Alberto Rodríguez Hernández

Alberto Rodríguez Hernández (born September 9, 1963 in Pinar del Río ) is a former Cuban wrestler . He won two bronze medals in free style at world championships in wrestling .

Career

Alberto Rodríguez Hernández began wrestling as a teenager in 1977 in his hometown of Pinar del Río. He concentrated on the free style. He was mainly trained by Eric Leon . In addition to wrestling, he completed training as a physiotherapist. At a height of 1.79 meters, he wrestled throughout his career in welterweight , the weight class up to 74 kg body weight.

He first appeared on the international wrestling mat in 1988. He won the Pan American welterweight championship in front of Nate Carr from the United States and Rick Dove from Canada. In the same year he also won the World Cup in Toledo / USA ahead of Kenneth Monday , USA and Nasir Gadžihanov from the Soviet Union. A start at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul was not possible for him because Cuba boycotted these games for political reasons. In 1989 he started in Martigny / Switzerland for the first time at a world championship. He had to be content with 7th place.

In 1990 Alberto Rodríguez Hernández won the Central American Championship in Mexico City and the German Grand Prix in Saarbrücken, where he relegated Adlan Varajew from the Soviet Union to 2nd place. At the Pan American Championship in 1990 in Colorado Springs he reached 3rd place behind Greg Edinsky , United States and Gordon Sturruck from Canada. At the World Championships this year in Tokyo, he came in 6th place. The title was won by the Bulgarian Rahmat Sukra ahead of Nasir Gadžihanov. In 1991 he came in 3rd place at the Pan American Games in Havana behind Kenneth Monday and Felipe Guzmán from Mexico. At the 1991 World Cup in Varna, however, he was again unlucky, because he was eliminated there prematurely and only came in 12th place.

He did not make the jump to the Olympic Games in 1992. In 1993 he was back at the World Championships in Toronto and won his first medal at a world championship with his third place behind Park Jang-soon , South Korea and David Schultz from the United States with third place. In 1994 he came in second place behind Matt Lindland from the United States at the Pan American Championship in Mexico City and just missed the medal ranks with fourth place at the World Cup in Istanbul, where Turan Ceylan from Turkey won.

In March 1995, Alberto Rodríguez Hernández celebrated another success with his victory at the Pan-American Games in Mar del Plata in front of David Hohl , Canada and David Schultz, who won 3rd place at the 1995 World Cup in Atlanta behind Buwaissar Saitijew , Russia and Alexander Leipold , Germany followed. In 1996 he was able to qualify for participation in the Olympic Games in Atlanta. There he lost his first fight against Kenneth Monday, then won over the 1994 world champion Turan Ceylan and Issa Momeini from Iran, but then retired from Azerbaijan after another defeat against Məmmədsalam Haciyev and only came in 11th place.

Then he ended his international wrestling career.

International success

year	space	competition	Weight class	Results
1988	1.	Pan American Championship	Welter	before Nate Carr , USA and Rick Dove , Canada
1988	1.	World Cup in Toledo / USA	Welter	before Kenneth Monday , USA and Nasir Gadžihanov , USSR
1989	3.	World Cup in Toledo / USA	Welter	behind Damat Chasamow, USSR and Kenneth Monday
1989	7th	World Cup in Martigny / Switzerland	Welter	Winner: Kenneth Monday ahead of Arsen Fadsayev , USSR and Lodoin Enchbajar , Mongolia
1990	1.	German Grand Prix in Saarbrücken	Welter	before Adlan Warajew , USSR and Krzysztof Walencik , Poland
1990	3.	Pan American Championship in Colorado Springs	Welter	behind Greg Edinsky , USA and Gordon Sturrock , Canada
1990	6th	World Cup in Tokyo	Welter	Winner: Rahmat Sukra , Bulgaria ahead of Nasir Gadžihanov and Amir Reza Khadem , Iran
1990	1.	Central American Championship in Mexico City	Welter	before Galdino Rodríguez , Mexico and Elias Antonio Madcano Tochón , Venezuela
1991	3.	Pan American Games in Havana	Welter	behind Kenneth Monday and Felipe Guzmán , Mexico
1991	12.	World Cup in Varna	Welter	behind Amir Reza Khadem, Kenneth Monday and Nasir Gadžihanov
1993	3.	World Cup in Chattanooga	Welter	behind Rob Koll , USA and Məmmədsalam Haciyev , Russia
1993	3.	World Cup in Toronto	Welter	behind Park Jang-soon , South Korea and David Schultz , USA
1993	1.	Central American Championship in Ponce / Puerto Rico	Welter	before Felipe Guzmán and José R. Santiago , Puerto Rico
1994	2.	Pan American Championship in Mexico City	Welter	behind Matt Lindland , USA, in front of Gonzalo Gastón Pelaez , Argentina
1994	4th	World Cup in Istanbul	Welter	behind Turan Ceylan , Turkey, Victor Peicov , Moldova and Behrouz Yari Kalani , Iran
1995	1.	Pan American Games in Mar del Plata	Welter	before David Hohl , Canada and David Schultz
1995	3.	World Cup in Atlanta	Welter	behind Buwaissar Saitijew , Russia and Alexander Leipold , Germany
1996	2.	Pan-American Olympic elimination in Cali / Colombia	Welter	behind Rob Koll, in front of David Hohl
1996	4th	German Grand Prix in Leipzig	Welter	behind Turan Ceylan, Nuri Zengin , Turkey and Árpád Ritter , Hungary
1996	11.	OS in Atlanta	Welter	after a loss to Kenneth Monday, victories over Turan Ceylan and Issa Momeini , Iran and a loss to Məmmədsalam Haciyev

Explanations

• all free style competitions
• OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship
• Welter weight, weight class up to 74 kg body weight

swell

• Trade journal Der Ringer
• Foeldeak Wrestling Database website

Web links

• Alberto Rodríguez Hernández in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )