Néstor Almanza

Néstor Almanza (born March 29, 1971 ) is a retired Cuban wrestler . He was welterweight world champion in Greco-Roman style in 1993 .

Career

Néstor Almanza began wrestling as a teenager. He was a member of the Cerro Pelado Havana sports club and focused on the Greco-Roman style. As an adult, the 1.80 meter tall athlete always competed in welterweight, the weight class up to 74 kg body weight. In addition to wrestling, he completed training as a sports teacher. After finishing his active wrestling time he became a wrestler trainer and is now (2013) head coach of the Cuban Wrestling Association, responsible for the wrestlers in the Greco-Roman style.

His first start at an international championship was at the 1989 World Junior Championships in Budapest. He won the lightweight title there in front of the Poles Jan Kasprzak and Oleg Tokarjew from the Soviet Union. In 1992 he was Pan-American welterweight champion ahead of David Butler from the United States. In the same year he also qualified for participation in the Olympic Games in Barcelona. He won there over Alexandros Triantafilidis, Greece, Dobri Iwanow, Bulgaria and Yvon Riemer , France, but then lost to Mnazakan Iskandarjan , Russia and Torbjörn Kornbakk from Sweden, which slipped him to the medalless 4th place.

Néstor Almanza celebrated the greatest success of his career in 1993 when he became world welterweight champion in Stockholm before the Olympic champion in 1992 Jozef Tracz from Poland, Yvon Riemer and Torbjörn Kornbakk. In the final, he defeated Jozef Tracz just 2-1 points. At the 1994 World Cup, he could not defend this title. He finished only 8th in this championship. Mnazakan Iskandarjan became the new world champion.

In the meantime, Néstor Almanza had grown up in Cuba, especially in Filiberto Ascuy Aguilera, a competitor he could no longer defeat. Therefore, with one exception, he did not appear in any further international championships. The exception was his start at the Pan American Championship in 2000 in Cali / Colombia, where he finished 2nd in the welterweight division behind Matt Lindland from the United States.

After his active career, he began a coaching career in state sports. Currently (as of 2013) he is a youth national coach.

International success

year	space	competition	Weight class	Results
1989	1.	Junior World Championships in Budapest	Light	before Jan Kasprzak, Poland and Oleg Tokarjew, Soviet Union
1990	2.	Per-Gynt-Cup in Kolbotn / Norway	Welter	behind Kim Sung-moon, South Korea, in front of Roy Andresen, Norway
1990	3.	World Cup in Gothenburg	Welter	behind Bissolt Dezijew , USSR and Torbjörn Kornbakk , Sweden
1992	1.	Pan American Championship	Welter	before David Butler, USA and Rudolfo Hernández Vázquez, Mexico
1992	4th	OS in Barcelona	Welter	after victories over Alexandros Triantafilidis, Greece, Dobri Iwanow, Bulgaria and Yvon Riemer , France and defeats against Mnazakan Iskandarjan , Russia and Torbjörn Kornbakk , Sweden
1992	1.	World Cup in Besançon	Welter	before Bislan Tschagijew, Russia and Dan Russell, USA
1993	1.	World Cup in Stockholm	Welter	in front of Jozef Tracz , Poland, Yvon Riemer and Torbjörn Kornbakk
1993	1.	Central American Championship in Ponce / Puerto Rico	Welter	before Antonio Néstor García, Venezuela and Rudolfo Hernández Vázquez, Mexico
1994	3.	Intern. Tournament in Camagüey	Welter	behind Ghani Yalouz , France and Filiberto Ascuy Aguilera , Cuba
1994	2.	FILA gala in Concord / USA	Welter	behind Galust Abramian, Armenia, in front of Filiberto Ascuy Aguilera and Jaroslaw Zeman , Czech Republic
1994	8th.	World Cup in Stockholm	Welter	Winner: Mnazakan Iskandarjan ahead of Jozef Tracz and Torbjörn Kornbakk
2000	2.	Pan American Championship in Cali / Colombia	Welter	behind Matt Lindland, USA, in front of Jean Ramírez, Venezuela and Alexandro Matías Baez, Mexico

Explanations

• all competitions in Greco-Roman style
• OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship
• Lightweight, weight class up to 68 kg, welter weight, up to 1996 up to 74 kg, from 1997 to 2001 up to 76 kg body weight

swell

• Trade journal Der Ringer
• Foeldeak Wrestling Database website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Up and Coming Cuban Wrestlers ( Memento of the original from January 21, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The  archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: Juventud Rebelde from January 15, 2013, accessed on September 18, 2013 (English)