Wrestling: Jordan Burroughs wins 5th Pan Am Championship

Over the weekend, former Husker and six-time Olympic and World gold medalist Jordan Burroughs continued his Pan American dominance.

Burroughs traveled with a stacked Team USA squad to Acapulco, Mexico and came away with a perfect 4-0 record and his fifth Pan American Championships gold medal. In addition to those medals, Burroughs also has three Pan American Games gold medals (kind of like the Pan American Olympics, taking place every four years).

Against Pan American competition, Burroughs is undefeated. Not only has he never lost in a Pan American competition, but he’s never lost to a wrestler from a Pan American nation at any competition.

In a round robin format at 79 kg, Burroughs was dominant. He started with a 12-1 tech fall win over Canada’s Samuel Barmish before pinning Puraguay’s Victor Santos while leading the match 8-0.

Then, Burroughs downed both Juan Garcia of Colombia and Miguel Ornelas Reynoso of Mexico via 10-0 tech falls.

Now 216-14 in his senior-level career, Burroughs wrestles next in Final X on June 8 at the Hulu Theater in Madison Square Garden. Final X is Team USA’s event that decides its representatives for the World Championships at each weight class.

For Burroughs, being a defending World Champion at 79 kg means he receives a bye into Final X. His opponent will be decided May 21-22 at the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament. The winner of that tournament will move on to face Burroughs in a best-of-three final at Final X.