Two Ohio State alumni and the Ohio Regional Training Center's newest headliner are three of the four Americans competing for gold medals today at the Cerro Pelado International tournament in Havana, Cuba.
Nathan Tomasello (57 kg), Reece Humphrey (70 kg) and J'den Cox (97 kg) each advanced to the finals of the two-day tournament. For Humphrey, it was his first tournament since retiring in 2015.
I havent competed on the mats in almost 4 years but it feels weirdly normal. Gonna have fun and slam someone!
— Reece Humphrey (@HighlightHump) February 15, 2020
For fans hoping this is the sign of a comeback tour, Humphrey put paid to the notion very quickly: "It was very rough and I’m definitely retired after this again," he tweeted after wrestling four matches Saturday.
He'll face Alec Pantaleo, the three-time All-American from Michigan, in the finals. As reported by Taylor Miller of USA Wrestling, the two Americans met in the first round of pool action Saturday with Pantaleo taking the win over Humphrey, 7-2. Humphrey pinned Rudesin Camacho of the Dominican Republic in the next match, and kept on winning to earn a rematch with Pantaleo.
Four-time All American and former NCAA champion Nathan Tomasello put on a clinic Saturday, going 12-2 in his opening bout followed by a 7-0 shutout over Nodiryon Safarov of Uzbekistan. In Sunday's gold medal match he'll face two-time U23 World champion Reineri Andreu Ortega from Cuba.
Ohio RTC athlete J'den Cox tested his mettle at 97 kg in his first tournament since announcing he would challenge Kyle Snyder for that spot on the U.S. Olympic team. Cox defeated three-time Senior World medalist Reineris Salas Perez of Cuba in a 5-3 decision, before defeating U.S. teammate Jacob Kasper, 4-0, in the semifinals.
Wrestling for gold Sunday, Cox will face 2019 Junior World silver medalist and 2019 U23 World bronze medalist Yonger Bastida of Cuba.
The final round of action in Havana gets underway at 2 p.m.
