The 2024 Paris Olympics were a true thriller for wrestling fans from around the world. As expected, the USA’s wrestlers proved their worth on the grand stage once again, hauling 7 medals. On top of that, many home-bred stars also showcased their skills despite lending their skills to foreign countries at the tournament. Among them, Rutgers’ Sebastian Rivera should be a notable mention, who brought bronze to his native country, Puerto Rico, in the men’s 65kg bracket. While Rivera’s time as a Scarlet Knight has long ended, his coach can’t stop gushing over how his student turned heads at the French capital.

At the 33rd Games, Rivera subdued the Mongolian powerhouse Tulga Tumur-Ochir to win his spot on the podium. With that, speculations about his wrestling future in the USA spiraled, especially considering the state of flux the Rutgers wrestling program is in now. But Scott Goodale only has praises for the 26-year-old.

Sebastian Rivera’s coach eulogizes the collective efforts

Nick Kosko recently caught up with the Rutgers head coach to talk about how the upcoming NCAA season is shaping up for the program. Naturally, the HC thinks the rising wrestlers should take notes from their seniors who made waves on the mat in the City of Love last month. In the YouTube upload, the coach also talks about how the training staff joined hands despite their differences to ensure Rivera achieved his potential in Paris. “Yeah, they made this summer super special, obviously. But just like you mentioned the preparation leading up to it, so all hands on deck,” revealed Goodale.

He also said that emotions were running high, especially with Rivera shouldering a special responsibility for Puerto Rico. “Him (Sebastian) being a flagbearer, him growing up in our town, it was just exciting,” grinned Goodale.

In the conversation, the topic of Jeff Buxton and Donny Pritzlaff also came up. After 10 long years with Rutgers, Pritzlaff recently assumed the role of head coach for Columbia, but Goodale claimed that didn’t stop Donny from being beside Rivera on his journey. “Very detail-oriented plan. Obviously through coach Buxton and Donny,” said the wrestling veteran in the interview. He went on to note the matter of Pritzlaff leaving the program for Columbia and asserted that those troubles were meandered around with everyone prioritizing Rivera’s Olympic campaign. And the wrestler reciprocated with gusto.

What next for the Olympic medalist?

The men’s 65 kg weight class was a highly competitive one at the recently concluded quadrennial tournament. Rivera kicked off his journey in the French capital by defeating Australia’s Georgii Okorokov and advanced to the quarterfinals. There, he was met by Kotaro Kiyooka of Japan, who trounced the Puerto Rican 8-6. However, with Kiyooka advancing all the way to the finals, Sebastian was allowed a repechage match, which he won by subduing Moldova’s Maxim Sacultan 15-4. Then, he went on to face Tumur-Ochir, the 2022 Asian Games gold medalist, and defeated the latter to bag his maiden Olympic hardware.

With the dust settling down, Rivera revealed his intentions to collaborate with his former coach Pritzlaff as an assistant coach at Columbia. Naturally, fans took a nosedive into speculating whether they are likely to watch a showdown between the former Rutgers colleagues in the 2024-25 NCAA wrestling season. Moreover, if Rivera does decide to lend his expertise to the opponent camp this year, Rutgers will have to pull its socks up quickly, especially considering the program finished the 2023-24 season with a 12-5 overall record. How do you see things unfolding in the country’s collegiate wrestling circuit in the coming days? Drop by with a thought of your own!