PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Former Rutgers wrestling standout Sebastian Rivera has been named the flag bearer for Team Puerto Rico at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. The opening ceremony will broadcast on Friday, July 26 beginning at 1:30 p.m. ET. on NBC, Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com and the NBC/NBC Sports apps.

Rivera will represent Puerto Rico in men's freestyle wrestling at 65kg after he secured a silver medal last September at the 2023 World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. Rivera will be the No. 4 seed in his weight class when men's freestyle wrestling begins on Saturday, Aug. 10.

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 medalists 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.