THE Wrestling Association of the Philippines will send 13 athletes to the 2022 Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) scheduled in Vietnam from May 12 to 23.
The Nationals will be spearheaded by Jason Baucas and Noel Norada, who respectively ruled the men’s Greco-Roman 72kg and 63kg categories during the 2019 SEAG held in the country.
Aside from Baucas and Norada, also competing in the Greco-Roman are Margarito Angana, Jefferson Manatad and Jason Balabal.
In the Freestyle category, the Filipino entries are Alvin Lobreguito, Jhonny Morte, Joseph Angana and Elvis Julius in the men’s division, and Jiah Pingot, Grace Loberanes, Minalyn Foy-os and Noemi Tener in the distaff side.
All the members of the Vietnam-bound squad are medalists, except for Julius (86kg) and Loberanes (53kg) whose categories were not included in 2019.
Only Margarito Angana (60kg), Lobreguito (57kg), Morte (65kg) and Pingot (50kg) are seeing action in the categories where they won silver medals.
For Baucas, who is now fielded in the 77kg category, the change in weight class is a challenge and he is keeping a positive attitude about his medal campaign.
“I can defend the 72kg title, unfortunately, in the coming SEA Games, I will be playing in the 77kg because the host country removed the 72kg in Greco-Roman wrestling,” the 24-year-old native of Buguias town in Benguet province said.
“It’s a big challenge for me to compete in a category which is higher than my fighting weight. Well, there’s a big chance also to win a medal because we did not waste time on our training, and the training is more difficult now,” Baucas, who graduated from Universidad De Manila with a Bachelor of Physical Education and Sports degree, added.
The team will fly to Hanoi on May 13. The wrestling competition will be held on May 17 to 19 at the Gia Lam Gymnasium.
A total of 656 Filipino athletes are going to Vietnam, which is hosting the Games for the second time since 2003.
Source:
https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/04/22/sports/baucas-norada-lead-ph-wrestlers-in-seag/1840838