BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN — During the World Deaf Wrestling Championship in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan Sept 2-12, 2023, the USA Deaf Wrestling team fought gallantly and managed to bring home some medals and a trophy.
The Championships featured Greco-Roman wrestling—the oldest form of wrestling, in which only the upper body can be used (leg grabs or leg tripping are prohibited)—and Freestyle, in which the whole body can be used for wrestling. They are different from Folkstyle wrestling, which is more typical in the United States. For many of the American wrestlers, becoming accustomed to international styles of wrestling presented a steep learning curve.
There are three age brackets: Cadets, Juniors, and Seniors. Cadets are 15-17 years old; Juniors are 17-20 years old, and Seniors are 20 years old and older. There were three representatives for the Cadet category doing both styles (Dov Nathanson, Aloysius Fitzpatrick, and Galvin 'Vin' Nathanson), two representative for Juniors doing both styles (Tiernan 'Ty' Booth and Charles Chan); Four representative for Seniors for both styles (Joe Pauley, Ashten Johnson, Daniel Clarke, Gabriel Asante) and then one representative (Paul Ruff) that did only Freestyle.
Throughout the entire tournament USA netted 5 medals overall (one gold, two silvers, two bronze) and a bronze team trophy.
Unfortunately the women’s tournament was canceled shortly before the event. However, two women on the USA team still went there to represent our country: Mary Rose Weber and Fatou 'Francis" Sankanu.
Everyone else worked very hard and continued to show signs of improvement with these international styles. Both of the Junior USA representatives, Tiernan "Ty" Booth and Charles Chan pushed hard and came close to medaling but wound up in fourth place in their respective weight classes. Senior USA representatives Joe Pauley and Ashten Johnson also narrowly missed medaling, finishing fourth in their respective weight classes in the Freestyle competition. Daniel Clarke, Gabriel Asante, and Paul Ruff are recognized for their hard work during their training and doing their best at their first international games.
Recap and photos courtesy of USA Deaf Wrestling.
