Four U.S. wrestlers win gold medals at the Pan American Championships

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John Fuller (USA Wrestling)
05/09/2004


Guatemala City, Guatemala - U.S. wrestlers captured 18 medals overall at the Pan American Championships, which concluded on Friday evening.    Four wrestlers, Nick Simmons (Williamston, Mich./Michigan WC), Sara Fulp-Allen (El Granada, Calif./Menlo College), Alaina Berube (Escanaba, Mich./New York AC) and Stephany Lee (Honolulu, Hawaii/Missouri Valley) won gold medals.    Simmons was the only men's freestyle wrestler to win gold, taking the title at 55 kg/121 lbs.    The 2003 NCAA All-American was dominant throughout the tournament, pinning two opponents in less than one minute, including his 49-second fall over Hector Camacho of Venezuela in the finals.    Winning silver medals in men's freestyle competition were Tom Clum (Arvada, Colo./Wisconsin WC) at 60 kg/132 lbs., Clint Musser (Akron, Ohio/New York AC) at 66 kg/163 lbs., Kirk White (Tacoma, Wash./Dave Schultz WC) at 74 kg/163 lbs. and Tommy Rowlands (Columbus, Ohio/Dave Schultz WC) at 96 kg/211.5 lbs.    Musser lost to 2003 World silver medalist Yandro Quintana of Cuba by technical superiority in the finals.    White lost 6-4 to Ivan Fundora of Cuba in his finals match. It is the second consecutive Pan American Championships gold medal for Fundora.    Clum and Rowlands both lost one match in a round-robin weight class.    Winning bronze medals in men's freestyle were Andy Hrovat (Ann Arbor, Mich./New York AC) at 84 kg/185 lbs. and Brian Keck (Cleveland, Ohio/New York AC) at 120 kg/264.5 lbs.    Keck only lost one match in a five-man weight class, but based on the total number of classification points, placed behind Yordany Hernandez of Guatemala, a wrestler Keck defeated 3-1 in the tournament.    Berube and Lee both won their weight classes after a round-robin competition in women's freestyle action. Berube pinned all three of her opponents in winning the gold medal while Lee won one match by fall, and another by technical superiority.    Fulp-Allen captured her title on Thursday.    Winning silver medals in women's freestyle were Danyelle Hedin (Kailua, Hawaii/Team Hawaii) at 55 kg/121 lbs. and Heather Martin (Wellington, Ohio/Cleveland State) at 67 kg/147.5 lbs.    Hedin lost a 7-2 match to Sandra Roa of Colombia in the finals. Martin finished 1-1 in a three-person weight class to finish second.    Stefenie Shaw (Waterford, Conn./Unattached) won a bronze medal at 63 kg/138.75 lbs. and Tabithia Ramsey (Austin, Texas/UM-Morris) placed fourth at 51 kg/112.25 lbs.    U.S. Greco-Roman wrestlers won five silver medals. Placing second were Ron Muir (Colorado Springs, Colo./Unattached) at 66 kg/145.5 lbs., 2004 U.S. Nationals runner-up Steve Woods (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Air Force) at 74 kg/163 lbs., Jeff Funicello (Gilbert, Ariz./Sunkist Kids) at 84 kg/185 lbs., Brandon Ruiz (Colorado Springs, Colo./Elite WC) at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. and Russ Davie (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland State) at 120 kg/264.5 lbs.    All five wrestlers were in one-pool weight classes.    Muir's only loss was 3-0 to three-time World medalist Roberto Monzon of Cuba. Woods was dropped by two-time Olympic champion Filiberto Azcuy of Cuba 11-0 in his first pool match. Davie lost 14-0 to 2003 Pan American Games champion Mijial Lopez of Cuba.    Funicello and Ruiz both finished 1-1 in three-man weight classes.    Also in Greco-Roman, Neal Rodak (Pensacola, Fla./U.S. Navy) placed fourth at 55 kg/121 lbs. and Jason Tolbert (Ft. Carson, Colo./U.S. Army) placed fifth at 60 kg/132 lbs.    The U.S. won the team title in men's and women's freestyle, while the Greco-Roman team placed second to Cuba. In men's freestyle, Cuba did not have a wrestler at 55 kg/121 lbs., which gave the U.S. the team title.