Sebastian Rivera

Sebastian C Rivera (born 27 August 1998) is a Stateside Puerto Rican freestyle wrestler who competes internationally at 65 kilograms.^[1] The 2023 World silver medalist, he represented Puerto Rico at the 2024 Summer Olympics^[2] and the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games, earning the bronze medal and silver medal, respectively.^[3]

Sebastian Rivera

Rivera in 2021
Personal information
Full name	Sebastian C Rivera
Nationality	United States  Puerto Rico
Born	(1998-08-27) 27 August 1998 (age 27) Toms River, New Jersey, U.S.
Sport
Country	Puerto Rico
Sport	Wrestling
Weight class	65 kg (143 lb)
Event(s)	Freestyle and folkstyle
College team	Rutgers Northwestern
Club	Rutgers Athletic Center
Coached by	Scott Goodale
Achievements and titles
World finals	(2023)
Medal record Men's freestyle wrestling Representing  Puerto Rico Olympic Games 2024 Paris 65 kg World Championships 2023 Belgrade 65 kg Pan American Championships 2022 Acapulco 65 kg 2023 Buenos Aires 65 kg Central American and Caribbean Games 2023 San Salvador 65 kg Grand Prix 2022 Rome 65 kg 2022 Madrid 65 kg Collegiate Wrestling NCAA Division I Championships Representing the Northwestern Wildcats 2019 Pittsburgh 125 lb Representing the Rutgers Scarlet Knights 2022 Detroit 141 lb

Career

Raised in New Jersey, Rivera started wrestling at a young age, winning prestigious tournaments in high school such as Super 32 and the New Jersey state championship as a senior out of Christian Brothers Academy.^[4] Entering Northwestern University in 2016, Rivera became a two-time All-American (2018 and 2019) and a two-time Big Ten Conference champion (2019 and 2020), but was not able to compete at the 2020 NCAA championships as they were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic (granting him a new year of eligibility).^[5]

Transferring to Rutgers University as a graduate student, Rivera claimed All-American honors once again in March 2021.^[6] After, he started representing Puerto Rico in freestyle competition, competing at the World Olympic Qualification Tournament (22nd), Pan American Championships (5th), World Championships (7th), and Puerto Rican Nationals (1st).^[7][8][9][1] Back to folkstyle season, Rivera once again became an All-American in 2022, concluding his college career.^[4]

In May 2022, Rivera claimed a silver medal at the Pan American Championships after making the finals.^[10] In June and July respectively, he became the prestigious Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series champion and the Grand Prix of Spain champion.^[11][12] He lost his bronze medal match in the 65 kg event at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia.^[13]

Freestyle record

Senior Freestyle Matches
Res.	Record	Opponent	Score	Date	Event	Location
2025 World Wrestling Championships 7th at 65 kg
Loss	36-22	Umidjon Jalolov	3-5	September 13, 2025	2025 World Wrestling Championships	Zagreb, Croatia
Win	36-21	Goderdzi Dzebisashvili	TF 10–0
Win	35-21	Chouaib Sahraoui	Fall
2024 Olympic Games at 65 kg
Win	34-21	Tömör-Ochiryn Tulga	10–9	August 5, 2024	2024 Olympic Games	Paris, France
Win	33-21	Maxim Saculțan	TF 15–4
Loss	32-21	Kotaro Kiyooka	6-8
Win	32-20	Georgii Okorokov	TF 12–2
2024 Grand Prix Zagreb Open 5th at 65 kg
Loss	31-20	Joey McKenna	TF 0–10	January 10, 2024	2024 Grand Prix Zagreb Open	Zagreb, Croatia
Loss	31-19	Vazgen Tevanyan	1-9
Win	31-18	Josh Finesilver	7–2
Win	30-18	Mikyay Naim	3–1
2023 World Wrestling Championships at 65 kg
Loss	29-18	Ismail Musukaev	TF 0–11	September 23, 2023	2023 World Wrestling Championships	Belgrade, Serbia
Win	29-17	Vazgen Tevanyan	10–9
Win	28-17	Maxim Saculțan	TF 15–4
Win	27-17	Ayub Musaev	TF 10–0
Win	26-17	Alibeg Alibegov	TF 10–0
2023 Central American and Caribbean Games at 65 kg
Loss	25-17	Alejandro Valdés	TF 0-10	June 26-28, 2023	2023 Central American and Caribbean Games	San Salvador, El Salvador
Win	25-16	Cristian Santiago	7-1
Win	24-16	Juan Rodriguez	TF 10-0
2023 Pan American Wrestling Championships at 65 kg
Win	23-16	Álbaro Rudesindo	9–2	May 6, 2023	2023 Pan American Wrestling Championships	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Loss	22-16	Alejandro Valdés	TF 0–10
Win	22-15	Euclides Cuero Munoz	TF 10–0
Win	21-15	Matheus Luz Barreto	TF 11–0
2023 Ibrahim Moustafa Tournament 5th at 65 kg
Loss	20-15	Erik Arushanian	2-8	February 26, 2023	2023 Ibrahim Moustafa Tournament	Alexandria, Egypt
Loss	20-14	Joey McKenna	2-10
Win	20-13	Sujeet Kalkal	9–7
Win	19-13	Alibek Osmonov	15–7
2023 Grand Prix Zagreb Open DNP at 65 kg
Loss	18-13	Nick Lee	TF 2–13	February 5, 2023	2023 Grand Prix Zagreb Open	Zagreb, Croatia
2022 World Wrestling Championships 5th at 65 kg
Loss	18-12	Bajrang Punia	9-11	September 10, 2022	2022 World Wrestling Championships	Belgrade, Serbia
Loss	18-11	Yianni Diakomihalis	TF 0–10
Win	18-10	Tseveensürengiin Tsogbadrakh	8–1
Win	17-10	Cavit Acar	TF 11–1
2022 Grand Prix of Spain at 65 kg
Win	16-10	Nikolai Okhlopkov	8–4	July 8, 2022	2022 Grand Prix of Spain	Madrid, Spain
Win	15-10	Lachlan McNeil	4–2
Win	14-10	Leon Gerstenberger	13–4
2022 Matteo Pellicone at 65 kg
Win	13-10	Erik Arushanian	14–9	June 25, 2022	2022 Matteo Pellicone	Rome, Italy
Win	12-10	Shamil Omarov	5–4
Win	11-10	Hamza Alaca	10–8
2022 Pan American Wrestling Championships at 65 kg
Loss	10-10	Joey McKenna	TF 0–10	May 4, 2022	2022 Pan American Wrestling Championships	Acapulco, Mexico
Win	10-9	Jacob Torres	TF 11–0
Win	9-9	Álbaro Rudesindo	Pin
2021 World Wrestling Championships 7th at 65 kg
Loss	8-9	Krzysztof Bienkowski	6–7	October 1, 2021	2021 World Wrestling Championships	Oslo, Norway
Win	8-8	Gabriel Janatsch	TF 10–0
Loss	7-8	Amir Mohammad Yazdani	TF 3–13
Win	7-7	Maxim Saculțan	14–9
2021 Pan American Wrestling Championships 5th at 65 kg
Loss	6-7	Álbaro Rudesindo	TF 0–10	May 30, 2021	2021 Pan American Wrestling Championships	Guatemala City, Guatemala
Loss	6-6	Joey McKenna	TF 0–10
Win	6-5	Agustin Destribats	6–1
Win	5-5	Alexis Olvera Magallanes	TF 10–0
2021 World Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament DNP at 65 kg
Loss	4-5	Hor Ohannesian	1–5	May 6, 2021	2021 World Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament	Sofia, Bulgaria
Win	4-4	Shelton Mack	TF 13–3	January 3, 2021	2021 Battle on the Banks	Piscataway, New Jersey
2017 Dave Schultz Memorial DNP at 57 kg
Loss	3-4	Yudai Fujita	2–8	February 1, 2017	2017 Dave Schultz Memorial	Colorado Springs, Colorado
Win	3-3	David Terao	9–6
Win	2-3	Tony DeCesare	TF 10–0
Loss	1-3	Tyler Graff	TF 0–10
2016 Bill Farrell International DNP at 57 kg
Loss	1-2	Frank Perrelli	TF 0–10	November 9, 2016	2016 Bill Farrell International	New York City
Win	1-1	Nudyrdek Uulusamat	Pin
Loss	0-1	Nodirjon Safarov	TF 0–10

Achievements

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event
Representing  Puerto Rico
2021	World Wrestling Championships	Oslo, Norway	7th	Freestyle 65 kg
2022	World Wrestling Championships	Belgrade, Serbia	5th	Freestyle 65 kg
2023	World Wrestling Championships	Belgrade, Serbia	2nd	Freestyle 65 kg
2024	Summer Olympic Games	Paris, France	3rd	Freestyle 65 kg