ACAPULCO, MEXICO – Sebastian Rivera wrestled to a silver medal competing for Team Puerto Rico at the 2022 Pan-American Championships on Sunday in Acapulco, Mexico. Rivera placed at 65 kg for the second consecutive year at the Pan-American Championships, which feature some of the best freestyle wrestlers in the world.
With a first-round bye as the No. 2 seed, Rivera delivered back-to-back wins over Albaro Rudecindo Camacho (Dominican Republic) and Jacob Torres (Canada) to secure his spot in the championship final against Joey McKenna (USA). Rivera lost to McKenna – a New Jersey native, three-time All-American and NCAA finalist – to finish second in the field.
The Toms River, New Jersey, native finished his final collegiate season with a 30-1 record for Rutgers en route to a third-place finish at the 2022 NCAA Wrestling Championships in Detroit. Rivera became the fourth individual to secure a top-three finish at nationals for the Scarlet Knights, joining
Anthony Ashnault (2019),
Nick Suriano (2018 & 2019) and Mike Leta (1960). Rivera and Leta are the only national bronze medalist in program history. Rivera also finished as the nation's leader in tech falls last season with 14 and won 25 of his matches by bonus points.
Rivera closed his collegiate career as a five-time All-American (four NCAA, one NWCA) and two-time Big Ten Champion. Rivera produced 115 career wins at Northwestern and Rutgers, which included 20 at the NCAA Tournament and 42 for the Scarlet Knights.
Rutgers finished another successful season under head coach
Scott Goodale, as the Scarlet Knights closed the dual campaign with their most wins (16) since the 2012-13 season and their highest final ranking in the NWCA Coaches Poll (14) since 2017. RU qualified seven to the 2022 NCAA Championships – the most since 2017 – and had all participants score at the national tournament. Rivera and
Greg Bulsak (197) added All-America honors to make it seven consecutive seasons with multiple All-Americans at NCAAs.
2022 Pan-American Championships Results
Quarterfinals: vs. Albaro Rudecindo Camacho (DOM), W-VFA, 8-6
Semifinals: vs. Jacob Torres (CAN), W-VSU, 11-0
Finals: vs. Joey McKenna (USA), L-VSU, 10-0
