Alex Sancho (72 kg, Army/WCAP) not only won his second-consecutive Pan-Am gold on Friday, he did so while prevailing in each of his four matches via technical superiority — and without surrendering a single point in return.
The finals on Day 2 of the 2025 Pan-American Championships began at 6:00pm local time from Monterrey, Mexico (6:00pm ET) and streamed live on FLOWrestling.
’20 Olympian Sancho was not alone during Friday’s evening session as his fellow Army representative and World Teammate Michial Foy (97 kg) also managed to come away with hardware, his first from the tournament. Earlier in the day, Foy had dropped his first two matches (one in which came against ’23 World champ Gabriel Rosillo Kindelan of Cuba) but a crucial victory in the event’s third round helped put him in position for eventual bronze.
Sancho had already defeated his finals opponent, Nilton Soto Garcia (PER), in Round 3 of the 72 kg bracket — and the gold medal rematch unfolded in much the same way. Sancho broke the ice in the evening session with a step-out point and soon after received the bout’s first passivity/par terre opportunity. From top, the American locked for a lift and launched at the edge, but Soto Garcia adjusted enough to make it a two-point play instead of four. In the second period, Sancho’s lead increased to 5-0 following another step-out (just as passivity was to be called on Peru). Another sequence a short time later saw Sancho again force Soto Garcia off the line, prompting the officials to call for a fleeing caution. Ahead 7-0 with under :30 remaining in the contest, Sancho scored one more step-out point to end the match by way of technical fall.
Sancho won his first Pan-Am Championships title last year in Acapulco and now boasts four overall medals in his career from the annual continental event (two golds, one silver, and one bronze). In this year’s edition, he was lights-out. As mentioned at the top, Sancho won each of his four bouts by VSU, went unscored upon in the process, and outpointed the opposition by a combined score of 34-0 (including passives and cautions).
Foy Closes Strong
Despite having to endure back-to-back losses, Foy kept a proper mindset in engineering a comeback that resulted in his first podium spot at a Senior international tournament. And he dominated in the bronze round to put a stamp on his performance.
After inching ahead 1-0, Foy benefited from the opening period’s passivity/PT and executed a short lift against Dorian Trejo Olguin (MEX) to go up 6-0. Trejo Olguin was nearly caught on his back by Foy and pinned before rolling to his stomach — but Foy was not interested in letting an opportunity to score again go to waste. So, he barred Trejo Olguin’s arm to generate an additional pair of exposure points to record the victory via 8-0 stoppage.
Team USA Notes
USA Greco-Roman soared to the team title with 209 points — 66 points more than second-place Mexico. The US has now won six Pan-American Championships in a row, and all but one since the ’16 Rio Olympics (’17, ’19, ’20, ’21, ’22, ’23, ’24, and ’25).
— The US earned 25 individual match victories at the ’25 Pan-Am Championships.
— The overall individual record for Team USA was 25-6.
— 14 of the Americans’ wins were technical falls; they also had three pins, seven decisions, and one win via forfeit.
— The US closed the Pan-Am Championships with six golds, two silvers, and one bronze.
2025 Pan-American Championships
May 8-9 — Monterrey, MEX
TEAM USA FULL 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
72 kg: Alex Sancho (Army/WCAP) — GOLD
WON Wilfredo Samaniego Quijada (PAN) 9-0, TF
WON Nilton Soto Garcia (PER) 8-0, TF
WON Cristian Mejia Tepen (HON) 9-0, TF
WON Nilton Soto Garcia (PER) 8-0, TF
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
97 kg: Michial Foy (Army/WCAP) — BRONZE
LOSS Gabriel Rosillo Kindelan (CUB) 10-0, TF
LOSS Ricardo Gomez (ARG) 5-1
WON Luillys Perez Mora (VEN) 6-1
WON Dorian Trejo Olguin (MEX) 8-0, TF
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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