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A competitor at the 2023 Pritchard Companies U.S. Open is being called a sore loser after a shocking upset. At the tournament Alejandro Sancho, who represented the U.S. in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 2020 Summer Olympics, lost to a high schooler.
Check out the video below to see the 20-year-old Sancho pinned by 18-year-old Joel Adams, a Nebraska State Champion and high school senior who recently committed to the University of Michigan.
The video shows Sancho go for a throw, which Adams deftly reverses in midair, allowing him to land in a dominant position. Sancho tries to bridge out of trouble, but Adams is able to secure the fall for the win.
Things got testy after this moment.
One of Adam’s coaches can be heard screaming for joy. He runs to his wrestler and lifts him up, earning a yellow card from the referee for too much celebration.
The video then shows the referee going to shake Sancho’s hand, a formality for wrestlers leaving the mat. Sancho can be seen pulling his hand away and it appears as though he says something. This prompts the referee to show a red card. As he walks away Sancho flashes a middle finger at the official.
This lead to Sancho being dragged online with Twitter users calling Sancho a sore loser and claiming he showed bad sportsmanship.
Alejandro Sancho at the Olympics
Sancho, who now faces being known as a sore loser more than anything else, began wrestling at South Miami High School in South Miami, FL. He beat multi-US Open champion Ellis Coleman at the U.S. Olympics Trials to book his place at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo (which would be held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
At the Olympics he competed in the 67kg weigh division and placed tenth after losing 10-4 to Artem Surkov of the Russian National Olympic Committee in the round of 16.
Joel Adams is a U17 World Champion
At the 2022 U17 World Championships in Italy, Adams took gold after beating Takaku Suzuki in the final. At that tournament he outscored his four opponents 36-0.
He is ranked ninth nationally at 145 pounds (per Flowrestling).
Not the first sore loser in wrestling lately
A week ago a clip made the rounds showing a 14-year-old wrestler sucker punching his opponent after losing a match. That prompted former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen to complain about the life-time ban this sore loser received.
Sonnen said the ban indicated that high school wrestling is a sport “run by wimps”.
“I don’t know that taking him out of the sport is the right thing,” Sonnen said on a video he uploaded on his YouTube channel. “And I don’t know what they’re going to do. I know wrestling faster than anybody will cave to whatever pressure is put on it.
“ If there is a push to ban this kid from wrestling and take his federation card away, believe me, wrestling is the kind of sport that will cower, instead of sticking up and say, ‘Whoa, this is a troublemaker, and the hardest thing that I can do is wrestling practice.’
“I’m not sure if you have a troublemaker that taking him out of the world’s hardest sport is your answer. But, I will assure you, the world’s hardest sport is run by wimps that will cower. Quickly.”
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