Connect with us

GSPN

WHITT’S SILVER MAKES HISTORY

[sixcol_five_last]

By Patrick Lujan

High School wrestling star Jonah Whitt knew he had the skills to take on the world, it was just a matter of time before he could display them.

Jonah Whitt stands on the medal podium as a silver medalist in Sydney. (courtesy photo)

Jonah Whitt stands on the medal podium as a silver medalist in Sydney. (courtesy photo)

Whitt became the first Guam athlete to medal in an Olympic-sanctioned event after taking the silver medal in the 54kg (118-lbs.) freestyle wrestling division of the Australia Olympic Youth Festival on January 20th in Sydney.

“I’m just glad I came home with a medal,” the junior from St. Thomas School said.

And so is Guam.

Whitt, who has gone undefeated the last two seasons in Guam’s high school wrestling scene, experienced his first ever international competition

“I didn’t know what to expect,” he said. “I really prepared hard. Even during the (high school) wrestling season, I had this tournament in mind. I had high expectations of myself, but at the same time, I had an anxiety. I would’ve been happy with a bronze, but getting to the gold medal match, it definitely exceeded my expectations.”

With this being his first taste of high-level international competition, Whitt easily took care of his first two matches: pinning his Australian opponent in under 30 seconds in his first match and cruising past his Brazilian counterpart 7-0 and 8-0 in the two rounds of his second match.

His third match was the semifinals against a wrestler from New Zealand, where he won 8-2 and 8-5. “It was a little bit more back-and-forth but I still kept the pressure and kept attacking.”

He advanced to the gold medal match against China’s Guangbin Zhang who was visibly bigger than Whitt and had to cut more than 10 pounds at weigh-ins the day before competition while Jonah didn’t cut weight at all. In fact, he weighed in under the limit.

To top it off, it was the first time ever he’d wrestle four matches in one day.

“It was a real test of conditioning but I still felt fine.”

Going into the final match, Whitt said his opponent was ‘very different’ from his first three foes.

“Even though I wanted to be the aggressor, he knew what my plan was and he capitalized on it, he was countering me to expose my back and it gave him three points…and he did it twice.” The Chinese won the first round 6-0.

In the second round, Whitt shot in again early on, only to be countered and suplexed for a five-point thrown. He would lose by that score (5-0) and settle for silver and some serious international experience.

His biggest takeaway? “How I should try and be more than one-dimensional in the sport.”

His preparation for international competition continues as he is set to represent Guam in the Abu Dhabi World Kids Cup for jiu-jitsu April and the Oceania Wrestling Championships to be held on Guam in the same month.

[fbshare url=”http://www.gspnlive.com/uncategorized/whitt-silver/ ‎” type=”button”][fblike url=”http://www.gspnlive.com/uncategorized/whitt-silver/ ‎” style=”standard” showfaces=”false” width=”450″ verb=”like” font=”arial”]

[/sixcol_five_last]

 

Ad

GPS Sports Calendar

May

June 2025

July
SU
MO
TU
WE
TH
FR
SA
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Events for May

31st

No Events
Events for June

1st

No Events
Events for June

2nd

No Events
Events for June

3rd

No Events
Events for June

4th

No Events
Events for June

5th

No Events
Events for June

7th

8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Events for June

8th

Events for June

8th

No Events
Events for June

9th

No Events
Events for June

10th

No Events
Events for June

11th

No Events
Events for June

12th

No Events
Events for June

14th

15
16
17
18
19
20
21
Events for June

15th

Events for June

15th

No Events
Events for June

16th

No Events
Events for June

17th

No Events
Events for June

18th

No Events
Events for June

19th

No Events
Events for June

21st

22
23
24
25
26
27
28
Events for June

22nd

Events for June

22nd

No Events
Events for June

23rd

No Events
Events for June

24th

No Events
Events for June

25th

No Events
Events for June

26th

No Events
Events for June

28th

29
30
1
2
3
4
5
Events for June

29th

Events for June

30th

COMING SOON …

Guam National Bodybuilding Championship June 21

FD Alumni Basketball Tournament June 27-July 18

Pacific Mini Games June 29-July 9

 

QUICK HITS

Guam Blooded: Ethan Toves Maddies has signed to play D1 baseball for the College of The Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts on a full ride scholarship.
He is the son of proud parents Macky and Yvette Toves Maddies of Los Alamitos, California, grandson of Juan and Maria Toves+ formerly of Ordot/Barrigada Guam and Godson of Anthony and AnnMarie Toves of Ordot, Guam.

————————————————–

The JFK Islanders won the first ever Memorial Weekend High School Basketball Tournament.

The All-Tournament selection were Zhion Macapinlac JFK, Darwin Ecijan JFK, Matthew Quinata Southern, and Malcom Fernandez Tiyan.

JFK’s Collin Rillamas was named tournament MVP.

More in GSPN