; 5th - Juan Anoulo, Uruguay; 6th - Eduard Ortiz, Puerto Rico
97 kg/213.75 lbs. - 1st - Reynaldo Pena, Cuba, won by tech. fall over Arnulfo Hernandez, Colombia, 11-0, 2:27; 3rd - Randy Couture, Corvallis, Ore., won by technical fall over Daniel Iglesias, Argentina, 10-0, 1:44; 5th - Alberto Rodriguez, Mexico
125 kg/275.5 lbs. - 1st - Hector Millian, Cuba, dec. Rulon Gardner, Phoenix, Ariz., 3-0; 3rd - Rafael Barerro, Venezuela, dec. Edwin Millet, Puerto Rico, 5-4; 5th - Guillermo Diaz, Mexico
Team standings: 1. Cuba, 64 pts.; 2. United States, 54 pts.; 3. Mexico, 31.5 pts.; 4. Venezuela, 30 pts.; 5. Colombia, 22 pts.; 6. Puerto Rico, 14.5 pts.; 7. Argentina, 14 pts.; 8. Uruguay, 10 pts.; 9. Guatemala, 9 pts.; 10. Panama, 8 pts.; 11. tie, Canada and Chile, 5 pts.; 13. Jamaica, 3 pts.; 14. Dominican Republic, 0 pts.