Northern Michigan University got their first two continental tournament winners in the history of the school while young Jayden Raney (55 kg, NYAC), Olympian Kamal Bey (77 kg, Army/WCAP), and Beka Melelashvili (82 kg, NYAC) also earned golds to put Team USA comfortably atop the leaderboard.
The final round on Day 1 of the 2025 Pan-American Championships began at 6:00pm local time from Monterrey, Mexico (8:00pm ET) and streamed live on FLOWrestling.
Max Black (60 kg) and ’24 Olympian Payton Jacobson (87 kg) were the representatives from NMU who went the distance to collect the institution’s first student-athlete golds. Black had been dominant through the first two rounds of the event, winning both matches via technical fall. He was tested in the semifinal opposite Yonaiker Cravo Martinez of Venezuela, but it was a test he passed by a score of 3-1. In the final, Black steamrolled Alexis Rodriguez Hernandez (MEX) right from the first par terre. He locked up a gutwrench, achieved two turns, and finished with a four-point lift to force a halt to the proceedings at 9-0.
Not often do athletes have an opportunity to wash a bad taste out of their mouths in international tournaments, but Jacobson sure did on Thursday evening at the expense of Luis Avendano Rojas (VEN). In his first match of the day, Jacobson was clipped by the experienced Venezuelan 7-5; but because the 87 kg bracket was pooled prior to being divided for the semifinal, the Northern Michigan student still had another shot. That is because he had managed to win three bouts in a row, including one against very tough Russian Sosruko Kodzokov, who now competes for Brazil.
Jacobson did not give Avendano any room to breathe when they met in the gold round. Par terre provided the necessary margin with the windfall arriving in the first period. From top, Jacobson scored off of an elevated gutwrench, reset his lock, and turned Avendano again to go up 5-0. Jacobson would add another point later in the match to walk away with a 6-0 shutout to go along with his first Pan-Ams tournament victory.
As for ’24 U17 World Champion Raney, there was only one match to be had, but he made it count. He hustled to find counter points to get started. First, he collapsed on an attempt from Isaac Marin Mata (MEX) to surge ahead 4-0 (following a challenge); then came a step-out; after that, Raney had himself a takedown and a 7-1 lead. One more step-out updated the margin to 8-1 — and Raney dropped the curtain after the next reset with a dashing body attack that he converted into a takedown. A very impressive performance for the high school-aged wunderkind.
Tournament organizers had decided to run 82 kg all the way through earlier in the day, which robbed Melelashvili of being able to clinch his first Senior Pan-Am gold during the evening session. Melelashvili had defeated Diego Macias Torres (MEX) in Round 1 of his bracket and VSU’d David Hoc Chuoc to secure top honors.
Bey Stands Tall Over Julfalakyan
The evening’s finals card was not in order of weight class so that 77 kg gold medal match featuring Bey against ’14 World Champion/’12 Olympic silver Arsen Julfalakyan (ARG) could act as the main event. Bey enjoys putting on a show, they gave him the forum to do so, and he certainly took advantage of it.
Bey — who did get past Julfalakyan at the continental Olympic qualifier last year — got going quickly in this return bout by racing to a takedown that soon gave way to a whamming four-pointer off the edge. Julfalakyan challenged, claiming that there had been a leg foul on the takedown. The officials reviewed the sequence and the points were upheld to provide Bey with a 7-0 lead. This had all transpired within the first minute of the match. However, Julfalakyan struck back with a takedown and turn later in the frame to make the score 7-4, which is how it stood until midway into the second period.
Passivity was directed towards Bey in the conclusive frame to allow Julfalakyan to climb within two. From par terre top, the Armenian looked to bring Bey over with a lift and received two more points — but Bey still owned criteria. Nevertheless, it was tight; however, Bey created a little distance with a takedown as just over a minute hung on the clock. After the reset, he scored again, this time off of a counter. Julfalakyan had tried to dip under the ties for a body attack, only to have Bey scramble and spin behind for two. There was no further scoring in the contest and Bey had prevailed 11-7 to lock down the second Pan-Am Championships title of his remarkable career.
Ellis & Schultz Silver
Both ’12 Olympian/four-time World Teamer Ellis Coleman (63 kg, Army/WCAP) and three-time World Team member Cohlton Schultz (130 kg, Atreus WC) had brilliant tournaments, but both would have to ultimately settle for silver following the final round.
For Coleman, it was but one position which disrupted his quest for Pan-Am gold. Not that his final against Jeremy Peralta Gonzalez (ECU) started smoothly with which to begin, as Coleman surrendered a step-out point and a land-on-top two for a 3-0 deficit. But he got it all back and a little more when he bounded behind Peralta and torqued him up and to his back for four big points. In the second period, Peralta capitalized on par terre by securing consecutive reverse lifts, the first one for five, and the match was, stunningly, over at 12-4.
Schultz pressed two-time World bronze Oscar Pino Hinds (CUB) in the trenches to garner the match’s first passivity/par terre chance. Schultz went to the front headlock, which has become a trusty maneuver for him as of late, but Pino Hinds defended to get the restart. The second period saw the passivities 180, and Schultz impressively defended the Cuban’s attempt at a turn. Criteria belonged to Pino Hinds as time became a factor, and Schultz began to appear closer and closer to potentially coming away with a step-out point. Unfortunately for him, Pino Hinds seized on an off-balance with short time and spun behind for two additional points and, eventually, the 3-1 decision victory as well as his 5th career Pan-Am gold.
Day 2
Only two more USA athletes will take the mat at this edition of the Pan-American Championships — ’20 Olympian Alex Sancho (72 kg, Army/WCAP) and Michial Foy (97 kg, Army/WCAP). Wrestling is set to resume in the morning at 10:00am local time (12:00ET) and viewers can watch live on FLOWrestling.
2025 Pan-American Championships
May 8-9 — Monterrey, MEX
TEAM USA DAY 1 RESULTS
55 kg: Jayden Raney (NYAC) — GOLD
WON Isaac Marin Mata (MEX) 10-1, TF
60 kg: Max Black (NYAC/NTS) — GOLD
WON Pedro De Souza Rodrigues (BRA) 8-0, TF
WON Andres Gonzalez Andrade (PAN) 14-5, TF
WON Yonaiker Cravo Martinez (VEN) 3-1
WON Alexis Rodriguez Hernandez (MEX) 9-0, TF
63 kg: Ellis Coleman (Army/WCAP) — SILVER
WON Hector Sanchez Zapata (MEX) 7-1
WON Lisandro Cabrera Ortiz (PAR) via forfeit
WON Matias Munoz Ramirez (CHI) via fall
LOSS Jeremy Peralta Gonzalez (ECU) 12-4, TF
67 kg: Alston Nutter (Army/WCAP) — 9th
LOSS Andres Montano Arroyo (ECU) 6-1
77 kg: Kamal Bey (Army/WCAP) — GOLD
WON Ryan Cubas Castillo (PER) 9-0, TF
WON Calebe Correa Ferreira (BRA) 11-2, TF
WON Arsen Julfalakyan (ARG) 11-7
82 kg: Beka Melelashvili (NYAC) — GOLD
WON Diego Macias Torres (MEX) 6-1
WON David Hoc Chuoc (GUA) 8-0, TF
87 kg: Payton Jacobson (NYAC/NTS) — GOLD
LOSS Luis Avendano Rojas (VEN) 7-5
WON Carlos Espinosa Castro (PER) 8-0, TF
WON Sosruko Kodzokov (BRA) 5-3
WON Ariel Alfonso Rodriguez (HON) 8-0, TF
WON Luis Avendano Rojas (VEN) 6-0
130 kg: Cohlton Schultz (Atreus WC) — SILVER
WON Leonidas Manzaba Quinonez (ECU) via fall
WON Gino Avila Dilbert (HON) via fall
LOSS Oscar Pino Hinds (CUB) 3-1
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