Portage County Gazette

Stevens Point native Ben Provisor unexpectedly won a pair of medals at the Senior Pan American Championships in Lima, Peru, Friday and Saturday, May 5 and 6.

A two-time Olympian in Greco-Roman wrestling, Provisor won the Bronze Medal in Greco at 87 kg/192 pounds Friday, while he was a surprise addition to the United States lineup in freestyle wrestling Saturday.

With Olympic Bronze Medalist J’den Cox unable to compete due to an illness, Provisor filled in at the weight class 10 pounds heavier than what he wrestled a day earlier, and won the Gold Medal in freestyle at 92 kg/202 pounds.

An Olympian in Greco-Roman wrestling in 2012 and 2016, Provisor won the U.S. Open Title in Greco at 87 kg/191 pounds in Las Vegas April 26-28, as he beat reigning champion Kevin Radford 6-1 in the semifinals, then rallied from 6-0 and 10-4 deficits against Joe Rau in the finals to win 14-10 after he scored the last 10 points of the match to claim his third U.S. Open Title.

The led into the Pan American Championships, where Provisor was selected to compete for USA Wrestling in Greco at 87 kg/192 pounds, and won 7-1 and 6-1 in his first two matches.

However, Provisor lost 9-0 to eventual Gold Medalist Daniel Gregorich Hechavarria of Cuba in the Semifinals, before he bounced back to win 3-0 over Alfonso Leyva Yepez of Mexico to win the Bronze Medal.

The following day, Cox became sick and was unable to wrestle, and Provisor stepped into the lineup at the heavier weight class and wrestled freestyle for the first time in seven years, which automatically qualified the weight class for USA Wrestling at the 2018 World Championships.

Provisor won 11-0 in the first round and won 11-0 again in the second round, before he won by forfeit to advance to the finals.

There, he beat Esdras Lopez Perez of Mexico 10-0 to capture the Gold Medal, as he won his three matches by a combined score of 32-0, to help USA Wrestling win the Team Titles in Greco-Roman and freestyle.

Provisor was named the USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week by TheMat.com May 8 for his performances, and currently resides in State College, Pa., where he wrestles for the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club out of Penn State University.

The former Stevens Point Area Senior High School (SPASH) standout will compete at the 2018 World Team Trials in Tulsa, Okla., June 21 and 22, where his U.S. Open Title earned him an automatic bid to the finals.18/