Richards advances to semifinals in men's freestyle at Pan American Olympic Games Qualifier

The U.S. men’s freestyle team sees one athlete advance to the semifinals following the first session of action at the Pan American Games Olympic Qualifier in Acapulco, Mexico. Zane Richards will wrestle in the semifinals, hoping to qualify the U.S. at 57 kg in men’s freestyle for the 2024 Paris Games. Nick Lee fell in his quarterfinals match at 65 kg.

The semifinals are slated to begin at 5 p.m. CT in Acapulco, Mexico.

The winners of each semifinal match secure the weight class Olympic quota for their country. There will not be finals matches in this tournament, as the semifinal rounds are decisive in qualifying the weight class for the 2024 Paris Games.

The United States qualified 74 kg, 86 kg, 97 kg and 125 kg in men’s freestyle at the 2023 Senior World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, last September.

At 57 kg, Zane Richards got to work quick, getting Peter Hammer Cude  of Costa Rica to the mat for two points, then firing off a series of turns to lead by 10. Hammer Cude earned a point on a reversal, delaying the technical fall. Richards finished the match with a key four-point move to win 14-1.  

Richards faces Darian Cruz of Puerto Rico in the semifinals later today. Cruz is a 2017 NCAA Champion at 125 pounds for Lehigh and a three-time Pan-American Championships medalist.

In a battle at 65 kg, Nick Lee fell to Austin Gomez of Mexico, 22-12. Lee led first, picking up two points with a takedown. Gomez locked up a front head lock and evened the score at 2-2. Lee added four to his score, but Gomez scored two points to make it 6-4 in Lee’s favor at the break. With 1:30 left in the match, Gomez scored 14 unanswered points to end Lee’s tournament.

The U.S. audience can watch this event live through FloWrestling—Monthly and annual subscription options are available. Brackets and updated results can be found on UWW Arena.

For those unable to tune in live, USA Wrestling will provide continued coverage from Acapulco on TheMat.com and its various social media platform. Add to the conversation using #WrestleAcapulco.

57 kg – Zane Richards (Champaign, Ill., Illinois RTC/Illini WC/TMWC), in semifinals

WIN Peter Hammer (Costa Rica), 14-1

65 kg – Nick Lee (State College, Pa., Nittany Lion WC/TMWC)

LOSS Austin Gomez (Mexico), 22-12

57 kg

Zane Richards (United States) vs Darian Cruz (Puerto Rico)

Roman Bravo-Young (Mexico) vs Oscar Tigreros Curbano (Colombia)

65 kg

Austin Gomez (Mexico) vs Lachlan McNeil (Canada)

Shannon Hanna II (Bahamas) vs Alejandro Valdes Tobier (Cuba)

74 kg

Julio Rodriguez Romero (Dominican Republic) vs Geandry Garzon Caballero (Cuba)

Raul Palacios Dominguez (Mexico) vs Anthony Montero Chiniros (Venezuela)

86 kg

Alexander Moore (Canada) vs Pedro Ceballos Fuentes (Venezuela)

Ethan Ramos (Puerto Rico) vs Carlos Izquierdo Mendez (Colombia)

97 kg

Cristian Sarco Colmenarez (Venezuela) vs Luis Perez Sosa (Dominican Republic)

Maxwell Lacey Garita (Costa Rica) vs Arturo Silot Torres (Cuba)

125 kg

Ibrain Torres Espinosa (Cuba) vs Amarveer Dhesi (Canada)

Jonovan Smith (Puerto Rico) vs Gino Avilo Dilbert (Honduras)