The competitions were held at the Super Sports Centre Gymasium and conducted in two (2) days due to the limited number of wrestlers. The first day of competitions included Junior / Senior Mens Freestyle and Womens Freestyle. The second day of competitions included Junior / Senior Men Greco Roman Style.
Competing in the Freestyle 60kg Weight Class for the Mens Senior Division was Elgin Elwais who won the gold medal over Nicholas Poriotis of Australia during the first period of the match. Elgin dominated his opponent with an arm throw scoring three points during the first minute of the match later winning the match. Elgin wrestled Poriotis again during the second day of the Championships in the finals of the 60kg weight class and won the gold medal in the Greco Mens Senior Division after lifting his opponent with a throw and pinning him to the mat.
Another wrestler from Palau, Sean Lund, also competed in the 60kg Junior and Senior Division. Sean placed 3rd for the bronze in the Mens Senior Division in Freestyle and Greco-Roman Wrestling. Sean was Palau's youngest wrestler and he also placed 2nd and won the silver in the Mens Junior Freestyle Division and 2nd in the Mens Junior Greco Roman Division. Coach Tarkong was pleased with Sean's performance especially during the freestyle matches when he had a number of tackles against his opponent from Australia and scored. Tarkong mentioned that Sean is developing to be a well rounded athlete. He's young and full of energy and since he trains with Elgin "Tulop" everyday, he has really improved on his performance and it's only a matter of time before he starts doing well in his future tournaments.
In the 74kg weight class, Franson Gibbons won his first match over Australia but lost his second and third match to his opponents from Australia and New Zealand. Gibbons wrestled in his first Oceania Championships was very strong against his opponents. Gibbons later placed 3rd in the Freestyle Mens Division to win the bronze medal in the 74kg Greco Roman wrestling, Gibbons placed 2nd and received the silver medal after being defeated by Seyed Naeinian of Australia in the finals.
In the 96kg weight class, Florian Skilang Temengil wrestled in the Junior Mens Freestyle Event and defeated his opponents Perekine Peneueta of American Samoa and Matt Ball of New Zealand but lost in the finals against Joe Moody of Australia. In the Freestyle Mens Senior Division, Skilang beat Peneueta (ASA), Ball (NZ) and Dave Mcintyre (Aus) but lost in the finals to Matt Ball of Australia. Skilang later wrestled the next day in the Greco Roman Mens Seniors and won the silver medal (2nd place) in the Junior Division and placed 3rd in the Greco Roman Senior Division after losing to Joe Moody of Australia.
Awards
Overall, Elgin won two (2) golds for Palau, Sean won two (2) silvers and two (2) bronze, Gibbons won one (1) silver and one (1) bronze and Skilang won three (3) silver medals and (1) bronze.
Last Modified on 18/09/2006 17:39