Newtown’s Antonio Arguello earned a silver medal at the U17 Pan American championships in Brazil. (Photo courtesy of the Arguello family)
Newtown High’s Antonio Arguello earned a silver medal at the U17 Pan American championships in Rio DeJaneiro, Brazil representing El Salvador.
Arguello, who will be a junior next fall at Newtown, competed at 71 kilograms or 156 pounds. He won a silver medal in freestyle, going 2-1 in the tournament.
Arguello advanced to the final with a 10-0 win by technical fall and a pin in 1:05 before losing to American Jayden James of Westwood, N.J., in the final by technical fall, 10-0 in 1:31.
With eight gold medals, the U.S. team won the U17 Pan-American championship with a 228-147 win over Puerto Rico. Canada was third with 144 points. El Salvador finished ninth in the field of 10 teams. Arguello was the only El Salvador wrestler to earn a spot in the finals.
It was the fourth medal for Arguello in Pan-American competition. A year ago, he won a pair of bronze medals in freestyle and Greco-Roman in the U15 tournament. He also won a bronze medal in 2023 in the U15 tournament in freestyle.
Last winter, Arguello was second in New England and at the State Open at 150 pounds. He won the Class L state championship.
