ASUNCIÓN, PARAGUAY – Canada is bringing home a bronze medal from the 2025 Junior Pan-American Games. It will be around the neck of St. Catharines, Ontario’s Mia Friesen who won it in the 57kg weight class.

“It’s always an honour to be able to compete for Canada, especially at such a unique event, like the Junior Pan-Am Games. I am proud to be back really competing and happy that I was able to bring a medal home!” Said Friesen after the competition.

Friesen, who trains out of Brock Wrestling Club, opened the competition with an 11-0 win by superiority over Panama’s Jeanice Mejia in the quarterfinal. In the semifinal, she faced Bertha Rojas of Mexico and was defeated 4-1. Still, she earned a bronze-medal match where she took on Venezuela’s Jessymar Torres. Friesen once again earned the win by superiority 12-2, to capture her bronze.

Regina’s Javier Tonita-Charriez came close to a medal in the men’s 57kg. He was in a round robin where he went 1-1 with a win over Panama and a loss to Cuba. He earned a semifinal match versus American Charles Farmer. While he lost the match, Tonita-Charriez earned a bronze-medal match against Puerto Rico’s Adrian Samano. Unfortunately, Samano beat Tonita-Charriez for the medal.

Stoney Creek, Ontario’s Serena Di Benedetto finished seventh at 53kg; and Abbotsford, British Columbia’s Jorawar Dhinsa forfeited at 125kg.

For more tournament information, including brackets, results and rankings, click here. For more information on the Junior Pan-American Games, visit: https://asu2025.org.py/en/home/