U.S. Claims Nine Men’s Freestyle Golds, Berge Awarded Golden Boot at 2026 U23 Pan American Championships
By Richard Immel
USA Wrestling
LIMA, Peru – Team USA kicked off the 2026 U23 Pan American Championships with a sensational 10-for-10 medal effort at La Videna Velodrome, including nine individual champions highlighted by Golden Boot recipient Bennett Berge, who was the Minnesota winner of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award in 2022.
The two-time U20 World medalist won the 86 kg gold medal with apparent ease. Berge reeled off four shutout technical falls, plus a pin, to finish the day 5-0. He downed two-time age-group Pan American medalist Alek Ortiz Roman of Puerto Rico in the gold medal match, 10-0.
2025 U20 World champion Justin Rademacher and 2025 U20 World bronze medalist Connor Mirasola both won five-man round-robin brackets to earn gold medals. Rademacher picked up three 10-0 technical falls to start the day and iced the 97 kg gold with a 56-second pin on Humberto Valverde Uzner of Mexico. Mirasola’s closest bout at 125 kg came in round one, a 4-1 decision against Leonardo Guerrero Aviles of Mexico. Notably, he impressed with a 12-1 technical fall on Jorawar Dhinsa of Canada, who was the Senior Pan American runner-up earlier this year.
2025 NCAA finalist Troy Spratley went three-for-three on technical falls en route to the 57 kg title. After some early point trading in the gold medal match, Spratley blew past Duvan Garcia Munoz of Colombia, 14-4.
Picking up a whopping four pins in five matches was 70 kg champion Jordan Williams. Matching his dominance was 79 kg champion Daschle Lamer, who posted four 10-0 scores on his way to gold.
Other champions on Thursday for the U.S. included Massey Odiotti at 61 kg, Nicco Ruiz at 74 kg and Hayden Walters, who was the Oregon and West Region winner of the DSHSEA in 2023, at 92 kg. Rounding out the list of medalists was Noah Tolentino, who earned a silver medal at 65 kg.
All told, the U.S. men tallied up a 38-1 combined record with six pins and 27 technical falls.
Team USA outpaced the field in the team standings with a near-perfect 245 points. Puerto Rico finished in second place with 180 points. Mexico rounded out the top three with 100 points.
Wrestling continues at 10 a.m. local time on Friday with the women’s freestyle competition. Lima, Peru, is one hour behind U.S. Eastern Time.
A live stream and archived matches of the event are available to the U.S. audience through FloWrestling. Brackets and updated results are hosted on UWW Arena.
2026 U23 Pan American Championships
At Lima, Peru, June 11
Reference Links
Men’s Freestyle Results
Team Rankings
1. United States, 245
2. Puerto Rico, 180
3. Mexico, 100
4. Canada, 81
5. Peru, 80
6. Brazil, 75
7. Ecuador, 39
8. Colombia, 38
9. Chile, 30
10. Guatemala, 28
Weight Class Rankings
57 kg
Gold – Troy Spratley (United States)
Silver – Duvan Garcia Munoz (Colombia)
Bronze – Esteban Morales Mayancha (Ecuador)
Bronze – Adrian Samano (Puerto Rico)
5th – Jeremy Raymundo Gonzalez (Guatemala)
5th – Kenai Soto Rodriguez (Mexico)
7th – Andre Huarcaya Lopez (Peru)
8th – Zakir Ibrahimkheil (Canada)
Gold – Troy Spratley (United States) tech. fall Duvan Garcia Munoz (Colombia), 14-4
Bronze – Esteban Morales Mayancha (Ecuador) dec. Jeremy Raymundo Gonzalez (Guatemala), 4-0
Bronze – Adrian Samano (Puerto Rico) tech. fall Kenai Soto Rodriguez (Mexico), 10-0
61 kg
Gold – Massey Odiotti (United States)
Silver – Matthew Alves Lopes (Brazil)
Bronze – Enrique Herrera Huacre (Peru)
Bronze – Irie Jackson (Jamaica)
5th – Frederick Bachmann (Puerto Rico)
5th – Alex Vega Tun (Guatemala)
7th – Jhon Ramirez Munoz (Colombia)
8th – Ronaldo Montoya Castillo (Panama)
Gold – Massey Odiotti (United States) dec. Matthew Alves Lopes (Brazil), 6-5
Bronze – Enrique Herrera Huacre (Peru) dec. Frederick Bachmann (Puerto Rico), 10-4
Bronze – Irie Jackson (Jamaica) dec. Alex Vega Tun (Guatemala), 11-7
65 kg
Gold – Omar Ayoub (Puerto Rico)
Silver – Noah Tolentino (United States)
Bronze – Zachary Espalin Aguirre (Mexico)
4th – Donovan Neudorf (Canada)
5th – Jose Benites Vasquez (Peru)
Gold – Omar Ayoub (Puerto Rico) tech. fall Noah Tolentino (United States), 11-0
Bronze – Zachary Espalin Aguirre (Mexico) dec. Donovan Neudorf (Canada), 10-0
70 kg
Gold – Jordan Williams (United States)
Silver – Jazziel Balam Canul (Mexico)
Bronze – Victor Soto Rivera (Puerto Rico)
4th – Wilfrido Samaniego Quijada (Panama)
5th – Adam Mohaidly (Canada)
6th – Alex Pichucho Valverde (Ecuador)
7th – Brandon Hernandez Cardona (Guatemala)
Gold – Jordan Williams (United States) fall Jazziel Balam Canul (Mexico), 1:44
Bronze – Victor Soto Rivera (Puerto Rico) dec. Wilfrido Samaniego Quijada (Panama), 5-3
74 kg
Gold – Nicco Ruiz (United States)
Silver – Rafael Garcia Morales (Puerto Rico)
Bronze – Leandro Araujo (Brazil)
Bronze – Arnoldo Proboste (Argentina)
5th – Diego Garcia Albores (Mexico)
5th – Joel Alonso Valdes (Chile)
7th – Moise Abdul Ahmid (Canada)
8th – Aseph Sanchez Huaroto (Peru)
Gold – Nicco Ruiz (United States) tech. fall Rafael Garcia Morales (Puerto Rico), 12-1
Bronze – Leandro Araujo (Brazil) tech. fall Diego Garcia Albores (Mexico), 13-2
Bronze – Arnoldo Proboste (Argentina) tech. fall Joel Alonso Valdes (Chile), 10-0
79 kg
Gold – Daschle Lamer (United States)
Silver – Orlando Cruz (Puerto Rico)
Bronze – Kydyn Luk Correa Lima (Brazil)
4th – Dilan Fuentes Silva (Chile)
5th – Jesus Castillo Saez (Peru)
6th – Yael Perez Ake (Mexico)
Gold – Daschle Lamer (United States) tech. fall Orlando Cruz (Puerto Rico), 10-0
Bronze – Kydyn Luk Correa Lima (Brazil) tech. fall Dilan Fuentes Silva (Chile), 10-0
86 kg
Gold – Bennett Berge (United States)
Silver – Ortiz Roman (Puerto Rico)
Bronze – Owen Gudmundson (Canada)
4th – Kevin De Leon Trevino (Mexico)
5th – Max Franca Magalhaes De Almeida (Brazil)
6th – Alexander Cusinga Gomez (Peru)
7th – Franco Gonzalez Palma (Chile)
Gold – Bennett Berge (United States) tech. fall Alek Ortiz Roman (Puerto Rico), 10-0
Bronze – Owen Gudmundson (Canada) dec. Kevin De Leon Trevino (Mexico), 8-0
92 kg
Gold – Hayden Walters (United States)
Silver – Lorenzo Pellot Vazquez (Puerto Rico)
Bronze – Glean Gonzalez (Ecuador)
4th – Mauricio Sanchez Villa (Peru
5th – Joseph De Maio (Canada)
Gold – Hayden Walters (United States) dec. Lorenzo Pellot Vazquez (Puerto Rico), 7-2
Bronze – Glean Gonzalez (Ecuador) tech. fall Mauricio Sanchez Villa (Peru), 10-0
97 kg
Gold – Justin Rademacher (United States)
Silver – Mauro Pellot Vazquez (Puerto Rico)
Bronze – Adrian Vasconcelos De Santana (Brazil)
4th – Humberto Valverde Uzner (Mexico)
5th – Frank Franco Bernabel (Peru)
Round-robin bracket records: Rademacher (4-0), Pellot Vazquez (3-1), Vasconcelos De Santana (2-2), Valverde Uzner (1-3), Franco Bernabel (0-4)
125 kg
Gold – Connor Mirasola (United States)
Silver – Jorawar Dhinsa (Canada)
Bronze – Ethan Vergara (Puerto Rico)
4th – Leonardo Guerrero Aviles (Mexico)
5th – Santiago Lozano Mantilla (Colombia)
Round-robin bracket records: Mirasola (4-0), Dhinsa (3-1), Vergara (2-2), Guerrero Aviles (1-3), Lozano Mantilla (0-4)
U.S. Men’s Freestyle Results
57 kg – Troy Spratley (Garland, Texas/Cowboy RTC), gold medal
WIN Esteban Morales Mayancha (Ecuador), tech. fall, 11-0
WIN Jeremy Raymundo Gonzalez (Guatemala), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Duvan Garcia Munoz (Colombia), tech. fall, 14-4
61 kg – Massey Odiotti (Northbrook, Ill./Wildcat WC), gold medal
WIN Alex Vega Tun (Guatemala), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Irie Jackson (Jamaica), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Matthew Alves Lopes (Brazil), 6-5
65 kg – Noah Tolentino (Corvallis, Ore./Beaver Dam Wrestling RTC), silver medal
WIN Omar Ayoub (Puerto Rico), 13-7
WIN Jose Benites Vasquez (Peru), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Donovan Neudorf (Canada), tech. fall, 10-0
LOSS Omar Ayoub (Puerto Rico), tech. fall, 11-0
70 kg – Jordan Williams (Tulsa, Okla./Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC), gold medal
WIN Adam Mohaidly (Canada), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Brandon Hernandez Cardona (Guatemala), fall, 1:12
WIN Victor Soto Rivera (Puerto Rico), fall, 1:46
WIN Wilfrido Samaniego Quijada (Panama), fall, 0:40
WIN Jazziel Balam Canul (Mexico), fall, 1:44
74 kg – Nicco Ruiz (Ontario, Calif./Southwest WC), gold medal
WIN Leandro Araujo (Brazil), 9-7
WIN Diego Garcia Albores (Mexico), tech. fall, 11-0
WIN Rafael Garcia Morales (Puerto Rico), tech. fall, 12-1
79 kg – Daschle Lamer (Corvallis, Ore./Beaver Dam Wrestling RTC), gold medal
WIN Jesus Castillo Saez (Peru), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Dilan Fuentes Silva (Chile), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Kydyn Luk Correa Lima (Brazil), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Orlando Cruz (Puerto Rico), tech. fall, 10-0
86 kg – Bennett Berge (Mantorville, Minn./Cowboy RTC), gold medal
WIN Alexander Cusinga Gomez (Peru), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Max Franca Magalhaes De Almeida (Brazil), fall, 2:58
WIN Owen Gudmundson (Canada), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Kevin De Leon Trevino (Mexico), tech. fall, 11-0
WIN Alek Ortiz Roman (Puerto Rico), tech. fall, 10-0
92 kg – Hayden Walters (Central Point, Ore./Cliff Keen WC), gold medal
WIN Joseph De Maio (Canada), tech. fall, 13-2
WIN Lorenzo Pellot Vazquez (Puerto Rico), 5-1
WIN Mauricio Sanchez Villa (Peru), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Lorenzo Pellot Vazquez (Puerto Rico), 7-2
97 kg – Justin Rademacher (Corvallis, Ore./Beaver Dam Wrestling RTC/Titan Mercury WC), gold medal
WIN Frank Franco Bernabel (Peru), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Mauro Pellot Vazquez (Puerto Rico), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Adrian Vasconcelos De Santana (Brazil), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Humberto Valverde Uzner (Mexico), fall, 0:56
125 kg – Connor Mirasola (Jackson, Wis./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC), gold medal
WIN Leonardo Guerrero Aviles (Mexico), 4-1
WIN Ethan Vergara (Puerto Rico), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Jorawar Dhinsa (Canada), tech. fall, 12-1
WIN Santiago Lozano Mantilla (Colombia), tech. fall, 10-0
Our Mission: Preserve wrestling history, recognize extraordinary achievement and inspire greatness
Our Vision: Be the definitive steward and champion of wrestling history and achievement
Our Values: Integrity, Excellence, Collaboration and Service