Sebastian Rivera

Sebastian Rivera (born 27 August 1998) is a Stateside Puerto Rican freestyle wrestler who competes internationally at 65 kilograms.^[1] In 2022, he claimed silver at the Pan American Championships, and gold at the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series and the Grand Prix of Spain.^[2]

Sebastian Rivera

Personal information
Full name	Sebastian Rivera
Nationality	United States  Puerto Rico
Born	(1998-08-27) 27 August 1998 (age 25) Toms River, New Jersey, U.S.
Sport
Country	Puerto Rico
Sport	Wrestling
Weight class	65 kg (143 lb)
Event(s)	Freestyle and folkstyle
College team	Rutgers Scarlet Knights Northwestern Wildcats
Club	Rutgers Athletic Center
Coached by	Scott Goodale
Achievements and titles
World finals	(2023)
Medal record Men's freestyle wrestling Representing  Puerto Rico World Championships 2023 Belgrade 65 kg Pan American Championships 2022 Acapulco 65 kg 2023 Buenos Aires 65 kg Grand Prix 2022 Rome 65 kg 2022 Madrid 65 kg Collegiate Wrestling NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships Representing the Northwestern Wildcats 2019 Pittsburgh 125 lb Representing the Rutgers Scarlet Knights 2022 Detroit 141 lb

Career

Raised in New Jersey, Rivera started wrestling at a young age, winning prestigious tournaments in high school such as Super 32 and the New Jersey state championship as a senior out of Christian Brothers Academy.^[3] Entering Northwestern University in 2016, Rivera became a two-time All-American (2018 and 2019) and a two-time Big Ten Conference champion (2019 and 2020), but was not able to compete at the 2020 NCAA championships as they were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic (granting him a new year of eligibility).^[4]

Transferring to Rutgers University as a graduate student, Rivera claimed All-American honors once again in March 2021.^[5] Afterwards, he started representing Puerto Rico in freestyle competition, competing at the World Olympic Qualification Tournament (22nd), Pan American Championships (5th), World Championships (7th) and Puerto Rican Nationals (1st).^[6][7][8][9] Back to folkstyle season, Rivera once again became an All-American in 2022, concluding his career as a college athlete.^[3]

In May 2022, Rivera claimed a silver medal at the Pan American Championships after making the finals.^[10] In June and July respectively, he became the prestigious Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series champion and the Grand Prix of Spain champion.^[11][12] He lost his bronze medal match in the 65 kg event at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia.^[13]

Major results

Year	Tournament	Location	Result	Event
2016	Bill Farrell Memorial International	New York City, United States	7th	Freestyle 57 kg
2017	Dave Schultz Memorial International	Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States	9th	Freestyle 57 kg
2021	World Olympic Qualifier	Sofia, Bulgaria	21st	Freestyle 65 kg
	Pan American Championships	Guatemala City, Guatemala	5th	Freestyle 65 kg
	World Championships	Oslo, Norway	7th	Freestyle 65 kg
2022	Pan American Championships	Acapulco, Mexico	2nd	Freestyle 65 kg
	Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series	Rome, Italy	1st	Freestyle 65 kg
	Grand Prix of Spain	Madrid, Spain	1st	Freestyle 65 kg
	World Championships	Belgrade, Serbia	5th	Freestyle 65 kg

References

1. "Sebastian Rivera – Puerto Rican Nationals Gold | Scarlet Knights Wrestling Club". scarletknightswrestlingclub.com. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
2. VOCERO, Giovanny Vega, EL. "Puerto Rico lleva siete atletas al Gran Premio de lucha olímpica en España". El Vocero de Puerto Rico (in Spanish). Retrieved July 19, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
3. "Sebastian Rivera – Wrestling". Rutgers University Athletics. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
4. "Sebastian Rivera". Northwestern Wildcats.
5. "Meet the 2021 NCAA college wrestling All-Americans | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
6. "Rivera Readies for World OG Qualifier". Rutgers University Athletics. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
7. "Rivera Places at 2021 Pan-American Championships". Rutgers University Athletics. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
8. Vesper, Erik (October 4, 2021). "Rutgers' Rivera Concludes Run at World Championships". On the Banks. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
9. "Sebastian Rivera – Puerto Rican Nationals Gold | Scarlet Knights Wrestling Club". scarletknightswrestlingclub.com. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
10. "Rivera Earns Silver at 2022 Pan-American Championships". Rutgers University Athletics. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
11. "Importante oro en la lucha olímpica en el torneo Matteo Pellicone en Italia". El Nuevo Día (in Spanish). June 27, 2022. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
12. VOCERO, Giovanny Vega, EL. "La escuadra boricua de lucha olímpica se une a un campamento internacional en España". El Vocero de Puerto Rico (in Spanish). Retrieved July 20, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
13. (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 18, 2022. Retrieved September 18, 2022.