An Andover wrestler is being praised for his dramatic performance at last month’s Pan-American Championships in Mexico City.
Trailing 8-0 in the under 17 lightweight finals, Yandel Morales had his left shoulder popped back into place after it dislocated and finished the match. While 15-year-old Morales, who wrestled for Puerto Rico, lost the bout 12-11 to Czar Quintanilla of the US, he was praised for finishing the match.
“We had parents from the USA team come over and say, ‘That’s remarkable’,” Ozzy Morales, Yandel’s father and coach, told the Boston Globe. “It was very impressive, the way he held his own.”
Morales has already won 97 for Andover High School and won the school’s first ever state wrestling championship. As a freshman, he finished 6th in the nationals.