OTTAWA— Wrestling Canada Lutte (WCL) is proud to name the 18 athletes, along with coaches and team staff that will comprise Team Canada for the 2023 Junior (U20) Pan-American Championships (Pan-Am), July 6-8, in Santiago, Chile.

“Our team is composed of athletes with a variety of international experience levels, some representing Canada for the first time and others young, seasoned veterans having represented Canada numerous times over the past few years,” said Chris Woodcroft, WCL High Performance Director. “We have an excellent coaching staff with similar experience levels that match our athletes.  Our goals are to compete to the best of each athlete’s ability, as this is both a steppingstone to the U20 World Championships but more importantly, this competition provides the much-needed international experience that will benefit all our athletes as they progress into the senior ranks.”

The team was selected based on results at the 2023 Junior Canadian Wrestling Championships, March 9-12 in Waterloo, Ontario. All 18 team members were victorious in their respective weight classes and crowned national champions.

The team will be looking to impress and earn a spot at the 2023 Junior (U20) World Championships, August 14-20 in Warsaw, Poland.

There are many past Pan-Am Championship medalists on this year’s team. On the men’s side, there are five past medalists, including Treye Trotman, from London and London-Western WC. Trotman, who will compete at 57kg, earned a bronze medal last year at the U20 Pan Ams and also captured a silver at the Cadet Pan-Ams in 2019.

In 2022, there were a pair of silver medalists who have earned a spot on this year’s squad. That includes Sam Pereira, from Winnipeg and Burnaby Mountain WC, who took silver at the Junior (U20) event. In addition, Marieville, Quebec’s Nathan Rainville, who trains at Patriotes de St-Césaire, captured a silver at the 2022 Cadet (U17) Pan-Ams.

Other past Pan-Am medalists on the men’s side include Winnipeg’s Connor Church, from the Montreal -NTC, who won a bronze at the Junior (U20) competition in 2022 and Amaan Gulacha, from Mount Hope, Ontario and Brock WC, who won bronze at the junior event in both 2022 and 2021.

As for the women, they feature a pair of past medallists including Serena Di Benedetto. Di Benedetto, from Stoney Creek, Ontario and Hamilton Wrestling Club took bronze at the 2022 Junior (U20) Pan-Ams. Di Benedetto went on to the 2022 U20 World Championships where she earned a tenth-place finish. Di Benedetto is also a past two-time Cadet Pan-Am bronze medalist.

The other former medalist on the women’s side is St. Catharines, Ontario’s Bronwyn MacGregor. MacGregor, who trains out of Brock WC, captured a bronze at the 2021 Junior (U20) Pan-Ams.

2023 Junior (U20) Pan-American Championships Team

Accompanying the team are the coaching staff and team officials. The group includes: Zoltan Hunyady, Martine Dugrenier, Ahmed Shamiya, Shane Bradley and Tim Nanassy. Curtis Leung will also represent Canada as an official.

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