USOEC wrestlers win gold at Holiday Cup

Courtesy of the USOEC

Marquette, Mich.—United States Olympic Education Center Greco-Roman wrestlers had a strong showing at the Minnesota Storm Holiday Cup in Rochester, Minn., today (Dec. 15), with two athletes taking home top honors and 10 others placing in the top four.
Taking gold were Jessy Williams of Windsor, N.Y., and Kendrick Sanders of Homestead, Fla. Williams defeated teammate Mason Bradford of West Chapel, Fla., in the 60-kilogram finals to secure his position on top of the podium. Williams overtook Bradford 1-4, 6-0, 4-0. At 66 kg, Sanders earned gold by defeating RaVaughn Perkins of team Ready RP Nationals 0-2, 3-0, 5-0.

Other USOEC athletes also won medals. In the 55-kg first-place match, Arthur Carmona of Brawley, Calif., faced Nate Engle of the Army, falling 1-0, 2-0, which gave him a silver medal. Teammates Max Nowry, Wheeling, Ill., and Isaiah Varona, Miami, faced off in the bronze-medal match, with Nowry coming up on top 2-0, 1-0.

Earning a bronze at 60 kg for the USOEC was Dmitry Ryabchinsky of Brooklyn, N.Y., who defeated Julian Gunnels of Minnesota Storm 1-0, 4-1.

Nick Alvarez of Miami also won his bronze-medal match over Devon Scott of Minnesota Storm 1-0, 3-0, in the 66-kg weight class.

In the 74-kg bronze-medal match, teammates Jonathan Drendel and Tanner Andrews, both of North Aurora, Ill., faced off. Drendel took the medal with a 4-2, 0-1, 1-0, victory.
Ethan Dondlinger of Slinger, Wis., took second at 96 kg. Dondlinger wrestled John Wechter of Minnesota Storm in the gold-medal match, falling 2-0, 1-0.

Due to limited entries, the 120-kg weight class was contested in a round- robin competition. Parker Betts of St. Michael, Minn., won three out of four matches to finish the day with a silver medal.

Coach Rob Hermann was pleased with his team’s results.

“I felt this was a great learning experience,” said Hermann. “We had some juniors winning against senior-level athletes and they left knowing they can compete at this level.”