Rivera Finishes Fifth at UWW Senior World Championships
Sep 19 | Wrestling
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Former Rutgers wrestling standout Sebastian Rivera finished fifth for Team Puerto Rico over the weekend at the 2022 United World Wrestling (UWW) World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. Competing among the world's best at 65 kg, Rivera advanced to the championship semifinals and picked up two victories during his tournament run.
Rivera opened the tournament with back-to-back wins over Cavit Acar (Turkey) and Tsogbadrakh Tseveensuren (Mongolia) to advance to the championship semifinals. Rivera wrestled hard in a semifinal loss to three-time NCAA Champion Yianni Diakomihalis (USA) and was defeated by Bajrang Bahrang (India) to finish fifth in his weight class.
Rivera has enjoyed success during his international freestyle career, winning both the Mattero Pellicone and the Grand Prix of Spain, while also finishing second at the Pan American Championships at the start of the summer.
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.
Full Results
Second Round: Rivera def. Cavit Acar (Turkey) by VSU1, 11-1
Quarterfinals: Rivera def. Tsogbadrakh Tseveensuren (Mongolia) by VPO1, 8-1
Semifinals: Yianni Diakomihalis (USA) def. Rivera by VSU, 10-0
Bronze: Bajrang Bajrang (India) def. Rivera by VPO1, 11-9
Rivera opened the tournament with back-to-back wins over Cavit Acar (Turkey) and Tsogbadrakh Tseveensuren (Mongolia) to advance to the championship semifinals. Rivera wrestled hard in a semifinal loss to three-time NCAA Champion Yianni Diakomihalis (USA) and was defeated by Bajrang Bahrang (India) to finish fifth in his weight class.
Rivera has enjoyed success during his international freestyle career, winning both the Mattero Pellicone and the Grand Prix of Spain, while also finishing second at the Pan American Championships at the start of the summer.
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.
Full Results
Second Round: Rivera def. Cavit Acar (Turkey) by VSU1, 11-1
Quarterfinals: Rivera def. Tsogbadrakh Tseveensuren (Mongolia) by VPO1, 8-1
Semifinals: Yianni Diakomihalis (USA) def. Rivera by VSU, 10-0
Bronze: Bajrang Bajrang (India) def. Rivera by VPO1, 11-9
Players Mentioned
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