The 2013 Oceania Wrestling Championships were held in Agana, Guam from April 8-10, 2013. The competition was held at the University of Guam Field House. Among the countries that competed were Australia, American Samoa, Guam, FSM, Nauru, New Zealand, Marshall Islands, and Palau. Representing Team Palau were Jarvis Blesam Tarkong, Rengiil Ueki, Elgin Elwais, Franson Gibbons, Samantha Rechelluul, and Florian Skilang Temengil. Also attending were Coach Young Ho, Ko and Referee Ismael Aguon.
Greco Roman Style
The Greco Roman competition was held on Monday, April 08, 2013. Our youngest athlete, Blesam Tarkong was the first to win gold medal in the Greco Roman Cadet Division. Although Blesam was only allowed to wrestle cadets, we also allowed him to compete in the Greco Roman Junior 66kg weight division. He did very well beating both of his opponents from the Marshalls and FSM. In the finals, Blesam lost by points to Ethan Aguigui of Guam who won gold and Blesam winning silver.
Elgin Elwais won gold in the Greco Roman 60kg weight class.
Rengiil Ueki had a lot of tough matches as he wrestled 84kg in the Greco roman. Rengiil won a silver medal in the junior Greco Roman style after beating Mori Morgan of FSM, but losing to Josh Downes of New Zealand after Rengiil attempted a throw but failed and lost in the finals. Rengiil also competed in the Senior 84kg weight division against 6 other wrestlers and placed 5th.
Franson Gibson performed exceptionally well in Greco Roman as he wrestled and defeated Davin Cepeda of Guam with a score of 8-2 in the 1st period and 9-5 in the 2nd period. Franson went on to wrestle Micah Lopez, Guam’s #1 wrestler, and this was the toughest match of the day. Franson was powerful as he scored 4-0 in the first period. During the 2nd period he was able to beat Micah 3-1 for the upset. Franson went on to win his 3rd match against Davis Clinton with a score of 7-3 in the 1st period and 2-0 2nd period. After wrestling 3 tough matches, Franson went on to wrestle Arabin Angus of New Zealand but during the match Franson made a mistake and got pinned in a major upset. Based on the classification points, Franson placed 3rd for the bronze medal. Unfortunately, Franson Gibbons received an injury to his back after the match on day 1 and was not able to wrestle freestyle the next day.
In the heavy weight division, Skilang Temengil showed his dominance once again in the Oceania after beating his opponent Marshall Gibson of New Zealand in the Greco Roman finals.
Freestyle
The Freestyle Competition on Tuesday, April 09, 2013. Blesam wrestled both cadet and junior weight division again. Blesam showed his dominance in the 63kg Cadet Freestyle match winning both periods to win gold against Kai Blas of Guam. In the Junior Freestyle 66kg division, Blesam came face to face with Ethan Aguigui of Guam again after losing to him in the Greco Roman Juniors match the day before. This was a very tough match against Guam as both wrestlers fought it out. Guam was much older, experienced, and stronger but after the first period, Blesam began to tire his opponent and dominate the match for the win. Blesam later wrestled Solomon Torejak of the Marshalls Islands, and Calvin Ruamin of FSM beating both of them to win gold. Blesam won 2 gold medals in the freestyle cadet and freestyle junior weight division.
Rengiil Ueki went on to win the silver medal in the freestyle junior division after defeating Mori Morgan in both periods (4-2, 2-1) but lost to NZ Josh Downes who won gold. Rengiil placed 4th in the Freestyle mens senior class out of 7 wrestlers.
Skilang was very powerful and swift after shooting for a takedown and scoring 5-0 during the 1st period and 6-0 in the 2nd period of the match to win. Skilang later wrestled Leonard Ofeciar of Guam in freestyle with a takedown and pin in the first minute of the match to win the gold medal. Skilang won the gold medal in the freestyle 120kg weight class.
After winning gold in the Greco Roman 60kg weight class, Elgin weighed in for the freestyle competition. Elgin gave it his best and went forward to wrestle and he did very well scoring points against Joey Lopez of Guam but because of the weight difference and Joey proving to be the much stronger opponent, Joey was able to overcome and win the match to the much lighter Elwais during both periods of the match. It was a very tough and exciting match. Elgin eventually placed 5th.
In the freestyle womens division, the final match was Samantha Rechelluul aka “the mechanic” who wrestled very well against her opponent from Guam winning gold in the 72kg weight class.
Grappling
On Wednesday, the grappling competition took place at UOG Field House on Day # 3 of the Oceania Championships. Palau entered Skilang Temengil and Elgin Elwais to compete. During the grappling tournament, Skilang over powered all of his opponents with his speed and strength and during all of his matches, he was able to win by submission that led to a tap out of all his opponents. Skilang Temengil won 2 gold medals. Skilang won gold over Guam after defeating his opponent Marshall Gibson from New Zealand and 5 other opponents from Guam in grappling (No-Gi) in the Heavyweight Division and the open tournament.
Elgin Elwais also competed and won the bronze in the open tournament after losing to Jeremy Toves (Guam) and Joseph Camacho (Guam). Elgin won the Gold medal in the 60 kg weight class.
Beach Wrestling
The Beach Wrestling Competition was held on Thursday at the Beach Resort. Unfortunately, Elgin was injured and Skilang was unable to compete because he had to fly out that day. Blesam was able to compete in the light weight division (Under 85kg) and won 3rd place after losing to Joey Lopez who won Gold medal. Samantha Rechelluul won Gold medal after defeating New Zealand and Guam in the Female Under 70kg weight division. Rengiil Ueki placed 5th in the 85kg Above weight class.
I want to that PNOC and our corporate sponsor WCTC for your continued support.
Last Modified on 18/11/2014 14:13