Panamerican Open Lima

Mar 9, 2019 - Mar 10, 2019

A full team of twelve athletes traveled to Lima, Peru to compete in the Pan American Open on March 9-10th.

The USA Judo athletes won three silver medals, two bronze, one 5th place, and two 7th place finishes.

SILVER MEDALIST:

  • Amelia Fulgentes (-57kg): In her first match of the day, Amelia Fulgentes (-57kg) won by ippon over Marian Flores of Peru in just over one minute sending her to an All-American semi-final against Shadi Ebrahim. There, she won by ippon again sending her to the final match. Ultimately, she fell to Marica Perisic of Serbia, securing her a Silver medal finish.
  • Alisha Galles (-63kg): A win in her first match by ippon in just over one minute against Angel Ariana Cornejo Vargas Machuca of Peru sent Galles into the semi-finals. There she faced Cindy Mera of Columbia and won by ippon sending her to the Finals. In a match lasting nearly 10 minutes long, Alisha eventually fell to Estefania Garcia of Ecuador, landing her a Silver medal.
  • Mackenzie Williams (+78kg): A fall in her first match of the day against Josefina Fuentealba of Chile couldn’t stop Williams. In her next match, she would come back to win over Amanda Bredeston of Argentina earning her a Silver medal finish.

BRONZE MEDALIST:

  • Alaine Abuan (-52kg): After falling in her first match of the day to Larissa Pimenta of Brazil, Alaine Abuan (-52kg) won by ippon in Repechage over Noemi Orneta Huayhuameza of Peru. In her last match, Alaine won by ippon over Judith Gonzalez of Chile earning her a Bronze medal.
  • Shadi Ebrahim (-57kg): After winning her pool uncontested, Shadi Ebrahim faced USA teammate, Amelia Fulgentes where she fell by ippon. In her second match, she came out victorious over Cynthia Rahming of the Bahamas by waza-ari earning her a Bronze medal on the day.

5TH PLACE:

  • Salama Salem (-73kg): In his first preliminary round fight, Salama Salem won by wazaari in Golden Score over Alex Perca Mamani of Peru. He fell in his second preliminary match to Calvin Knoester of Great Britain sending him to Repechage. There he won by ippon in just 52 seconds over Alonso Wong of Peru landing him a 5th place finish on the day.

7TH PLACE:

  • Alex Jacobson (-81kg): Jacobson won his first preliminary round match over Oscar Santana of the Dominican Republic, but fell in his second match to Tomas Morales of Argentina sending him to Repechage. Ultimately, he fell there to Luis Vega of Argentina landing him a 7th place finish on the day.
  • Matthew Koch (-90kg): After having a first-round bye, Koch fell in his first match to Francisco Balanta of Columbia sending him to Repechage. There he unfortunately fell to Yuta Galarreta Villar of Peru, putting him in line for a 7th place finish.

Go Team USA!