The 2019 Oceania Wrestling Championships was held in Guam from April 20-21, 2019 at the Leo Palace Resort. The teams that competed were Australia, American Samoa, FSM, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Marshalls, Tahiti and the host country Guam. Competing for Palau were Cristian Nicolescu, Blesam Tarkong, Skarlee Renguul, Guy Delumeau Jr., Tatyaba Mckinnley, Ilebrang Tarkong and Florian Temengil. Christopher Kitalong was one of the few referees from Oceania that officiated this event as our international referee.
Greco Roman Wrestling
On the first day of the Greco Roman Wrestling, Jarvis Tarkong was able to defeat both opponents from FSM and New Zealand for the Gold in the mens GR 72kg division. Cristian Nicolescu competed in the mens 67kg division and won gold medal after defeating his opponents from FSM and Guam. Skarlee Renguul lost to Michael Shinohara of Guam in the 87kg weight division. Shinohara won gold and Skarlee silver. Unfortunately, there were no participants in Temengils weight class and under the new United World Wrestling rules, any weight class that has only 1 wrestler will be cancelled. At the Oceania Championships this year, there were several other weight classes to include the cadet, junior and senior division that were cancelled because there were only 1 athlete and as a result no medals awarded. This was very disappointing for Temengil who trained hard and flew to Guam expecting to capture gold again but this was not the case.
Freestyle Wrestling
On the 2nd day of wrestling, after winning the gold medal in Greco Roman, Blesam Tarkong captured another gold medal in the 70kg weight division after defeating both opponents from New Zealand and FSM. In the mens freestyle 65kg division, Cristian Nicolescu defeated his opponent from Guam but lost to Lowe Bingham of Nauru. Cristian earned a silver medal. In the mens FS 74kg division, Guy Delumeau Jr. defeated Taylor Pickering of Australia coming out very strong in the competition, but it was his other opponent from Australia, Mehrdad Tarash who came out strong to win the Gold and Guy placing 2nd for the silver medal. It was a tough match but all good. In the 86kg mens freestyle, Skarlee Renguul won the bronze medal after being defeated by American Samoa and Shinohara of Guam earned the gold medal. Again, Temengil was not able to compete because of no competitors in his weight class. In the female wrestling freestyle competition, our newest member and addition to the team was Tatyana Mckinnley in the FW 62kg, but due to injury during an exhibition match, she injured her ankle and she was not able to compete due to injury. Our youngest athlete, Ilebrang Tarkong, also had the opportunity to compete in a few matches to help her get a feel of what competition is like.
Overall, Team Palau was able to capture 3 gold medals, 2 silver medals and 1 bronze medal. Although Temengil was not able to compete due to this new rule from United World Wrestling (UWW), he was able to assist Coach Tarkong in preparations and training of the team which was great considering he is also coaching his daughter and team back in Texas. Palau also won 1st place the Team Trophy Award for Greco Roman, while NZL won Team Trophy for Womens Wrestling and Guam for Mens Freestyle Wrestling. After this event, Blesam and Guy were able to remain in Guam for another week to take part in training camp organized by Guam and Japan Wrestling. Belau Wrestling Federation (BWF) would like to that our athletes, family and all our sponsors for all their support and faith in our team as we continue to prepare for the Belau Games this summer and the 2020 Olympic Qualifications and Games.
Greco-Roman results:
Cadet, 55 kg
- Dalziel De Tudamo, Nauru
- Duken Halstead, Nauru
Juniors, 55 kg
- Dalziel de Tudamo, Nauru
- Bollong Joklur, MHL
- Josh Failauga, American Samoa
Juniors, 63 kg
- Suraj Singh, New Zealand
- Samuel Harrison, New Zealand
- Robert Likiaksa, FSM
Juniors, 67 kg
- Kensfield Mike, FSM
- Lynch Santos, Guam
Juniors, 77 kg
- Keanson Sigrah, FSM
- Paul Palik, FSM
Seniors, 55 kg
- Bollong Joklur, Marshall Islands
- Josh Failauga, American Samoa
Seniors, 63 kg
- Lowe Bingham, Nauru
- Keoni Terorotua, French Polynesia
Seniors, 67 kg
- Cristian Nicolescu, Palau
- Lynch Santos, Guam
- Kensfield Mike, FSM
Seniors, 72 kg
- Jarvissadam Tarkong, Palau
- Paul Palik, FSM
- Solomon King, New Zealand
Seniors, 82 kg
- Nolan Puletasi, American Samoa
- Keanson Sigrah, FSM
Seniors, 87 kg
- Michael Shinohara, Guam
- Skarlee Renguul, Palau
Seniors, 97 kg
- Joseph Dobson, New Zealand
- Ketetemoka Burns, French Polynesia
Freestyle results
Men's Senior Division
57 kg
- Jordon Evangelista, Guam
- Bollong Joklur, Marshalls
61 kg
- Ethan Aguigui, Guam
- Justin Holland, Australia
- Suraj Singh, New Zealand
65 kg
- Lowe Bingham, Nauru
- Cristian Nicolescu, Palau
- Lynch Santos, Guam
70 kg
- Jarvissadam Tarkong, Palau
- Solomon King, New Zealand
- Kenfield Mike, FSM
74 kg
- Mehrdad Tarash, Australia
- Guy De Lumeau Jr., Palau
- Taylor Pickering, Australia
79 kg
- Sean Keating, Australia
- Nicholas Delatovic, Australia
86 kg
- Michael Shinohara, Guam
- Nolan Puletasi, American Samoa
- Skarlee Renguul, Palau
97 kg
- Ketetemoka Burns, Tahiti
- Thomas Barns, Australia
- Joseph Dobson, New Zealanad
Women's Senior Division
55 kg
- Rckaela Aquino, Guam
- Irene Symeonidis, Australia
59 kg
- Mia-Lahnee Aquino, Guam
- Ana Moceyuawa, New Zealand
62 kg
- Tayla Ford, New Zealand
76 kg
- Michelle Montague, New Zealand
- Naomi De Bruine, Australia
Junior Division
57 kg
- Daiziel Detudamo, Nauru
61 kg
- Suraj Singh, New Zealand
- Gavin Whitt, Guam
- Junjun Asebias, FSM
65 kg
- Lynch Santos, Guam
- Samuel Harrison, New Zealand
70 kg
- Taylor Pickering, Australia
- Kenfield Mike, FSM
- Paul Palik, FSM
79 kg
- Artemios Trepca, Australia
- Paul Aguon III, Guam
- Sean Keating, Australia
97 kg
- Thomas Barns, Australia
- Paliksru Abraham, FSM
Cadet Division
55 kg
- Daiziel Detudama, Nauru
60 kg
- Moses Joseph, FSM
- Robert Likiaksa, FSM
65 kg
- Gavin Whitt, Guam
- Phoenix Pate, Australia
- Carl Jankowitz, Australia
71 kg
- Marc Delfin, Guam
- Jake Treyvaud, Australia
- Trent Jaeggi, Australia
80 kg
- Artemois Trepca, Australia
- Tama Manuirirangi, New Zealand
Last Modified on 06/06/2019 13:02