Tucker, Cormier, Thompson win Pan American freestyle titles, leading the USA to second place finish
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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
03/18/2002
Led by three individual champions, the United States placed second as a team at the 2002 Pan American Freestyle Championships in Caracas, Venezuela, March 16-17. The individual U.S. champions were Byron Tucker (Norman, Okla./Sunkist Kids) at 74 kg/163 lbs.Daniel Cormier (Stillwater, Okla./Gator WC) at 97 kg/211.5 lbs. and Tolly Thompson (Lincoln, Neb./Sunkist Kids) at 120 kg/264.5 lbs. Tucker, who is ranked No. 2 on Team USA, defeated Juan Tendora of Cuba in the finals, 7-3. He won four matches in the tournament, including two pins and a technical fall. Cormier scored a solid 4-0 victory in the gold-medal match against veteran Wilfredo Morales of Cuba. He also had four victories, including two pins and a technical fall. Thompson defeated 1998 World Champion Alexis Rodriguez of Cuba for the gold medal, 3-2. Thompson opened the tournament with a technical fall and a pin. Two U.S. wrestlers won silver medals: Jeff Prescott (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 55 kg/121 lbs. and Brandon Eggum (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota Storm) at 84 kg/185 lbs. Prescott was defeated in the gold medal finals by Rene Montero of Cuba, 7-3. Prescott opened the tournament with a 12-2 loss to Montero, then ran off four straight wins (two pins and two technical falls) to earn a spot in the finals against Montero. Eggum, a 2001 World silver medalist, dropped a decision in the finals to 1999 World Champion Yoel Romero of Cuba. He had a 2-1 record in the tournament. Taking bronze medals for the USA were Danny Felix (Norman, Okla./Sunkist Kids) at 60 kg/132 lbs. and Chris Bono (Gilbert, Iowa/Sunkist Kids) at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. Felix had just one loss, a 10-0 technical fall loss to eventual champion Yandro Quintana of Cuba in the semifinals. Bono lost his semifinal match to veteran Carlos Ortiz of Cuba by a 6-5 margin. Cuba won the tournament with 67 points, followed by the United States with 65 points and Colombia with 34 points.