By Richard Immel
USA Wrestling

CORALVILLE, Iowa – The men’s freestyle portion of this year’s Senior Pan American Championships kicked off in style for the U.S. group. Reigning World champion Zahid Valencia, who was the California and National winner of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award in 2016, and Zagreb Open Ranking Series champion Austin DeSanto breezed to gold medals on Saturday evening at Xtream Arena.

Valencia pitched a perfect game at 86 kg with three shutout technical falls, including a decisive 10-0 win over Christopher Foca Mejia of the Dominican Republic in the championship match. Valencia picked Foca Mejia apart with four takedowns, including a powerful double leg finish to the back to punctuate the win.

It was the third Pan American Championship gold medal for Valencia. Since topping the World podium last September, Valencia has collected gold medals at the Dan Kolov – Nikola Petrov International and Senior Pan Ams, plus a bronze medal from the Zagreb Open Ranking Series. Up next is Final X on June 19 in Newark, N.J., against four-time World champion and two-time Olympic bronze medalist Kyle Dake for the World Team spot.

DeSanto continued his stellar season with a near-perfect outing at 61 kg. He earned three 10-0 technical falls in the preliminary rounds before dominating Caleb Smith of Puerto Rico, 9-0, in the gold medal match. Both Smith and DeSanto were champions at the 2025 Bill Farrell Memorial International last November, Smith at 57 kg and DeSanto at 61 kg.

Since taking the Bill Farrell Memorial title, DeSanto has reeled off four-straight international medal performances in 2026. In addition to his gold from Coralville, DeSanto topped the podium at the Henri Deglane Grand Prix and Zagreb Open Ranking Series. He was a bronze medalist at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series. DeSanto placed fourth in the U.S. Open and is expected to compete at next week’s Senior World Team Trials Challenge Tournament, with a spot at Final X on the line.

U.S. Open finalist Kannon Webster, who was Illinois winner of the DSHSEA in 2023, the added a silver medal for Team USA at 74 kg. After posting three technical falls on his way to the finals, Webster was topped by 2025 U23 World bronze medalist Geannis Garzon Tamayo of Cuba in the medal round, 12-6.

For a complete match-by-match breakdown of every Team USA match from Friday, browse our day three match notes.

Wrestling fans in the U.S. market can watch the 2026 Senior Pan American Championships live or on-demand at FloWrestling.com. Complete brackets and match-by-match results are available on UWW Arena.

The tournament concludes on Sunday with men’s freestyle group two (57-65-70-79-92-97-125 kg). The action begins at 10 a.m. (CT). Entered for the U.S. are Liam Cronin, Real Woods, Ridge Lovett, Levi Haines, Trent Hidlay, Stephen Buchanan and Wyatt Hendrickson. Hendrickson was the Kansas winner of the DSHSEA and Lovett was the Idaho winner in 2019.

Stay tuned to TheMat.com and USA Wrestling’s social media platforms for complete coverage of the Senior Pan American Championships.

2026 Senior Pan American Championships 

May 9, Coralville, Iowa 

Reference Links 

• Event Hub

• Event Tickets

• Live Stream

• Brackets and Results

Men’s Freestyle Results 

Team Rankings | Group One 

1. United States, 70

2. Puerto Rico, 35

3. Canada, 34

4. Dominican Republic, 28

5. Cuba, 25

6. Venezuela, 25

7. Colombia, 19

8. Mexico, 16

9. Guatemala, 12

T-10. Costa Rica, 10

T-10. Honduras, 10

Weight Class Rankings | Group One 

61 kg 

Gold – Austin DeSanto (United States)

Silver – Caleb Smith (Puerto Rico)

Bronze – Garette Saunders (Canada)

4th – Alex Vega Tun (Guatemala)

5th – Peter Hammer Cude (Costa Rica)

6th – Irie Jackson (Jamaica)

Gold – Austin DeSanto (United States) dec. Caleb Smith (Puerto Rico), 9-0

Bronze – Garette Saunders (Canada) dec. Alex Vega Tun (Guatemala), 12-5 

74 kg 

Gold – Geannis Garzon Tamayo (Cuba)

Silver – Kannon Webster (United States)

Bronze – Ibsen Aguilar Canizalez (Venezuela)

Bronze – Adam Thomson (Canada)

5th – Luis Barrios Rochez (Honduras)

5th – Raul Palacios Dominguez (Mexico)

7th – Julio Rodriguez Romero (Dominican Republic)

8th – Sixto Auccapina Pedragas (Peru)

9th – Arbey Alarcon Tovar (Colombia)

10th – Jorge Gatica Hinricksen (Chile)

Gold – Geannis Garzon Tamayo (Cuba) dec. Kannon Webster (United States), 12-6

Bronze – Ibsen Aguilar Canizalez (Venezuela) dec. Luis Barrios Rochez (Honduras), 8-6 

Bronze – Adam Thomson (Canada) tech. fall Raul Palacios Dominguez (Mexico), 10-0 

86 kg 

Gold – Zahid Valencia (United States)

Silver – Christopher Foca Mejia (Dominican Republic)

Bronze – Ethan Ramos (Puerto Rico)

Bronze – Nestor Tafur Barrios (Colombia)

5th – Jose Pinero Segueri (Venezuela)

5th – Pedro Goncalves Da Silva (Brazil)

7th – Angel Cortes Bonilla (Panama)

8th – Kevin De Leon Trevino (Mexico)

9th – Taran Goring (Canada)

10th – Jorge Llano (Argentina)

Gold – Zahid Valencia (United States) tech. fall Christopher Foca Mejia (Dominican Republic), 10-0

Bronze – Ethan Ramos (Puerto Rico) tech. fall Jose Pinero Segueri (Venezuela), 10-0 

Bronze – Nestor Tafur Barrios (Colombia) tech. fall Pedro Goncalves Da Silva (Brazil), 11-0 

U.S. Men’s Freestyle Results | Group One 

61 kg – Austin DeSanto (Iowa City, Iowa/Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC), gold medal 

WIN Garette Saunders (Canada), tech. fall, 10-0

WIN Irie Jackson (Jamaica), tech. fall, 10-0

WIN Alex Vega Tun (Guatemala), tech. fall, 10-0

WIN Caleb Smith (Puerto Rico), 9-0

74 kg – Kannon Webster (Washington, Ill./Illinois RTC/New York AC), silver medal 

WIN Arbey Alarcon Tovar (Colombia), tech. fall, 10-0

WIN Ibsen Aguilar Canizalez (Venezuela), tech. fall, 12-1

WIN Luis Barrios Rochez (Honduras), tech. fall, 10-0

LOSS Geannis Garzon Tamayo (Cuba), 12-6

86 kg – Zahid Valencia (Stillwater, Okla./Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC), gold medal 

WIN Nestor Tafur Barrios (Colombia), tech. fall, 10-0

WIN Pedro Goncalves Da Silva (Brazil), tech. fall, 11-0

WIN Christopher Foca Mejia (Dominican Republic), tech. fall, 10-0