Dinette gold caps Phl wrestlers bid

BANGKOK, Thailand — The Philippine wrestling team saved the best for last, nabbing the squad’s first and only gold medal in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games courtesy of Gabriel Thomas Dinette, who ruled the men’s 86-kilogram freestyle at the Pacific Park Shopping Center Sriracha in Chonburi late Friday.

Competing on the last day of action, Dinette swept his way to the top of the podium, winning all his four matches — including a 4-0 victory over home bet Chiranuwat Chamnanjan.

He capped his run to the gold medal with an identical 4-0 win over Singapore’s Weng Luen Gary Chow.

Earlier this year, he won two double gold medals in the Philippine Wrestling National Championships, topping the 86kg and the Greco-Roman 82kg division.

The team’s haul on the last day of competition included two silvers from Hayden Tyler Ancheta and Ronil Tubog.

Other medals from the wrestling team included silvers from Arian Carpio in the women’s 62kg event, Aliah Rose Gavalez in the women’s 50kg event, and a bronze from Rea Cervantes in the women’s 53kg event.

Michael Andre Dargani’s bronze in men’s 74kg wrapped up the haul in the freestyle class.

In the Greco-Roman class, Jason Baucas (77kg) and Callum Roberts (97kg) had bronze medals to round up the winners.