Franklin Gómez

Franklin Gómez

Personal information
Nationality	Puerto Rican
Born	(1986-08-05) August 5, 1986 Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
Sport
Sport	Freestyle wrestling
Medal record Men's freestyle wrestling Representing Puerto Rico World Championships 2011 Istanbul 60 kg Pan American Games 2011 Guadalajara 60 kg 2015 Toronto 65 kg Central American and Caribbean Games 2010 Mayagüez 60 kg 2014 Veracruz 65 kg Dan Kolov – Nikola Petrov Grand Prix 2014 Sofia 65 kg

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Gómez and the second or maternal family name is Matos.

Franklin Gómez Matos (born August 5, 1986) is a Dominican born freestyle wrestler who represents Puerto Rico.

Early years and education

Gómez was born in Puerto Plata Province in the Dominican Republic. In 1991, his father died as a consequence of medical malpractice. As a result, his mother Margarita Matos decided to move to Puerto Rico, along with Franklin and her other two sons: Emanuel and Abel.

Gómez began wrestling when he was 12 years old, training at Club Sparta in San Juan. He came to New Jersey his freshman year of high school where he stayed with a host family, Bill and Diane McGrath, in Hammonton, New Jersey. He attended St. Augustine Prep in Richland, New Jersey. There he won district and regional titles at 103 and 112 lbs. He wrestled at Brandon High School in Brandon, Florida and won a state title at 119 lb his senior year. He wrestled for Michigan State and won an NCAA Division I title at 133 pounds in 2009. After graduation, he was recruited to Penn State University and trains freestyle wrestling at the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club.

During the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, Gómez won the first gold medal in the sport of wrestling for Puerto Rico. He has won his last three races in Romania, Italy and Germany. In his last performance, he defeated the current world champion in the 60 kg, the Russian wrestler Besik Kudukhov, claiming the gold medal in the Grand Prix of Germany. After becoming the sub-champion and winning a Silver medal in the 2011 World Championships, Gomez also won his country a spot at the 2012 London Olympics.

At the 2012 Olympics in London, Gómez faced Besik Kudukhov of Russia again but this time in the first round. Kudukhov defeated Gomez 3-1 and made the final but was defeated by Toghrul Asgarov of Azerbaijan. With Kudukhov making the final, Gomez was made eligible to wrestle for a medal in the repechage rounds. Gómez fought against Yogeshwar Dutt in the repechage rounds, but lost again 0-3.

At the 2014 World Wrestling Championships in the round of 16 he lost to Soslan Ramonov (by fall) of Russia and in the repechage round 2 he lost again to Ganzorigiin Mandakhnaran of Mongolia (4-7)

External links

• Gomez Matos, Franklin at United World Wrestling
• Official Profile at COPUR (Archived April 2, 2013 at the Wayback Machine)