Ex-Brandon wrestler Franklin Gomez qualifies for Olympics

Posted Sep 20, 2011 by Eddie Daniels

Updated Sep 20, 2011 at 03:50 PM

There are few accolades the Brandon wrestling program has yet to snatch up, but here’s something to scratch from the list: Former Eagles wrestler Franklin Gomez will become the program’s first Olympian.

Gomez, wrestling for his native Puerto Rico, finished second in the freestyle portion of the 2011 Senior Wrestling World Championship in Istanbul, Turkey. That finish allows him to represent Puerto Rico at the 2012 Olympics in London.

“I really thought I was going to do that from the beginning, so for me, it’s confirmation in my belief in God and just being patient and working through adversity,” Gomez said Tuesday before catching a flight to Puerto Rico to meet with the country’s Olympic committee. “I knew I was going to do it, I just didn’t know when.”

Gomez, who won an NCAA national title and was a three-time All-American at Michigan State, went 6-1 during the tournament, losing to Besik Kudukhov of Russia in the 60 KG/132 pound weight class. That was the fourth gold for Kudukhov.

The tournament featured 900 total wrestlers, representing 104 countries. Gomez admitted, one of his concerns was judging if he assimilated himself enough to the different styles he would face at the World Championship.

“This is the best of the best,” Gomez said. “Those countries over there, most of the European countries and even the Asian countries, they have wrestling traditions. Little kids grow up – like in the U.S., you hear about football. Well, they hear about wrestling over there. There are so many good kids over there. … When you wrestle those guys from different countries, you wrestle the best.”

His other concern was the injury he suffered to the ring finger on his right hand. He said he didn’t start wrestling live until about week out from the tournament due to the injury, which happened during a freestyle tournament in Spain. While in Istanbul, he received a cortisone shot to help with the inflammation. The relief wore off after four hours.

“That was one of my main concerns over there,” Gomez said.

During his three seasons at Brandon (2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05), Gomez went 27-2, winning the Class 2A 119 pound state title as a senior.

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