Newtown’s Antonio Argüello, right, won two bronze medals for El Salvador at the U15 Pan American championships. (Photo courtesy National Sports Institute Of El Salvador)
Antonio Argüello, who will be a sophomore at Newtown High this fall, won a pair of bronze medals wrestling for El Salvador at the U15 Pan American wrestling championships at Cuna del Magico Gonzalez in San Salvador, El Salvador this past weekend.
Argüello finished third in freestyle and Greco Roman at 68 kilograms or 149.9 pounds.
Team USA won the tournament with eight gold medals and two bronze medals in men’s freestyle. In women’s freestyle, Team USA had nine gold medalists and easily won that tournament.
Argüello finished third at 68 kg in freestyle and Greco Roman. He lost to eventual tournament champion Camryn John Howard of the United States in the quarterfinals but finished with a win to take third place.
It was the second international appearance for Argüello with El Salvador. He also competed in the Pan-American championships last November and was third in the U15 freestyle division with a 3-1 record.
Argüello was a freshman with Newtown last season, winning the South-West Conference championship at 144 pounds, taking third in Class L and second at the State Open. He finished sixth in the Freshman Tournament at the National High School Coaches Association’s national tournament in Virginia Beach in late March.
How did Argüello end up with the El Salvador national program?
According to a post on the website of the National Sports Institute of El Salvador, Argüello’s father, Raul, was born in El Salvador. According to the story, Raul contacted the Salvadoran Wrestling Federation (Fedeluchas) and proposed his son as a prospect.
His father, Raúl, who came to the United States in 1991.
“Everything he has achieved is because of him. None of this is my credit,” Raúl said. “We support him because we know how much effort he puts in and how many dreams he has to fulfill. As a family we are very proud of him.”
Ava Guilmette, a former Bristol wrestler who now lives in New York state, won a gold medal in the women’s freestyle competition for the United States at 66 kilograms with four wins and three pins in less than a minute (34, 54 and 54 seconds).
