{"id":410597,"date":"2024-06-24T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-24T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=410597"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"Double-gold-for-James-Ryan-in-wrestling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/Double-gold-for-James-Ryan-in-wrestling\/","title":{"rendered":"Double gold for James, Ryan in wrestling"},"content":{"rendered":"

MAJURO, Marshall Islands\u2014<\/strong>Wrestlers James Attao Greene Jr. and Ryan Babauta are bringing wrestling back and with style as they don their necks with bling in the form of two gold medals each on both days of wrestling competitions in the 2024 Micronesian Games.<\/p>\n

On the first day last Saturday, Greene took to the mats and blew all his competition away in the freestyle 79-kg division for the first gold for the NMI National Wrestling Team in the Games.<\/p>\n

The 17-year-old shared the mat with men older than him and dominated the field. He went undefeated in all three of his bouts\u2014and in the first of two rounds as well\u2014all by technical superiority, meaning he scored 10 points more than his opponent, and in this case, he defeated silver medalist and Marshall Islands\u2019 J.R. Leban, 12-2.<\/p>\n

Bronze is Sebastian Peralta also from the Marshall Islands.<\/p>\n

He then shed some weight after the competition as he competed in the Greco-Roman 77-kg division yesterday. Even with that, the Idaho fly-in cruised undefeated to the gold medal once again for his second gold in the competition.<\/p>\n

He won the first of two rounds as well, all by technical superiority\u2014once he scores 8 points more than his opponent, the match is stopped like a fall, which is why they also refer to it as a technical fall. He defeated Jeton Anjain, of the Marshall Islands, 9-0, by technical superiority and lasted 1:39.<\/p>\n

Anjain settled for silver, while Pohnpei\u2019s Paulus Barnabas was bronze.<\/p>\n

Greene said of his first competition in the freestyle, \u201cI can\u2019t say I\u2019m surprised because I\u2019ve been working pretty hard for this. It was fun overall,\u201d He then said that it\u2019s just his second year in the freestyle division and that \u201cthe competition was a little bit better than I was expecting. I think I was the youngest one in my weight class since this is a senior division, so I felt like I did pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n

On how he felt winning gold, he said, \u201cIt feels good.\u201d Representing the NMI for the first time in the Micro Games, he said, \u201cI\u2019m proud to represent. I will wrestle hard the next few days for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

With his win yesterday, he said, \u201cI am proud of myself. This is my first time back in Greco in about eight years. I mean, I\u2019m not surprised because of the work I put in here with my partner Ryan and others, but I was a little nervous coming here because I wasn\u2019t really used to it. But I felt good overall.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Babauta last Saturday in the freestyle 97-kg division, he recorded three wins by fall\/pin, all coming in the first round of each two-round bout. Babauta pinned Skarlee Rengul of Palau in the finals match to secure gold for NMI.<\/p>\n

Renguul settled for silver, while bronze was Kosrae\u2019s Kenfield Mike.<\/p>\n

In the Greco-Roman 97-kg division yesterday, Babauta went undefeated with three wins again by fall\/pin, all coming in the first round of each two-round bout. Babauta was winning 8-2 when he pinned Ken Predrick of Pohnpei in the finals match to grab his second gold medal for NMI.<\/p>\n

Silver was Kosrae\u2019s Kenfield Mike and bronze was Pohnpei\u2019s Ken Predrick.<\/p>\n

Babauta, who competed and won bronze in the 2015 Oceania Wrestling Championships also in the Marshall Islands, said after his first day of competition, \u201cthe competition is great. It\u2019s always a humbling feeling to come out here to the Marshall Islands and represent the CNMI against other topnotch wrestlers here in the Micronesian region. For me to come out here, and put my last name, my island, my people, my culture and represent our island in the sport of wrestling has always been an honor for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

With yesterday\u2019s gold, he said he actually competed with a slight injury to his left knee. Even with that, he said, \u201cother than that, everything went according to plan. These guys relied on their strengths, so all I had to do was just to time it, pick my position, and just go from there\u2014trust the process, trust my coaches, and my teammates. I believe everything happens for a reason and it happened pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n

The boys will take on the last event of wrestling\u2014beach wrestling\u2014today and try for a sweep of gold in their divisions. They are joined by coach Rick Bauer and team manager Jason Tarkong.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

NMI wrestler James Attao Greene Jr. put his opponent in a headlock during his match in the Greco-Roman 77-kg division at the International Convention Center.<\/p>\n

-LEIGH GASES
<\/figcaption><\/figure>

<\/p>\n

NMI wrestler Ryan Babauta, right, in a deadlock against his opponent during his match in the Greco-Roman 97-kg division at the International Convention Center.<\/p>\n

-LEIGH GASES
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