Before the year ends, the Philippine Go For Gold wrestling team will go to a much-needed international trip in an effort to win more gold medals in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.
Two-time SEAG gold medalist Margarito Angana Jr. and veterans Jhonny Morte and Alvin Lobreguito are ready to measure themselves against some of the fiercest wrestlers in the continent during the Jagsport Wrestling Championship in Singapore on Dec. 6 to 9.
Angana will see action in the 61-kilogram men’s freestyle senior event, while Lobreguito and Morte have been entered in the 57kg and 65kg of the same event, where grapplers from Uzbekistan, Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore are set to compete.
Also vying for gold medals in the three-day tourney are Royce Tiu (86kg), Ronil Tubog (61kg), Jonathan Maquilan (65kg) and cadet division entry Cadel Hualda (80kg).
"I believe that our wrestlers will do well and continue to prove that we are one of the best in Asia,’’ said Go For Gold godfather Jeremy Go.
Besides wrestling, Go For Gold has been supporting the training and exposure of national and junior athletes from cycling, triathlon, sepak takraw, skateboarding and dragonboat.
"We need to expose our wrestlers to this kind of tournament if we want to achieve something in the SEA Games,’’ said Go For Gold project director Ednalyn Hualda, a former national grappler herself.
Joining the team in Singapore are coaches and former national wrestlers Michael Baletin and Efrelyn Crosby.
"This is part of our year-long preparation for the SEA Games. The more tournaments that we participate in, the better for our wrestlers,’’ said Crosby.
There are tentatively 15 gold medals at stake in wrestling during the 30th SEA Games scheduled a year from now with five weight categories each for men’s Greco Roman, freestyle and women’s freestyle.