RIOS WINS EUROPEAN WRESTLING

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By Patrick Lujan

Kris Rios takes gold in the DODDS-Europe Wrestling Championships in Germany. He intends to move back to Guam after graduation. (courtesy photo)

Rios avenged his lone loss from pool action to win the gold 6-4 in overtime. (courtesy photo)

Guam son Kris Rios is at the other side of the globe, yet he’s still making a mark for our island.

The son of former bodybuilding champion Ken Rios, Kris won the DODDS-Europe Wrestling Championships over the weekend in  Wiesbaden, Germany, taking the gold medal in the 120-lb. division. The competition is the equivalent to the Far East Championships.

A senior at Rota (Spain) High School, Rios took out arch rival Ryan Goins (Ramstein) 6-4 in overtime of the championship match. Goins defeated Rios 6-1 in the fifth round round of pool action earlier that day.

“He’s athletic,” his dad Ken said. “He freaks me out. He’s got skill.”

According to Stars & Stripes, Rios held a 4-3 lead in the waning seconds when the official determined Rios was stalling and awarded the tying point to Goins. Rios finished the job in overtime, scoring a 6-4 decision.

Rios started wrestling in Virginia while in middle school where his mom Cynille and stepfather John Bates were stationed. After wrestling in 8th and 9th grades, Rios took a break before picking up the sport again in his junior year after moving to Rota, Spain.

He’s an all-around athlete excelling in soccer baseball and basketball. In fact, he’s dabbled into jiu-jitsu and while visiting his dad a couple of years ago, he won a gold medal in the 2011 Marianas Open as a green belt.

Rios plans to move back to Guam and attend the University of Guam after graduating in Spain.

Ken Rios is best known for bodybuilding where he won gold medals in the 1995 South Pacific Games(Tahiti) and 2003 SPG (Fiji). He also won a titlte in the 2000 All-Armed Forces Bodybuilding Championship as part of the Guam Air Guard.

The elder Rios played a little football as well, taking All-Island honors his senior year at JFK in 1981 as an offensive guard.

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