Team USA Wins 23 Medals at Pan Am U13 Championships
by USA Judo
(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – More than half of Team USA’s athletes competing in the Pan Am U13 Championships reached the podium in Panama, winning 23 medals across eight men’s and eight women’s weight categories, including four golds.
2022 Pan Am U13 Championship Results
The U.S. delegations finished second in the medal standings behind Brazil who secured 25 podium finishes.
Team USA won two titles in both the men’s and women’s events.
Twelve-year-old Logyn Lynn Puahala (Aiea, Hawaii / Hawaii Kaikaku Judo Club) returned to claim her second straight title in the 52kg event. The reigning USA Judo Youth National and Junior Olympic Champion, Puahala won four matches by ippon (instant win) in her round robin event in Panama less than a week after winning gold at the President’s Cup.
A silver medalist in the 52kg event behind Puahala last year, 12-year-old Chrystal Monthe Noussi (Fort Worth, Texas / Fort Worth Judo) moved up to +52kg at the Junior U.S. Open where she took gold in the heavyweight event to qualify for Panama. Noussi advanced through the first two rounds to the finals where she defeated Manuela Oliveira (BRA) by a waza-ari (half-point).
Just over a week before his 12th birthday, Samuel Abdelmalak (Punta Gorda, Fla. / Chief Pride Judo) returned to the U13 Pan Ams where he upgraded his 2021 bronze to gold in the 34kg event. The reigning Youth National and Junior U.S. Open Champion, Abdelmalak won three straight matches by ippon, defeating Christiann Gady (BRA) in the finals.
One of the day’s youngest gold medalists, 11-year-old Taylor Do Carmo (Lehigh Acres, Fla. / Chief Pride Judo) won his first major title of the season, taking gold in the 31kg event in Panama with four wins by ippon in the round robin competition. Do Carmo follows in the footsteps of older brother Kevin Do Carmo who won gold as a 58kg athlete at the U15 Pan Ams last year.
Team USA also brought home four men’s and one women’s silver medal from the competition.
Fighting in the 28kg event, Elisey Luzgin (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Darfight) went 1-1 to win silver, closing out a season that also saw the 11-year-old win gold at both Youth Nationals and the President’s Cup.
Twelve-year-old Gabriel Laxamana (Bothell, Wash.) won his first two matches in the 42kg event by waza-ari scores, but the 2022 Youth Nationals silver medalist fell short of gold when he lost in the finals by a waza-ari to Brazilian Isaque Cruz.
In the 47kg event, Mihail Belyakov (Staten Island, N.Y. / Darfight) followed his President’s Cup gold with silver in Panama, finishing 2-2 in the round robin competition.
After winning gold at both the Youth Nationals and President’s Cup this season, 12-year-old Skylar Arellano-Phipps (Summit, Ill. / Oak Lawn Park District Judo Club) went 2-1 in his round robin 52kg event to take silver.
On the women’s side, 12-year-old Amaris Bell (Pembroke Pines, Fla. / Budokan Judo) won her first two matches in the 42kg event by ippon before falling in the finals to Emily Verdugo (ECU), closing out her season at No. 2 in the national rankings, ending a year that saw Bell win bronze at Youth Nationals and silver at the Junior U.S. Open.
Five men and nine women came home from Panama with bronze medals:
- Kingston Kagaoan (San Lorenzo, Calif. / 510 Judo / Men’s 31kg)
- Fabrizzio Teran (Pompano Beach, Fla. / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center / Men’s 34kg)
- Daniel Lima (Coral Springs, Fla. / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center / Men’s 42kg)
- Sebastian Teran (Pompano Beach, Fla. / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center / Men’s 47kg)
- Khantenger Erdembilegt (Bellevue, Wash. / Washington Judo Academy / Men’s 52kg)
- Lily Infantado (Fort Myers, Fla. / Chief Pride Judo / Women’s 28kg)
- Kayla Nice (Lehigh Acres, Fla. / Chief Pride Judo / Women’s 28kg)
- Rayyan Azametli (Sandy, Utah / USA Stars / Women’s 31kg)
- Joylen Perez (Miami Garden / Budokan Judo / Women’s 34kg)
- Milan Kagaoan (San Lorenzo, Calif. / 510 Judo / Women’s 34kg)
- Sofia Castillo (Chesapeake, Va. / USA Stars East / Women’s 38kg)
- Nur Azametli (Sandy, Utah / USA Stars / Women’s 42kg)
- Lucy Wiener (Lincolnshire, Ill. / Cohen Brothers / 47kg)
- Arianna Ruiz (Coral Springs, Fla. / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center / +52kg)
Top eight and U.S. results are as follows:
U13 Men’s 28kg
1. Liam Macias (ECU)
2. Elisey Luzgin (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Darfight)
3. Hugo Ono (BRA)
U13 Men’s 31kg
1. Taylor Do Carmo (Lehigh Acres, Fla. / Chief Pride Judo)
2. Bernardo Piccolo (BRA)
3. Frank Sanchez (ECU)
3. Kingston Kagaoan (San Lorenzo, Calif. / 510 Judo)
U13 Men’s 34kg
1. Samuel Abdelmalak (Punta Gorda, Fla. / Chief Pride Judo)
2. Christiann Gady (BRA)
3. Adrian Gomez (MEX)
3. Fabrizzio Teran (Pompano Beach, Fla. / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center)
5. Celiano Grccia (ECU)
5. Gerardo Villalon (MEX)
7. Brayden LeSon (Seal Beach, Calif. / Makoto Kai Judo)
U13 Men’s 38kg
1. Felipe Pereira (BRA)
2. Arthur Melo (BRA)
3. Eithan Chacon (CRC)
3. Mateo Guerrero (ECU)
5. Leopold Miki Hanada (Bethesda, Md.)
5. Matthew Iglesias (King George, Va. / Wall 2 Wall Martial Arts)
7 Braulio Cornelio (MEX)
7. Diego Pavon (MEX)
U13 Men’s 42kg
1. Isaque Cruz (BRA)
2. Gabriel Laxamana (Bothell, Wash.)
3. Ernesto Bournigal (DOM)
3. Daniel Lima (Coral Springs, Fla. / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center)
5. Leonardo Martins (BRA)
5. Josue Murillo (ECU)
7. Nelson Tunon (PAN)
7. Alan Vasquez (MEX)
U13 Men’s 47kg
1. Pedro Santana (BRA)
2. Mihail Belyakov (Staten Island, N.Y. / Darfight)
3. Rommel Mullo (ECU)
3. Sebastian Teran (Pompano Beach, Fla. / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center)
U13 Men’s 52kg
1. Victor Silva (BRA)
2. Skylar Arellano-Phipps (Summit, Ill. / Oak Lawn Park District Judo Club)
3. Khantenger Erdembilegt (Bellevue, Wash. / Washington Judo Academy)
3. Isaac Lema (ECU)
U13 Men’s +52kg
1. Davi Faganello (BRA)
2. Gael Cipriano (BRA)
3. Arthur Cassita (BRA)
3. Davi Silva (BRA)
5. Artem Voznyuk (Mt. Prospect, Ill. / Chicago Tenri Judo)
5. Joszef Morales (PUR)
7. Landon Williams (Stafford, Va. / Wall 2 Wall Martial Arts)
7. Michael Snavely (Avon Lake, Ohio / Chu To Bu)
Women’s U13 28kg
1. Laryssa Santos (BRA)
2. Michel Moreno (ECU)
3. Lily Infantado (Fort Myers, Fla. / Chief Pride Judo)
3. Kayla Nice (Lehigh Acres, Fla. / Chief Pride Judo)
Women’s U13 31kg
1. Maria Maciel (BRA)
2. Adrielle Santos (BRA)
3. Rayyan Azametli (Sandy, Utah / USA Stars)
3. Kyara Rizzo (ECU)
Women’s U13 34kg
1. Yasmin Carvalho (BRA)
2. Luiza Tavares (BRA)
3. Joylen Perez (Miami Garden / Budokan Judo)
3. Milan Kagaoan (San Lorenzo, Calif. / 510 Judo)
Women’s U13 38kg
1. Sofia Rouza (BRA)
2. Sara Resende (BRA)
3. Sofia Castillo (Chesapeake, Va. / USA Stars East)
3. Sofia Gonzalez (ECU)
5. Jaeres Antolin (Waipahu, Hawaii / Hawaii Kaikaku Judo Club)
5. Camila Navarrete (MEX)
7. Dnna De Leon (PAN)
Women’s U13 42kg
1. Emily Verdugo (ECU)
2. Amaris Bell (Pembroke Pines, Fla. / Budokan Judo)
3. Nur Azametli (Sandy, Utah / USA Stars)
3. Heloisa Trondoli (BRA)
5. Evangeline Abbott (Rayne, La. / Louisiana Judo)
5. Anielly Almeira (BRA)
7. Valeria Delgado (PAN)
7. Lara Guzman (PUR)
Women’s U13 47kg
1. Gabriela Sanots
2. Damaris Paredes (ECU)
3. Luciana Garcia (MEX)
3. Lucy Wiener (Lincolnshire, Ill. / Cohen Brothers)
5. Logan Teramoto (Pearl City, Hawaii / Hawaii Kaikaku Judo Club)
5. Zoe Vallejo (Baldwin Park, Calif. / Mojica Judo Club)
Women’s U13 52kg
1. Logyn Lynn Puahala (Aiea, Hawaii / Hawaii Kaikaku Judo Club)
2. Monique Silva (BRA)
3. Luize Borges (BRA)
Women’s U13 +52kg
1. Chrystal Monthe Noussi (Fort Worth, Texas / Fort Worth Judo)
2. Manuela Olieveira (BRA)
3. Anna Dias (BRA)
3. Arianna Ruiz (Coral Springs, Fla. / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center)
5. Clarisse Vallim (BRA)
7. Thalia Zabal (Hayward, Calif. / 510 Judo)