THE final day of the Pan-American (Pan-Am) Olympic Qualifiers in Acapulco, Mexico, wrapped up on March 1, with the men’s freestyle event. Canada once again had six athletes vying for qualification and in the end Montreal’s Alex Moore and Surrey, B.C.’s Amar Dhesi joined the three women who qualified the day before.

Abbotsford, B.C.’s Nishan Randhawa lost in the 97kg quarter final to Arturo Silot Torres (CUB).

According to wrestling.ca, Dhesi (125 kg), who trains out of Burnaby Mountain Wrestling Club, was Canada’s lone returning Olympian from the 2021 Games in Tokyo. He started the competition with a qualification round match against Aaron Johnson (JAM). Dhesi made quick work of Johnson, winning 11-0. That moved Dhesi on to face Jose Dias Robertti (VEN) in the quarter final. Dhesi again won by superiority, this time by a score of 13-2.

With that, Dhesi advanced to the semi final where a win over Ibrain Torres Espinosa (CUB) would earn him his second Olympic appearance. Dhesi put on a great performance in the match, earning the win by superiority 11-0 to punch his ticket to Paris.

“It feels great to qualify for my second Games. I want to give a special thanks to my family, friends and especially coaches for getting me here. It may have been short, with just three years since the last Olympics, but it still felt like a long journey to me. Now, I am glad I get to do it again. Let’s go get an Olympic medal!” said Dhesi.

Those that did not qualify at Acapulco will have one more chance at a final World Olympic Qualifier, May 9-12, in Istanbul, Turkiye.

For complete results visit the tournament site: https://uww.org/event/seniors-pan-american-og-qualifier/results.