PARIS – Former Rutgers wrestling standout Sebastian Rivera delivered a bronze medal in 65kg freestyle for Team Puerto Rico at the 2024 Summer Olympics on Sunday in Paris. Rivera closed out an epic back-and-forth match against Tulga Tumur-Ochir (Mongolia) with a takedown at the buzzer to become the first Scarlet Knight wrestler to medal at the Olympics in school history.
Down 4-0 with less than three minutes to go in his bronze medal match, Rivera picked up a takedown and three rollovers for an 8-4 lead on Tumur-Ochir. Tumor-Ochir countered with a four-point move to tie the score at 8-8 and added a point for a 9-8 advantage with 1:18 on the clock. Rivera never wavered, continuing to work on Tumur-Ochir in the closing seconds before collecting Tumur-Ochir for a takedown, which was initially not called when time expired. However, a challenge from coaches Jeff Buxton and Donny Pritzlaff reversed the call, confirming a last-second takedown for Rivera and a 10-9 victory for the bronze.
The historic win capped an impressive run for Rivera, who was drawn back into repechage after his quarterfinal opponent, Kiyooka Kotaro (Japan) advanced to the gold medal match. With another opportunity to medal, Rivera cruised in his repechage match with Maxi Sacultan (Moldova) by 15-4 technical superiority to move on to his bronze medal match.
Rivera finished his first Olympics 3-1, which included a 12-2 win over Georgii Okorokov (Australia) in the opening round on Saturday. Rivera then lost his next mat with eventual gold medalist Kotaro before he ripped off back-to-back wins on Sunday for the bronze. Rivera was one of three athletes from Rutgers to medal at this summer’s Olympics, joining Kahleah Copper (women’s basketball) and Casey Murphey (women’s soccer).
Rivera, who served as one of Puerto Rico’s flag bearers for the opening ceremony, earned his trip to Paris after he secured a silver medal last September at the 2023 World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.
The Toms River, New Jersey, native finished his final collegiate season with a 30-1 record for Rutgers en route to a third-place finish at the 2022 NCAA Wrestling Championships in Detroit. Rivera became the fourth individual to secure a top-three finish at nationals for the Scarlet Knights, joining Anthony Ashnault (2019), Nick Suriano (2018 & 2019) and Mike Leta (1960). Rivera and Leta are the only national bronze medalists in program history. Rivera also finished as the nation’s leader in tech falls last season with 14 and won 25 of his matches by bonus points.
Rivera closed his collegiate career as a five-time All-American (four NCAA, one NWCA) and two-time Big Ten Champion. Rivera produced 115 career wins at Northwestern and Rutgers, which included 20 at the NCAA Tournament and 42 for the Scarlet Knights.
65kg Results
Opening Round: Sebastian Rivera over Georgii Okorokov (Australia) by VSU1, 12-2
Quarterfinals: Kiyooka Kotaro (Japan) over Sebastian Rivera by VPO1, 8-6
Repechage: Sebastian Rivera over Maxim Sacultan (Moldova) by VSU1, 15-4
Bronze Medal Match: Sebastian Rivera over Tulga Tumur-Ochir (Mongolia) by VPO1, 10-9
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