Without presenting full teams Cuba finished second in the overall medal count at the Pan American Wrestling Championships held this past weekend in Coralville, Iowa.

They won a total of nine medals (five gold, two silver, and two bronze), trailing the host nation (23-4-2). The same was true for each style, except in the women's competition. In freestyle, Cuba won 2-0-0 to the Americans' 8-2-0, and in Greco-Roman, they won 3-2-0 to the Americans' 7-1-1.

Under these circumstances, it was impossible for the team to qualify for the finals. points, because there were also competitions in the non-Olympic weight divisions.

If one of our athletes deserves special mention, it's freestyle wrestler Arturo Silot (97 kg), who shone at the Xtream Arena, defeating all his opponents by technical superiority. The champion of the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador beat Puerto Rican Edwin Morales 11-0, Dominican Luis Pérez 10-0, and in the final, local wrestler Stephen Buchanan 15-4.

However, the other champions also performed very well, especially Greco-Roman wrestler Gabriel Rosillo (97 kg), who defeated Colombian Jhony Arias 8-0, American Timothy Samuel Young 9-1, and in the final, he defeated Honduran Kevin Mejía by pinfall.

Kevin de Armas (60 kg) performed exceptionally well, with victories of 8-0 against Peruvian Abel Gustavo Sánchez, 6-1 against Dominican Yerony Arturo Liria, and 11-0 for the gold medal against Ecuadorian Clisman Adrián Carracedo. Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Luis Orta also had a strong showing (9-0 against Colombian Julián Stiven Horta, 8-0 against Guatemalan José Alejandro Varela, and 5-3 in the final against host Otto Elliot Black).

In the freestyle division, Geannis Garzón (74 kg) appears to be on the path to glory after winning the gold medal with victories of 10-0 against Mexican Raúl Israel Jehu Palacios, 6-5 against Canadian Adam Skene Thompson, and 12-6 against American Phillip Kannon Webster.

The silver medals won by Oscar Pino (130 kg) and Daniel Gregorich (87 kg) were within the realm of possibility, although it is noteworthy that Gregorich was defeated twice by the same opponent.

Pino beat Dominican José Antonio Núñez 9-0 and Puerto Rican James Owens Ford 8-0, but lost the title match 1-1 to American Cohlton Michael Schultz due to scoring first. Gregorich defeated Mexican José Andrés Vargas 8-0, but lost 1-3 to American Beka Melelashvili in the preliminaries, and then 6-8 to the same opponent in the final.

Among women, both Yaynelis Sanz (57 kg) and Milaimy Marín (76 kg) lost to the best in their respective categories.

Marín started strong, defeating Brazilian Meiriele Charamba 12-0, but succumbed 0-11 to the home champion, Kylie Renee Welker. She then went on to defeat Colombian Tatiana Rentería 7-0 for the bronze medal.

Meanwhile, Sanz lost by knockdown to the highly regarded Ecuadorian Luisa Valverde in her first match and then secured the bronze medal with a 4-0 victory over Brazilian Giullia Peñalber.

These will be our gladiators at the upcoming World Championships, held in Bratislava, Slovakia, from September 5th-13th. This training camp proved invaluable to them.

Translated by Amilkal Labañino / CubaSí Translation Staff