Venezuelan wrestling won four medals on the first day of the South American Youth Championship

Published at: 14/04/2026 09:13 AM

The Venezuelan wrestling delegation won two gold medals, one silver and one bronze on the first day of competition at the South American Youth Games Panama 2026.

Wilfredo Rodríguez won the first gold medal of the night, after beating Peru's Oziel Herrera 11-0 in the final.

In his debut in this regional competition, he beat Ecuadorian Phatrix Mora due to technical superiority (12-1) and repeated the dose in the semifinals against Argentinian Jhonn Chris (12-2) to enter the final.

The second gold metal was won by Osmel Tovar in the 45 kg division, under the “all against all” competition modality.

Tovar showed his power to win by submission in his first two games: first against Ecuadorian Cristhian Cevallos and then against local Adrián González.

Although he fell to the Peruvian Fernando Jimeno, the Venezuelan recovered in his next fight by overcoming the Brazilian Joao Barbosa, also by surrender. Thanks to the accumulation of points in this format, Tovar won the gold medal.

On the other hand, in the 71 kg division, Stheven Padrón from Sucrense reached the final and won the silver medal after falling 11-0 to Argentinian Samuel Acevedo for technical superiority, while in the 51 kg category, Damián Pavone won the bronze medal by beating Paraguayan Pablo Portillo 12-2.

To conclude the day, Leonardo Rodríguez won a meritorious fourth place in the same division, after falling 3-1 in the bronze medal match against Panamanian Eydan Lezcano.

Mazo News Team