| Member News
August 17, 2007
Parapan American Games
Day 2 Results
By Ryan Lucas
(
Rio de Janeiro
)
– Team USA produced a fourth place and two fifth-place finishes at the Parapan
American Games on Friday as athletes made their final bid to qualify for the
2008 Paralympic Games.
Scott Moore (
Englewood
,
Colo.
/
Denver
Judo) had the
best record of the trio, going 1-2 to place fifth in the 73kg division.
Attempting to qualify for his fourth Paralympic Games,
Moore
lost his
first-round bout with the eventual silver medalist. Facing a must-win
situation, he disposed of his next opponent in 56 seconds, earning the victory
by throwing his Colombian opponent and then pinning him.
“He came back strong in his second match,” U.S. Head Coach Raul Tamayo (Redwood City,
Calif.
) said of Moore, a three-time Paralympic medalist (gold, 2000 Sydney Games;
bronze, 2004 Athens Games; and bronze, 1996 Atlanta Games).
Argentina
’s Fabian Ramirez
then defeated
Moore
in the clash for bronze.
Scott Jones (
Little Rock
,
Ark.
/
Little Rock
Judo), a
2004 Paralympian, received a first-round bye in the men’s 81 kg division. He
also earned fifth place, with his tenacious opponents moving on and earning
silver and bronze medals.
Eighteen-year-old Jordan
Mouton (
Houston
,
Texas
/ Diamondback Judo) moved up to 63kg
after her 57kg division was cancelled. She lost all three of her matches, but displayed the desire to win
characteristic of a judo champion.
“Being a rookie, she made some mistakes and that’s fine,” Tamayo said. “There’s
a lot that we need to work on, but this was a good experience for her.”
Three young American players will take the mat on Saturday. Greg
De Wall (
Chico
,
Calif.
), Lisamaria Martinez (
Union
City
,
Calif.
) and Myles Porter (
Colorado
Springs
,
Colo.
/
USA
Judo National Training Site at the Olympic
Training
Center
) will fight during the final
day of competition.
Porter, 21, is ready to revel in the view from an international medal stand,
having earned fifth place at the 2006 World Judo Championships in
France
. He
faces a formidable men’s 100 kg class.
De Wall fought to fifth place earlier this month at the 2007 World Judo
Championships in
Sao Paulo
,
Brazil
,
garnering a qualifying spot to compete at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games. He
will square off with the men’s heavyweights in
Rio
.
Martinez
won a silver medal at the 1998 World
Judo Championships in
Madrid
,
Spain
. She will
use her shifty skills against the women’s 7 kg class.
“I think she’s got a couple sneaky moves that surprise people,” Tamayo said of
Martinez
. “She’s that type
of a player.”
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