Wrestling Canada – Women win flurry of medals at Junior Pan Ams

FORTELEZA, Brazil – Dejah Slater, Jayd Davis and Hannah Taylor led the Canadian women’s team to a third-place finish at the Junior Pan American Championships. The women captured six medals in total.

Slater, of Team Impact Wrestling Club, swept her round-robin to take gold at 68 kg. It was Slater’s first Pan Am title, after capturing silver in 2017 and bronze at the Cadet Pan Ams in 2016.

Slater’s Team Impact teammate Davis was dominant in all four of her matches in the 53 kg round-robin. Davis won two matches by fall, followed by a 12-2 technical fall, and finishing with a 10-2 victory.

At 57 kg, Taylor took gold after pinning all three of her opponents including 2018 Senior Pan American bronze medalist Michaela Beck of USA and 2017 Cadet Pan Am silver medalist Susana Lozano of Mexico. Taylor, of Brock Wrestling Club, improved upon her silver medal at the 2017 Junior Pan American Championships.

Megan Fendelet of the Edmonton Bears Wrestling Club took home a silver medal after pinning her American opponent in the final match of her 65 kg round-robin.

Wendy Liu, also of Team Impact and Burnaby Mountain’ Sara Brinkac both secured bronze medals. Liu captured her medal at 62 kg, and Brinkac at 59 kg.

Samantha Romano lost a close bronze medal bout 8-9. The Brock wrestler finished fifth in her first international tournament.

Seven medal night for Canadian men at the Junior Pan Am Championships

FORTELEZA, Brazil – There wasn’t any gold, but the men captured plenty of hardware on the final night of the Junior Pan American Championships.

Ty Bridgwater, Marco Palermo, Hunter Lee and Aly Barghout each earned silver medals, while Connor McNeice, Gunnar Sales and Richard Deschatelets brought home bronze.

Bridgwater, of the Brock Wrestling Club, was the closest to winning gold, holding a 10-9 lead with 18 seconds to go in the 74 kg final. A late takedown and failed challenge cost him a 12-10 loss to USA’s Jeremiah Moody.

Lakehead Wrestling Club’s Palermo fell 0-10 in the 61 kg gold medal match against American Dylan Gregerson. Gregerson also won the Greco-Roman title on Friday.

Lee went three wins and one loss in the 92 kg group to secure silver. Lee, who represents Saskatoon Wrestling Club, won the Senior World Team Non-Olympic Weight Trials in July.

Barghout was the fourth to earn a silver medal on the night. The 125 kg heavyweight Montreal YMHA wrestler finished with a quick technical superiority to finish with three wins and one loss.

McNeice won his 65 kg bronze medal bout to secure another medal for Canada. The Cochrane Cowboy was a Cadet Pan American champion in 2016.

Guelph Wrestling Club’s Sales earned a technical superiority in the 70 kg bronze medal match. Sales make a significant improvement from his eighth-place finish at the Junior Pan American Championships in 2017.

In his first national team performance, Deschatelets captured bronze at 97 kg. The Brock wrestler earned one win and two losses to secure third place.

Connor Pattison of Burnaby Mountain Wrestling Club just missed out on a medal, finishing fourth in the 86 kg round robin. London-Western Wrestling Club’s Brayden Todd also finished just off the podium, at fifth at 57kg.

The seven medals captured by the men brought the Canadian team total to thirteen, beating last year’s total haul of ten.

The men finished second in the team standings, and on Saturday the women finished third.

The junior team will shift its focus now to the Junior World Championships taking place in Slovakia in September.