Pan American Games

A review of what happened during Friday’s competition at Rio de Janeiro:

Wrestling

Weird rules, too much weight -- none of it threw Henry Cejudo, the newest U.S. freestyle wrestling star.

Cejudo took the throwing into his own hands, winning the Pan American Games 121-pound gold medal Friday night over Cuba’s Andy Moreno.

A late takedown gave Cejudo, a Los Angeles native, the point necessary to win the decisive second period in a match where both periods ended in a tie. Cejudo, 20, won each period via a different tiebreaker type in the sport’s new rules, which decide matches on a best two-of-three periods system.

“That’s what FILA [the international federation] does, throw rules at you,” Cejudo said. “You’ve got to be able to adjust to anything.”

That included dropping nine extra pounds Thursday to make weight. Cejudo said he gained them during Tuesday’s 10-hour flight from Washington.

“It was just water weight, so it was easy,” Cejudo said.

He wrestled all three Pan Am matches Friday, routing the first two opponents.

“It feels good that you’re the best in the Americas,” Cejudo said.

--PHILIP HERSH

*

At other weights, Geandry Garzon of Cuba was the 66-kilos winner, with Doug Schwab (Iowa City) earning bronze. Canada’s Roozbah Banihashemi won at 84 kilos, beating Andy Hrovat (Ann Arbor, Mich.). And Alexis Rodriguez of Cuba defeated Tommy Rowlands (Hilliard, Ohio) at 120 kilos.

--

Synchronized swimming

The United States won the duet event, as expected, with Andrea Nott of San Jose and Christina Jones of Missoula, Mont., earning a spot in the Beijing Olympics.

--

Table tennis

Jun Gao of Gaithersburg, Md., took the women’s gold, beating Xue Wu of the Dominican Republic 11-6, 11-8, 11-7, 6-11, 9-11, 11-5. Chen Wang of New York won bronze.

--

Boxing

Light-flyweight Luis Yanez of Duncanville, Texas, beat Kevin Betancourt of Venezuela for gold in boxing. The only other American fighting Friday, Demetrius Andrade of Providence, R.I., was outpointed in the final seconds of their welterweight bout by Brazil’s Pedro Lima.

Other boxing winners were bantamweight Carlos Cuadras of Mexico; lightweight Yordenis Ugas of Cuba; and light-heavyweight Eleider Alvarez of Colombia, who had a stunning knockout of Cuba’s Juciel Napoles. Christopher Downs (Knoxville, Tenn.) won bronze in the light-heavyweight division.

--

Track and field

Cuban women had a huge day in field events. The triple jump went to Yargeris Savigne at 48.56 feet. Shotput winner Misleydis Gonzalez had a best effort of 61.78 feet; and Osleidys Menendez took the javelin with a 204.53 feet effort.

The women’s 5,000 went to Megan Metcalfe of Canada, beating Cack Ferrell of Minneapolis in 15:35.78. Brazilian Juliana Santos captured the 1,500 in 4:13.36, beating Mary Jayne Harrelson, Roxboro, N.C. And Cuba’s Roxana Diaz won the 200 in 22.90.

--

Soccer

Ecuador edged Jamaica, 2-1, for the men’s gold medal. Edmundo Zura converted a penalty kick in the 84th minute, only five minutes after teammate Jefferson Montero tied it. Eric Vernon scored in the first half for the Jamaicans.

Mexico took the bronze by beating Bolivia, 1-0. Enrique Esqueda scored the only goal in the ninth minute.

--

Basketball

After two losses, the U.S. men’s basketball team beat Argentina, 74-71. The Argentines already had qualified for the medals round, while the Americans didn’t advance. Leading the squad of college players was D.J. White of Indiana with 22 points and seven rebounds.

--

Softball

The world champion U.S. women gave up two hits -- the first hits they have given up in Rio -- in a 7-0, five-inning win over Canada. The victory, behind eight strikeouts by Monica Abbott of Salinas, Calif., lifted the Americans into the final today against Venezuela, which defeated Cuba 2-1. Lauren Lappin of Anaheim had three runs batted in.

--

Volleyball

American men scored an upset when they beat Cuba to move into the championship match. The U.S. squad outlasted the Cubans, 25-23, 25-17, 24-26, 25-23.