Uncertain Fate for USA’s Greco-Roman Wrestling at Pan Am Games as Olympic Aspirations Hang in the Balance

American athletes are having a field day at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, and bringing multiple medals back home. The wrestling division of the USA has been especially good. However, while the freestyle wrestling unit of the USA is winning glory, the same isn’t true for the Greco-Roman wrestlers.

The US has been a freestyle wrestling power for quite some time now. But, while American freestyle wrestling has many known wrestling personalities associated with it, the Greco-Roman wrestling division didn’t achieve this growth. A recently uploaded post on social media broke the news of the dismal state of the US Greco-Roman wrestlers. However, there still lies one ray of hope for America’s Greco-Roman wrestlers to make it to the Olympics.

American Greco-Roman wrestling hangs by a strand

The US had embarked on the boat of the 2023 Pan American Games with a lot of enthusiasm. While every other sport is enjoying the cruise, Greco-Roman wrestling took a major heat at the Pan American Games. USA Wrestling recently uploaded a tweet on its official X account to break the shocking news to American fans.

The tweet carried the caption, “Friday update for Greco-Roman #WrestleTirana. 60 kg: Phillip Moomey, Eliminated. 67 kg: Robert Perez III, In Repechage. 72 kg: Justus Scott, Eliminated. 82 kg: Tyler Eischens, Eliminated. 97 kg: Cade Lautt, Eliminated.” This paints quite a concerning picture of American Greco-Roman wrestling. While four out of five US representatives got eliminated, one of the wrestlers only has a potential shot at the bronze medal.

Tyler Eischens and Cade Lautt put up a good show at the competition, but after some initial bouts, they both lost. On the other hand, Phillip Moomey and Justus Scott got eliminated in their very first round. The Americans just have one medal representative at the moment who can make a possible entryway for American Greco-Roman wrestling in Paris. But, his road to winning the bronze medal isn’t a simple one.

Robert Perez III to win multiple matches for bronze

Robert Perez III had a somewhat better Pan Am campaign compared to the other wrestlers. The 67kg weight class wrestler will be fighting in a repechage match against Umesh Umesh of UWW. However, if he secures a win, he will enter a second repechage match against Artur Jeremejev of Estonia. A win against Jeremejev will earn him the bronze medal match. 

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Thus, Perez isn’t allowed to lose even a single match, or he will get knocked out of the contest. While the first group of Greco-Roman wrestlers face big losses, the second group will enter the competition on 28 October 2023. The second group also has five entries in different weight classes. While the Americans will pray for the second group to be successful, they’ll also pray for Perez’s win. Will Robert Perez III be able to open the door to the Olympics?

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