Ernesto Peña

Ernesto Peña Williams (born October 8, 1978 in Nueva Gerona , Isla de la Juventud , Cuba) is a former Cuban wrestler . He was vice world champion in the Greco-Roman style in 2001 in the light heavyweight division .

Career

Ernesto Peña started wrestling at the age of eight. He became a member of the sports club EIDE Celia Sanches Manduley and his first coach was Fernando Escalona Tama. He later started for the sports club Cerro Pelado Havana , where he was trained by Carlos Ulacia. He wrestled only in the Greco-Roman style and grew into the light heavyweight division over the course of his career.

He first attracted attention when he was Cuban junior runner-up in 1991. Between 1992 and 1998 he was then a total of six Cuban junior champions. In 1994 he came in 3rd place in the Cuban Senior Championship, in 1998 he repeated this success and in 1999 he was Cuban runner-up. In 2000 he became the Cuban senior champion for the first time. He also won this title in 2001, 2002 and 2004, and in 2003 he took 2nd place.

His international career began in 1993 when he finished 5th in the weight class up to 83 kg at the Junior World Championships (Cadets) in Lünen / Germany. At the Junior World Championships 1994 (Juniors) in Budapest he came in 6th place in the weight class up to 88 kg. After that he was only at an international championship again in 2000. That year he was the Pan American light heavyweight champion in Cali / Colombia, ahead of Antoine Braga Abau Jaoude, Brazil and Garrett Lowney , United States. In 2001 he repeated this title win in Santo Domingo, Dom. Rep., He won there ahead of Garrett Lowney and Edward Diaz, Venezuela. In the same year he started at a world championship for the first time. In Patras he defeated Bela Kalo, Hungary, Satish Kumar, India, Ali Mollow , Bulgaria, Ehsan Karimfat, Iran and Mehmet Özal , Turkey. He faced the Russian Alexander Besrutschkin in the final , but was defeated quite clearly with 0: 7 points. He became vice world champion.

2002 Ernesto Peña was in Maracaibo for the third time in a row Pan-American light heavyweight champion. He left Eddy Enrique Bartolozzi, Venezuela and Ross Thatcher, United States, behind. At the 2002 World Cup in Moscow, he won over Dimitri Filipowski, Kyrgyzstan, Han Tae-young , South Korea and Roman Meduna, Slovakia. He then lost to Mehmet Özal and Ali Mollow, whom he had defeated both at the 2001 World Cup, and therefore only came in 4th.

In 2003 he was the winner of the Pan-American Games in Santo Domingo ahead of Justin Ruiz , United States and Guillermo Talavera from Venezuela. At the World Championships in Créteil he won his first fight over Toomas Proovel from Estonia, but was already defeated in his next fight by the Hungarian Lajos Virág , dropped out and only came in 22nd place. In the Olympic year 2004 he therefore had to qualify for the participation in the Olympic Games in Athens. He achieved this impressively with a tournament victory in Novi Sad, where he won ahead of Mindaugas Ezerskis , Lithuania, Mehmet Özal and Ali Mollow. At the Olympic Games in Athens he won over Garrett Lowney and Lajos Virág, but then lost just 3: 4 points against his old rival Mehmet Özal. A medal win was not possible according to the unfortunate regulations in force at the time. With a victory over Gennadi Tschaidze , Kyrgyzstan, he could only fight for 4th place.

International success

year	space	competition	Weight class	Results
1993	5.	Junior World Championships (Cadets) in Lünen / Germany	up to 83 kg	Winner: Wladimir Tkachenko, Kazakhstan ahead of Emir Üner, Turkey
1994	6th	Junior World Championships (Juniors) in Budapest	up to 88 kg	Winner: Hamza Yerlikaya , Turkey ahead of Alexander Krimets, Ukraine
1998	3.	Granma Cup	Semi-difficult
1999	2.	Granma Cup	Semi-difficult
2000	1.	Pan Amerik. Championship in Cali / Colombia	Semi-difficult	before Antoine Braga Abau Jaoude, Brazil and Garrett Lowney, USA
2001	1.	Pan Amerik. Championship in Santo Domingo / Dominican Republic	Semi-difficult	before Garrett Lowney and Edward Diaz, Venezuela
2001	2.	World Cup in Patras	Semi-difficult	after victories over Bela Kalo, Hungary, Satish Kumar, India, Ali Mollow, Bulgaria, Ehsan Karimfat, Iran and Mehmet Özal, Turkey and a defeat against Alexander Besrutschkin, Russia
2002	1.	Pan Amerik. Championship in Maracaibo	Semi-difficult	before Eddy Enrique Bartolozzi, Venezuela and Ross Thatcher, USA
2002	7th	German Grand Prix in Dortmund	Semi-difficult	Winner: Mohamad Abd El Fatah , Egypt ahead of Hamza Yerlikaya
2002	4th	World Cup in Moscow	Semi-difficult	after victories over Dimitri Filipowski, Kyrgyzstan, Han Tae-young, South Korea and Roman Meduna, Slovakia and defeats against Mehmet Özal and Ali Mollow
2003	1.	Pan Amerik. Games in Santo Domingo / Cathedral. Rep.	Semi-difficult	before Justin Ruiz, USA and Guillermo Talavera, Venezuela
2003	22nd	World Cup in Créteil	Semi-difficult	after defeating Toomas Proovel, Estonia and losing to Lajos Virág, Hungary
2004	1.	Olympic qualification tournament in Novi Sad	Semi-difficult	before Mindaugas Ezerskis, Lithuania, Mehmet Özal and Ali Mollow
2004	7th	German Grand Prix in Dortmund	Semi-difficult	Winner: Martin Lidberg , Sweden ahead of Petru Sudureac , Romania
2004	4th	OS in Athens	Semi-difficult	after victories over Garrett Lowney and Lajos Virág, a defeat against Mehmet Özal and a victory over Gennadi Tschaidze, Kyrgyzstan

Explanations

• all competitions in Greco-Roman style
• OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship
• Lightweight, weight class up to 2001 up to 97 kg, since 2002 up to 96 kg body weight

swell

• Trade journal Der Ringer
• "Foeldeak-Wrestling-Database" website

Web links

Portrait of Ernest Peña in Spanish