A resurgent U.S. weightlifting squad made a powerful statement at the 2019 Pan American Championships in Guatemala City (GUA), winning both team titles and taking eight individual titles out of the 20 classes.
As late as 2016, U.S. lifters won a grand total of one weight class in the Pan Am Champs. But by 2017, it was three, and two last year. This year, the American team exploded, especially:
● At 73 kg, 18-year-old Clarence Cummings, Jr. not only win his class, but set an astonishing 15 records on a single day with success on all six of his lift attempts. He won the Snatch, Clean & Jerk and the total, of course, setting American and American Junior records, Pan American and Pan American Junior records and World Junior records for his 153 kg (Snatch), 191 kg (Clean & Jerk) and 344 kg total.
“I’m speechless right now,” Cummings told USA Weightlifting. “I didn’t know I broke that many records. I thought it was maybe three.”
● D’Angelo Osorio had won a Clean & Jerk gold at 105 kg in 2017, but won all three sections of the 102 kg class for his first Pan Am class sweep.
● Wesley Kitts won his second straight Pan American gold, this time at 109 kg, after winning in 2018 at 105 kg.
● Caine Wilkes moved up from silver medals in all three lifts in 2018 to gold in Clean & Jerk and the total in 2019 in the +109 kg class, giving him medals in five straight Pan American Championships. He had previously won in 2014 and 2017, and silvers in 2016 and 2018. Keiser Witte won the overall bronze for good measure!
“It wasn’t quite the lifts I wanted,” Wilkes noted. “I felt like I could’ve hit some bigger numbers, but I ended up hitting what I needed to today. It’s been an awesome week for Team USA, and I’m happy to be able to contribute.”
● Alyssa Ritchey moved up from a 2017 bronze at 48 kg to the gold at 49 kg, winning all three lifts.
● Jourdan Delacruz took the Clean & Jerk and total wins at 55 kg, plus a bronze in the Snatch.
● Kate Nye, the World Junior silver winner at 69 kg in 2018, won the gold medal in all three lifts at 71 kg. She led a 1-2 finish with veteran Mattie Rogers – still just 23 – who won silvers in all three lifts and now has won 12 Pan American Champs medals in 2016-17-18-19: 11 silvers and one bronze.
● Women’s 2017 World Champion Sarah Robles won her third straight Pan American title – 2017-18-19 – in the +87 kg class, winning all three lift classes for the second time in three years. “The competition went better than my training has been going,” Robles said. “I was pleasantly surprised with how well I performed today.”
In all, the U.S. won 15 medals in the combined-total events, to 14 for perennial Pan Am power Colombia, which won six class titles. The American men collected 25 medals (12-7-6) and the women won 18 (10-5-3) for a grand total of 43. Colombia came next with 23 men’s medals (10-5-8) and 19 for women (8-7-4) for a total of 42. Ecuador won 17 in total; Mexico had 13 and Cuba won 12.
In the team scoring, the American men scored 726 points, well ahead of Colombia (661) and Guatemala (568). The women were even more impressive, racking up 750 points to 658 from Colombia and 550 for Ecuador. Summaries:
Pan American Weightlifting Championships
Guatemala City (GUA) ~ 20-28 April 2019
(Full results here; only combined totals shown)
Men
55 kg: 1. Jairo Garcia (COL), 243 kg combined total; 2. Jose Ical (GUA), 215 kg; only finishers.
61 kg: 1. Antonio Vasquez (MEX), 282 kg; 2. Luis Garcia (DOM), 281 kg; 3. Cristhian Zurita (ECU), 272 kg; 4. Arley Calderon (CUB), 269 kg; 5. Otto Onate (CUB), 266 kg.
67 kg: 1. Jonathan Munoz (MEX), 304 kg; 2. Jose Osorio (COL), 295 kg; 3. Edgar Pineda (GUA), 291 kg; 4. Luis Bardalez (PER), 289 kg; 5. Jordan Wissinger (USA), 288 kg.
73 kg: 1. Clarence Cummings, Jr. (USA), 344 kg; 2. Luis Mosquera (COL), 322 kg; 3. Jose Gavino (COL), 319 kg; 4. Julio Cedeno (DOM), 310 kg; 5. Jorge Sanchez (PUR), 302 kg.
81 kg: Brayan Rodallegas (COL), 363 kg; 2. Zacarias Bonnat (DOM), 351 kg; 3. Juan Solis (COL), 351 kg; 4. Alex Bellemarre (CAN), 337 kg; 5. Christian Rodriguez (USA), 336 kg.
89 kg: 1. Arley Mendez (CHI), 375 kg; 2. Jordan Cantrell (USA), 343 kg; 3. Yony Andica (COL), 338 kg; 4. John Downey (USA), 328 kg; 5. Josue Ferreira (BRA), 325 kg.
96 kg: 1. Jhonatan Rivas (COL), 391 kg; 2. Angel Luna (VEN), 372 kg; 3. Satavy Boady (CAN), 370 kg; 4. Marco Machado (BRA), 356 kg; 5. Wilmer Contreras (ECU), 355 kg. Also: 6. Jason Bonnick (USA), 343 kg.
102 kg: 1. D’Angelo Osorio (USA), 364 kg; 2. Paul Ferrin (ECU), 351 kg; 3. Herman Viera (PER), 345 kg; 4. Cristopher Pavon (HON), 336 kg; 5. Sender Maquin (GUA), 289 kg.
109 kg: 1. Wesley Kitts (USA), 399 kg; 2. Jesus Gonzalez (VEN), 382 kg; 3. Juan Columbie (CUB), 380 kg; 4. Josue Medina (MEX), 366 kg; 5. Richard Davidson (CAN), 329 kg.
+109 kg: 1. Caine Wilkes (USA), 401 kg; 2. Luis Lauret (CUB), 400 kg; 3. Keiser Witte (USA), 387 kg; 4. Raul Manriquez (MEX), 380 kg; 5. Luis Coca (DOM), 380 kg.
Women
45 kg: 1. Manuela Berrio (COL), 167 kg; 2. Fiorella Cueva (PER), 159 kg; 3. Maria Benavidez (ECU), 143 kg; 4. Mara Navarro (NCA), 137 kg; 5. Silvana Gonzalez (GUA), 132 kg.
49 kg: 1. Alyssa Ritchey (USA), 190 kg: 2. Beatriz Piron (DOM), 184 kg; 3. Morghan King (USA), 180 kg; 4. Ana Segura (COL), 179 kg; 5. Ludia Montero (CUB), 174 kg.
55 kg: 1. Jourdan Delacruz (USA), 207 kg; 2. Alexandra Escobar (ECU), 203 kg; 3. Ana Lopez (MEX), 202 kg; 4. Yenny Sinisterra (COL), 201 kg; 5. Rachel LeBlanc (CAN), 196 kg. Also: 6. Caitlin Hogan (USA), 196 kg.
59 kg: 1. Rosive Silgado (COL), 220 kg; 2. Maria Lobon (COL), 215 kg; 3. Jessica Lucero (USA), 207 kg; 4. Darsigny Tali (CAN), 203 kg; 5. Shoely Mego (PER), 195 kg.
64 kg: 1. Mercedes Perez (COL), 229 kg; 2. Natalia Llamosa (COL), 227 kg; 3. Mattie Sasser (USA), 227 kg; 4. Charron Maude (CAN), 226 kg; 5. Marina Rodriguez (CUB), 220 kg.
71 kg: 1. Kate Nye (USA), 245 kg; 2. Mattie Rogers (USA), 238 kg; 3. Hellen Escobar (COL), 219 kg; 4. Jennifer Cantu (MEX), 215 kg; 5. Lenka Rojas (CHI), 200 kg.
76 kg: 1. Neisi Dajomes (ECU), 245 kg; 2. Jenny Arthur (USA), 243 kg; 3. Kristel Ngarlem (CAN), 228 kg; 4. Melisa Aguilera (CUB), 227 kg; 5. Yeneisy Merino (CUB), 220 kg.
81 kg: 1. Anacarmen Torres (MEX), 233 kg; 2. Dayana Mina (ECU), 232 kg; 3. Taila Cesar (CUB), 214 kg; only finishers.
87 kg: 1. Crismery Santana (DOM), 253 kg; 2. Maria Valdes (CHI), 249 kg; 3. Tamara Salazar (ECU), 243 kg; 4. Jaqueline Ferreira (BRA), 236 kg; 5. Keyshia Rodriguez (PUR), 218 kg.
+87 kg: 1. Sarah Robles (USA), 279 kg; 2. Veronica Saladin (DOM), 270 kg; 3. Tania Mascorro (MEX), 264 kg; 4. Liseth Ayovi (ECU), 264 kg; 5. Yaniuska Espinosa (VEN), 230 kg.