ACAPULCO, Mexico — The Cliff Keen Wrestling Club’s Alec Pantaleo and Mason Parris captured Pan American Championships gold medals at 70kg and 125kg, respectively, on Saturday (Feb. 24) at the Expo Mundo Imperial. With his victory, Pantaleo also qualified at 65kg for the U.S. Olympic Trials in April; Parris is already sitting in the 125kg trials finals.
Pantaleo went 4-0 in the competition, outscoring his opposition, 31-0, with a forfeit win in the finals. His most lopsided match came in the semis, where he defeated Argentina’s Mauricio Alejandro Lovera, 11-0, scoring on an early shot-clock point, before transitioning a single-leg takedowns to a gut wrench, a double leg to a lace and ending the bout with another single leg at the 4:06 mark.
Parris only wrestled one match with forfeit wins in both the semifinals and final. In his one completed bout, he rolled past Canada’s Richard Deschatelets, 10-0, in just 1:59. Parris scored on a single leg and gut wrench off the opening whistle then added three more takedowns — off a Canadian chest lock, double leg and single leg.
Former Wolverine Nick Suriano also captured Pan Am gold at 61kg and, like Pantaleo, used it to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials at 57kg. Suriano went 4-0 with a forfeit and two techs in a round-robin format.
Six athletes with Michigan and/or Cliff Keen Wrestling Club ties are now qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials: Suriano (57), Pantaleo (65kg), Alex Dieringer (86kg), J’den Cox (97kg), Parris (125kg) and Adam Coon (130kg Greco).
