Pennsylvania's Jake Hendricks & Michael Beard Golden at Cadet Pan-Am
All three Pennsylvania wrestlers who travelled to Lima, Peru left with Cadet Pan-American hardware. Leading the charge were National Prep stars Jake Hendricks (Wyoming Seminary) and Michael Beard (Malvern Prep) who each captured Cadet Freestyle Pan-Am Gold Medals on the final day of competition (Photo of Gold Medalists Jake Hendricks & Michael Beard from Kerry McCoy).
Both Hendricks and Beard competed on day one in Greco-Roman and each found success. Hendricks opened with two wins to find himself in the 76 KG Championship finals against Arturo Valenciano of Mexico. Jake dropped a close (4-3) bout to finish as the Pan-Am Greco-Roman Silver Medalist. Michael Beard won his opening round match by tech-fall but fell to eventual Champion Jhony Gonzalez (Columbia) in the semifinals (8-0). Beard was able to bounce back in his 85 KG Bronze Medal match earning a fall to capture Bronze.
On day two of competition the Cadet Women’s Freestyle championship took place and Pennsylvania’s participant, Caitlyn Walker (Upper Moreland), finished as the Pan-Am Silver Medalist at 38 KG. Caitlyn picked up a fall in her first bout and advanced into the Championship finals. There Walker fell in a high scoring bout (16-10) to Champion Luisa Martinez of Mexico.
The 2016 Pan-Am Championships were concluded on Sunday with Cadet Men’s Freestyle and Pennsylvania’s Jake Hendricks and Michael Beard helped Team USA secure the Team Championship. Jake Hendricks, a Wyoming Seminary rising junior who was a 2016 National Prep Qualifier, cruised in his first two matches winning by tech-fall in both his bouts. Advancing into the Championship finals for the second time in three days Hendricks would not settle for Silver this time around. In the Freestyle finals Hendricks rolled to a (10-0) tech-fall winning the Pan-Am Championship at 76 KG. In total Jake racked up a total point margin of (35-2) in his three Freestyle bouts.
Not to be outdone Michael Beard duplicated Hendricks’ feat at 85 KG as he stormed into the Championship finals grabbing two tech-falls in his first two bouts. In the Championship finals at 85 KG the 2016 National Prep Champion defeated Canada’s Tejvir Boal by tech-fall (10-0) to claim the Pan-Am Gold Medal. Like Hendricks, Michael Beard had a fantastic performance in three bouts earning a total point margin of (32-2).
Information on the 2016 Pan-Am Championships can be found at the UWW website here.
Cadet Women’s Freestyle
38 kg/83.75 lbs. – Caitlyn Walker (Upper Moreland), Hatboro, Pa., Silver
WIN Noemi Mantilla Acuna (Peru), pin
LOSS Luisa Ortega Martinez (Mexico), 10-16
Cadet Men’s Greco-Roman
76 kg/167.5 lbs.– Jake Hendricks (Wyoming Seminary), New Ringgold, Pa., Silver
WIN Thales Alves (Brazil), 4-4
WIN Raul Gierbolini Rivera (Puerto Rico), 4-2
LOSS Arturo Camacho Valenciano (Mexico), 3-4
85 kg/187.5 lbs. – Michael Beard (Malvern Prep), Pottstown, Pa., Bronze
WIN Jimmy Quinonez Diaz (Ecuador), tech. fall 9-0
LOSS Jhony Gonzalez (Colombia), tech. fall 0-8
WIN Eduardo Cordova Teves (Peru), pin
Cadet Men’s Freestyle
76 kg/167.5 lbs.– Jake Hendricks (Wyoming Seminary), New Ringgold, Pa., Gold
WIN Bobby Narwal (Canada), tech. fall 13-2
WIN Juan Rios (Colombia), tech. fall 12-2
WIN Thales Alves (Brazil), tech. fall 10-0
85 kg/187.5 lbs. – Michael Beard (Malvern Prep), Pottstown, Pa., Gold
WIN Hunter Lee (Canada), tech. fall 12-2
WIN Jean Cordova Guzman (Ecuador), tech. fall 10-0
WIN Tejvir Boal (Canada), tech. fall 10-0