PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Sebastian Rivera finished action over the weekend at the 2021 Senior World Championships in Oslo, Norway. Competing at 65 kg for Team Puerto Rico, Rivera finished his tournament 2-2.
Seeded No. 9 in his weight class, Rivera defeated No. 24 Maxim Sacultan (Moldova) in the opening round, 14-9, before he lost to No. 8 Amirmohammad Yazdanicherati (Iran) in the Round of 16. In repechage, Rivera worked a 10-0 victory over No. 24 Gabriel Janatsch (Austria) to move to the second consolation round, where he came up just short in his 7-6 loss to No. 1 Krzysztof Bienkowski (Poland). With a win over Bienkowski, Rivera would have wrestled for third in his weight class.
Rivera wrestled at both the World OG qualifier and the 2021 Pan-American Championships this past summer. A four-time All-American (three NCAA, one NWCA), Rivera wrapped up his first season “On the Banks” fourth in the country at 141 pounds at last year’s NCAA Championships. The two-time Big Ten Champion finished 12-3 during the abbreviated 2021 campaign and led the Scarlet Knights with a perfect 4-0 mark and team-high 15 points in dual action. Rivera has produced 84 victories during his collegiate career.
Pegged the preseason No. 14 team in the country by Intermat, Rutgers wrestling features ranked wrestlers in eight weights, including top-10 rankings for No. 3 Rivera (133), No. 5 John Poznanski (184) and No. 8 Jackson Turley (174). No. 13 Sammy Alvarez (141), No. 15 Greg Bulsak (197), No. 27 Michael VanBrill (149), No. 31 Dylan Shawver (125), and No. 33 Robert Kanniard (157) also earned recognition in their respective weight classes.
Under the guidance of Goodale, Rutgers closed the 2021 season with three All-Americans in the same year for the first time in program history. Along with two-time NCAA qualifiers VanBrill and Billy Janzer (197), the Scarlet Knights produced 13 victories at nationals en route to a 13th-place finish with 37.5 team points. RU also welcomes one of the top freshmen class in the country this fall, which includes New Jersey standouts Michael Cetta, Joseph Olivieri, Dean Peterson, Dylan Weaver and Tony White.
