Dominic Way, right, and Chris Way, left, pose for a photo. (Photo Provided)

PARKERSBURG — Colombian Nilson Sinisterra Angulo wasn’t going to be denied during last Saturday’s 72 kg Greco-Roman gold medal match at the U23 Pan-American Championships in Lima, Peru.

Standing in his way was Parkersburg High School rising-senior and two-time Mountain State wrestling champion Dominic Way, who missed out on the U20 World Team Trials in Las Vegas.

Angulo, a bronze medalist last year after taking silver in the 2024 games, jumped out to a 6-0 lead during the first of two three-minute rounds, but the Big Red battled all the way back to forge an 8-6 advantage before falling on 4-point criteria with the scoreboard reading 8-8.

“He was definitely a high-level competitor,” admitted Way, who made the nine-hour flight with West Virginia University’s Michael Baldwin as Team USA won the Greco-Roman title ahead of runner-up Mexico and Colombia. “The team was great. We really hit it off really well. I mean I had known only one of my teammates going into it.

“I had heard of the other guys and I knew their names, but I had never interacted with them. The first day there we all hit it off great. We had a good bond together and we were all proud to represent our country and we had a good time. We were obviously the favorites going in to win it and we did what was expected.”

Dominic Way wrestles during the U23 Pan-American Championships in Lima. (Photo by United World Wrestling)

What might not have been expected was Way’s first match of the tournament where he registered an 8-0 technical fall against Alex Pichucho Valverde of Ecuador.

“I walked out there against the first kid I had to wrestle and he looked about 45 years old and it was like well ‘I’m just going to do what I can. I’m just going to go out there and wrestle’ and I don’t know if it was the adrenaline or me just being antsy and ready to compete under the international stage, but I went out there and tech falled him in 20 seconds,” Way admitted.

“It wasn’t what I expected or my coaches or my teammates expected, but it’s what happened. Just going out there, my coaches kind of put it in our heads that we’re the big dogs there so those people see the USA and the flag on our chest, it strikes a little fear in them. Let alone the age, I know I’m the best guy under 23 years old wrestling for the United States of America. Leaving the age out there, but just knowing that no matter how old I am, I’m the best.”

Father and coach Chris Way, who had travel issues and didn’t make it from Atlanta to Peru until Friday morning instead of arriving Wednesday night, said getting there was the hardest part of the weekend.

“Whenever I’m in the corner matside I try to stay pretty non-emotional,” said the elder Way. “I try to stay engaged with what’s going on. The first match it kind of happened so fast. It just went from right to a takedown to right to a lift and it was over with, so that was pretty cool. My thought coming off was like ‘alright, let’s get everybody’s emotions in check so that we can get ready for the next one because it’s probably not going to be that way.’ Then the second match was definitely a lot more how I figured that the whole tournament would go.

“It was a grind. It was a grind and it was 1-1, and I felt confident there just because I knew that he had been in some situations that I knew he was strong in. He hadn’t pulled the trigger yet in that situation, so I knew what was coming up. I could kind of read his gameplan. I could kind of call his moves and motion before they happen. I knew he was confident there and he got down to the end and he kind of pulled the trigger on what I kind of thought his gameplan was and it worked out.”

The Big Red, who is currently preparing with teammates for next month’s Fargo Nationals, didn’t expect a different result against Panama’s Roygien Temple Batista in the semifinals.

“My semifinals match was probably one of my more electric ones,” said the Big Red. “I was actually losing majority of the match. I got put down first. I went down 1-0 and almost gave up a turn on bottom. Going into the second period I got my point, but the way the criteria works he was still winning 1-1. I was losing and I was coming after him for the whole second period and with about 45 seconds left I ripped a big throw, got a big four points and got a tech fall (9-1).

“That was crazy. I threw something that I don’t typically do and I ended up tech falling him, which was not what anyone really expected either. Definitely a lot of hype. Coming in obviously none of my teammates really knew me and they saw a big, young guy that was electric and high-flying style, and they were impressed.”

When it came time to face Angulo in the gold medal match the plan once again was the same, but a less than ideal start didn’t help matters.

“It was like the worst possible scenario, ever, is to go down 6-0 right off the bat because then you can’t make any mistakes,” Chris Way said. “One mistake and it’s done. You can’t really wrestle free. If you give up anything it’s over. The message at the end was ‘hey, just score a point.’ A point, so that he can’t win it with a quick takedown, so score a point. He was battling and battling and battling and then he kind of got on a role, and he had all the momentum. It was almost like he scored that 8-6 lead too early.

“That kid had 45 seconds to a minute to just keep battling back, too, and that guy was able to force him to the edge and force a takedown. At that time, that guy, he was really experienced. In the last 30 seconds when he went shut down, Dominic was kind of throwing everything at him and that guy didn’t break his position at all. That’s kind of a testament to him being on that stage, probably, several times. He wrestled really well. Great experience. Live and learn and keep battling and come back with more next time.”

Obviously, the younger Way concurred that things didn’t “start off really the way I wanted it. I don’t know if it was the nerves or whatever it was. In Greco if you are winning by eight points the match is over, so I went down 6-0 probably in the first 30 seconds. I got put on my head, like bad. It was not good. I almost gave up a takedown to lose and get tech falled less than a minute in, but I somehow squirmed out of it and I just kept chipping away. I went to my corner and going into the second period down 6-0 with only three minutes of wrestling left, and my dad and my other coach, Joe Warren, came up to me and said ‘just be confident.

“‘These guys don’t train like you do. This guy is going to fall apart. He’s going to wear down a little bit’ and I knew that my gas tank is better than just about anybody’s, so I was like ‘alright, I might be down 6-0, but I’m just going to fire away and score one point at a time,’ and I ended up getting a nice takedown. Then another one and a lift and a throw, and another takedown, and then I was up 8-6 with about a minute left and unfortunately with about 30 seconds left gave up another takedown. I just wasn’t able to pull through with it at the end and he ended up winning it.”

Team USA, which received gold medal efforts from Kenneth Crosby (55 kg), Pierson Manville (63 kg), Adrian Artsisheuskiy (82 kg), Keenan Wyatt (87 kg), Soren Herzog (97 kg) and Aden Attao (130 kg), watched Max Black (60 kg) join Way with a silver medal.

“I was definitely discouraged,” the Big Red said of the loss. “That’s (gold) what I expected to do and it didn’t happen, but my coaches and my teammates were all very supportive of me after, and they were all proud of me. I like those guys a lot. They really brought me up after. They were telling me ‘there’s more opportunities for you.

“‘Some of these guys it’s their last time competing in the U23 division,’ and a lot of my team was 23. They don’t have another chance at that and they are on to the senior level against the big guys. They told me to keep focusing on just getting better at wrestling. They had no doubt in their minds and I have no doubt in my mind that I’ll be back on that stage, and bigger stage here come soon.”

Coach Way was just happy he finally made it to Peru and was able to watch his son bring back a silver medal while representing the United States.

“My exploration time of Peru was definitely cut in half,” said the PHS athletic director. “My visit basically was the hotel and the arena, and the little chicken place in between. Team USA lifestyle was everything you would think it would be. It was so professional. They travel with trainers, a doctor and are super prepared for any and every circumstance that could happen. They are 100 percent professionals.

“We had a team leader that basically was there to make sure every kid had everything they needed to compete at the top of their level. They had other coaches that were there just along for the ride and gaining that experience so they could become team leaders one day. It was really cool on my part to watch that and learn from that and just be part of that experience as well.”

Despite not bringing a gold medal back to Wood County, the Big Red gained invaluable experiences both on and off the mat.

“The flight was long. They had told us to try and not to sleep, but it was hard to listen to that,” said Way, who arrived with Baldwin around midnight. “We rolled in and just right off the bat it was like a big culture shock. Obviously, no one spoke English and we were trying to get through the security and customs. We were confused. We had no idea what we were doing. Neither one of us had traveled internationally. Going there was crazy.

“What really shocked me was we got in the Uber and looked up how far the hotel was and it was about four miles, but it said about an hour away. The traffic there is unbelievable. The drivers there were insane. It was definitely different. By the end of the week I kind of got used to it because I just stopped looking out the window. That first ride was definitely a little terrifying. It was nerve-wracking getting there, but once we got there it was all pretty much smooth sailing from there.”

Smooth sailing minus the small beds, hard pillows and having to drink bottled water and use it to brush his teeth.

“I definitely didn’t enjoy that first 24 hours,” he said. “Once we got settled in and got to practice in the morning it was pretty good. They had a good facility for us to practice in. Got some of the weight off. Great food in Lima. Had a good breakfast, good lunch, great chicken, great french fries. The people were great there. The people that ran the event and the people of Lima were great.

“They understood it was kind of not a natural environment to us, but a lot of the other guys on my team had been on world teams and Pan-Am teams before. One of the cool things we got there and after that first day when there wasn’t a whole lot of people out, when we got there we were basically celebrities. They saw USA and they went crazy. Coming back on the flight we couldn’t even get through security hardly without taking 10, 20 pictures with fans. It was a little bit cool, but also a little annoying.”

Trusting his training is something Way always has lived by and that’s not going to change moving forward.

“Who knows the plan next year. Let’s step into Fargo first,” said Way, who added of the tournament “I knew I did just about everything I could do to be prepared and ready to go, so just going out there and wrestle free, wrestle with no hesitation, and I believe I did that. There’s obviously some spots where I could’ve picked it up and changed a few things, but looking back on it I’m not too discouraged with how I wrestled.

“We’re going to go to the US Open next year. We’re not going to miss that for the world next year. I expect to do big things in both freestyle and Greco-Roman. Depending on how I do there, maybe I make the U20 world team, maybe I don’t. If I do make a world team, maybe I’ll go try the U23 again. I love competing so I assume regardless of what happens that I will find a way to find myself back on that stage and be with those guys again.”

While student-athletes are now allowed to receive compensation under the name, image and likeness (NIL) policy, the Big Red is still adjusting to his celebrity status being on the rise, even though he said he gave a few autographs in Peru.

“We got to the airport and we went over to the TGI Fridays in the airport, which is kind of shocking there’s a TGI Fridays in the Lima airport, so we went over there and I got me some cajun pasta and an Oreo milkshake and there’s just people coming up to us ‘USA, USA, USA’ and it was like ‘alright, can I have a little bit of time?’ I get some of that around here,” Way said.

“I feel like I’m a good inspiration to some of the younger kids and I like to engage and be a role model for those kids, but there it got to a point. I’m glad for the experiences I had, the interactions I had and the people I became close to. The connections I made was definitely worth the trip, regardless of the outcome. Getting second was not what I wanted coming in, but the connections and the people I met and the things I have for the future is definitely cool. I’m looking forward to getting back on the team and reuniting with those guys.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com