Garette Saunders is coming back from Monterrey, Mexico, with his second international medal.
Saunders, along with Brock wrestling teammates Mia Friesen and Vanessa Keefe, competed at the 2025 Pan-American Championships, which took place from Thursday, May 8 to Sunday, May 11.
"Competing for Canada is always an honour," Saunders said. "I'm always proud to rep the leaf. Going out there and winning bronze wasn't the end goal but I'm happy to come home with some hardware."
To start the tournament, Saunders won his qualifying match in the 61-kilogram division by technical superiority,16-5, over Jorge Olvera Rodriguez of Mexico.
The quarterfinal contest went the way of Joseph Andres Silva from Puerto Rico by technical superiority, 10-0.
Saunders rebounded with a victory by points,14-8, in the bronze medal match, against Peter Hammer Cude of Costa Rica.
The three-time Ontario University Athletics (OUA) gold medallist and one-time U SPORTS gold medallist earned his first international medal at the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix when he took home bronze.
"I'm far from satisfied," Saunders added. "A lot of improvements can be made, and my eyes are already set on the next goal."
On the women's side, Friesen placed fifth in the 57kg division, while Keefe finished sixth in the 68kg weight category.
Friesen won one match over the tournament, starting with a 6-3 victory by points over Mayra Parra Alvarez of Venezuela in the quarterfinal.
Despite great battles, the local St. Catharines native fell in the semifinal by fall at 3:37 to Mexico's Bertha Rojas Chavez and in the bronze medal match, she dropped a 12-2 technical superiority decision to Amanda Martinez from the United States.
Keefe competed in two round robin matches, where she came up short in a very close 3-0 contest to Virginia Jimenez Fernandez of Chile and suffered a loss by fall at 4:45 to Mexico's Debanhi Tapia Garcia.
Of note, Richard DesChatelets Jr. (BBA, 22), a former Brock wrestler, earned silver in the 125 kg decision after winning both quarterfinal and semifinal matches by technical superiority.
His gold medal match went the way of Wyatt Hendrickson of the United States by fall at 0:23.
