SANTIAGO, CHILE – Canadian wrestlers put forth a strong performance at the 2023 Junior (U20) Pan-American (Pan-Am) Championships, July 6-8 in Santiago, Chile. The team brought home 10 medals, including a gold by Mississauga’s Karanveer Mahil, who topped the podium at 125kg.

It was an especially strong competition for the Canadian men who captured seven total medals (one gold, four silver and two bronze). For Mahil, from Hamilton WC, his medal came in a four athlete round robin. After defeating Brazilian Wesley Barros by fall in his opening match, Mahil had a battle with American Bradley Hill in his second round. The match went right down to the wire. With 20 seconds to go, Hill scored to make it 4-2, but Mahil appeared to answer immediately after. Originally ruled a reversal, the clock expired with Hill up 4-3. However, a challenge from Mahil’s corner overruled the decision. He was deemed to have scored a two and won the match on criteria. Mahil would go on to win his final match over Luis De La Rosa of Mexico, to secure the medal.

Men’s results

In addition to Mahil’s gold, the Canadian men had four silver medal performances. Winnipeg’s Sam Pereira captured silver at 92kg. Pereira was also in a round robin finishing 3-1 to win silver. Fellow Winnipeg native, Connor Church also won a silver at 79kg. Church was in a bracket and scored wins by superiority in both the quarterfinal and semifinal before dropping the final to American Gabriel Arnold. At 74kg, Mount Hope, Ontario’s Amaan Gulacha picked up a silver medal. Gulacha won both his quarterfinal and semifinal 11-0, before losing the final to Mitchell Mesenbrink of the U.S. The final silver medal went to Guelph, Ontario’s Nathan Hunyady. Hunyady was in a bracket at 65kg and won his quarterfinal by fall before a thrilling 14-13 points win in the semifinal over Jacob Brunner of Puerto Rico. However, he would come up short in the final, losing to American Phillip Webster.

Canada also won a pair of bronze medals on the men’s side. London’s Treye Trotman captured his at 57kg, while Marieville, Quebec’s Nathan Rainville won his at 70kg. Other men’s results included Toronto’s Zaur Arsagov fifth at 86kg and Pickering’s Blayne Helou sixth at 61kg.

Women’s results    

The Canadian women took home a trio of medals led by two silver performances. The first came from Saskatoon’s Myah Phillips at 76kg. Phillips was in a round robin with four other competitors and came away with a 3-1 record to win the medal. The other silver went to Port Alberni, British Columbia’s Paige Maher at 72kg. Maher went 3-0 in her round robin, to advance to a final with American Haley Ward. Maher would fall in the final, but her performance still earned her the medal. Rounding out the medals was Stoney Creek, Ontario’s Serena Di Benedetto who took bronze in the 50kg.

Other women’s results included: Maple Ridge, British Columbia’s Ivy Threatful fourth at 53kg; Kingston, Ontario’s Natalie Vecchio fourth at 65kg; Montreal’s Sophia Bechard fifth at 55kg; Port Coquitlam, British Columbia’s Gabriela Cross fifth at 57kg; Saskatoon’s Caitlin Clatney sixth at 59kg; and St. Catharines, Ontario’s Bronwyn MacGregor seventh at 62kg.

For complete tournament information, visit the tournament website at: https://uww.org/event/pan-american-championships-22.