Penrith Gets Upset, Leads U.S. : Wrestling: Americans win seven of eight gold medals they seek. Cuban is disqualified after weigh-ins are questioned.

Late in the wrestling match Monday night between Brad Penrith of the United States and Alejandro Puerto of Cuba, the crowd in the open-air Mariposa Gym directed a chant, in Spanish, “Back-stabber! Back-stabber!” at the Latin American referee.

Cuban fans could not believe that Puerto, the world champion in the 57-kilogram weight class, was being beaten by a wrestler in his first major international competition. Puerto needed more than the referee’s help to beat Penrith, an aggressive hard-luck kid from Phoenix. In a stunning upset, Penrith won, 6-4, a feat that one U.S. teammate called the biggest wrestling upset in the past few years.

Penrith’s victory led an American team that won seven of the eight Pan American Games gold medals for which they contended Monday night. The team went 2-1 against Cuban wrestlers.

Controversy erupted Monday morning over weigh-ins. The U.S. team filed a protest, alleging the Cubans had faked weigh-ins in at least three weight classes, 52, 57 and 68 kilos.

According to U.S. Coach Bobby Douglas, the Cubans failed to observe international protocol by not having neutral observers present during the weigh-ins of some Cuban wrestlers.

It is considered a definite advantage for one wrestler to be even slightly heavier than another. In addition, a wrestler who doesn’t have to make weight can avoid the draining last-minute efforts to shed pounds.

The U.S. filed the protest and threatened to not allow any of its athletes to wrestle unless proper weigh-ins were conducted. In this competition, athletes were weighed on three different days.

Douglas said that the problem was resolved when the Cubans allowed U.S. and other officials to observe the weigh-in of Jesus Rodriguez, who was in the 68-kilo class--the only class left to be weighed. Rodriguez did not make weight and was disqualified.

“They cleaned it up and we’re satisfied,” Douglas said. “The diplomatic thing is to say they got caught with their hands in the cookie jar.”

Because the 68-kilo class was the only class weighed under the proper protocol, there is no way to know if the Cuban wrestlers at 52 and 57 kilos were actually competing at their proper weights.

“Let’s put it this way,” Douglas said. “The guy at 68 didn’t make it. He’s the only one we weighed. Who knows?”

That wasn’t the end of it. Even after the disqualification of Rodriguez of Monday morning, the Cuban was allowed to begin wrestling in the bronze medal match. Rodriguez was ahead on points when an official became aware of the problem and stopped the match.

The U.S. wrestlers were expected to do well here, even under difficult conditions and against an excellent Cuban team.

But the team did better than expected, led by Penrith’s upset. The United States won the 68-kilo class as Townsend Saunders pinned Daniel Navarrete of Argentina after 16 seconds. Bruce Baumgartner won the 130-kilo class by beating Andrew Borodon of Canada, 14-0. Mark Coleman won the 100-kilo class by beating John Matile of Canada, 3-1. Kevin Jackson won the 82-kilo class by beating Orlando Hernandez of Cuba, 2-0. Kenny Monday won the 74-kilo class by beating Felipe Guzman of Mexico, 15-0. John Smith won the 62-kilo class by beating Anibal Nieves of Puerto Rico, 15-3.

Penrith was ahead, 6-1, with 90 seconds left in the five-minute match. Puerto scored two points on a takedown to make the score 6-3 with half a minute to go. With the crowd chanting, the Cuban was awarded another point with 13 seconds left.

U.S. Coach Dan Gable, who was Penrith’s college coach at Iowa, was waving his arms at the referee and signaling for points he believed Penrith should have been awarded.

Penrith said later that he thought he should have been given at least three more points.

The Cubans, too, thought their wrestler had been underscored. Team officials said they would protest the match, but by late Monday night they had not done so. They have 24 hours in which to file a protest.