COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 28, 2019) – The U.S. Men’s National Sitting Team earned silver at the Parapan American Games on Wednesday, losing to Brazil 25-18, 25-22, 25-12 during the tournament’s gold-medal match at Callao Sports Center in Lima.
The U.S., ranked seventh in the world, has now claimed four consecutive silver medals at the Parapan American Games, falling to Brazil in each gold medal match. In the process, Brazil, ranked second in the world, claimed the Parapan American Games berth into the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games.
The United States will have one final attempt at qualifying for the Paralympics early next year at the 2020 Paralympic Games Final Qualifier, and they are already looking ahead for the opportunity in early 2020 to advance to Tokyo.
“This team is a very special group of athletes,” U.S. Men’s Sitting Team Head Coach Greg Walker said. “They had to overcome so many adversities here and to see them grind at it this whole tournament and to be at their best for each other was incredible. It was an incredible opportunity for our team to represent the Team USA here in Lima, Peru, and we are ready to get back to the USA and continue our training for our final qualification tournament. The athletes know that is another incredible opportunity to qualify for the Tokyo Games.”
JDee Marinko (Newcastle, Oklahoma) led Team USA with seven kills on 19 swings in the match. James Stuck (New Kensington, Pennsylvania), Roderick Green (West Monroe, Louisiana) and Zach Upp (Bartlett, Illinois) collected six points each. Stephen Bracken (Brighton, Colorado) pocketed four points, while Eric Duda (Marietta, Georgia) rounded out the scoring with three kills.
American libero John Kremer (Buford, Georgia) was unofficially credited with a 94 positive reception percent on 16 chances. Stuck was 83 percent positive on 12 receptions. Duda handled 12 receptions with a 67positive percent.
At the end of the tournament, Kremer was named Best Receiver and Upp was honored with the Best Server award.
Brazil held a 33-27 edge in kills for the match and put up a 14-2 block advantage. The gold-medalist, which had a 5-3 margin in aces, took advantage of 36 American errors in the match while holding its own miscues to 20.
U.S. Men’s National Sitting Volleyball Team
# – Name (Position, Height, Hometown)
2 – Dan Regan (Wing, 6-0, St. Louis, Missouri)
3 – Nicholas Dadgostar (Libero, 6-0, Sydney, Nebraska)
5 – Eric Duda (Setter/Wing, 6-5, Marietta, Georgia)
7 – Stephen Bracken (Wing/Setter, 6-5, Brighton, Colorado)
8 – James Stuck (Setter/Middle, 6-5, New Kensington, Pennsylvania)
11 – Roderick Green (Middle, 6-3, West Monroe, Louisiana)
12 – Patrick Young (Wing, 6-4, Albuquerque, New Mexico)
13 – Charlie Swearingen (Wing, 6-3, Gulfport, Mississippi)
14 – John Kremer (Libero, 5-9, Buford, Georgia)
15 – Chris Seilkop (Wing, 6-6, Deland, Florida)
17 – Zach Upp (Wing, 6-5, Bartlett, Illinois)
18 – J Dee Marinko (Wing, 6-4, Newcastle, Oklahoma)
Head Coach: Greg Walker
Assistant Coaches: Joe Skinner, Kyle Homeyer
Technical Coordinator: Galen Dodd
Team Leader: Dixie Collins
Physiotherapist: Brian Farr
U.S. Men’s Sitting Team Schedule at Parapan Am Games
Aug. 24: USA def. Peru 25-4, 25-4, 25-16
Aug. 24: USA lost to Brazil 14-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-20
Aug. 25: USA def. Colombia 25-19, 25-18, 25-18
Aug. 25: USA def. Costa Rica 25-13, 25-9, 25-15
Aug. 26: USA def. Canada 25-22, 25-20, 27-25
Aug. 27: USA (Group 2nd) def. Canada (Group 3rd) 25-20, 25-16, 25-23 (Semifinals)
Aug. 27: Brazil (Group 1st) def. Colombia (Group 4th) 25-6, 25-21, 25-12 (Semifinals)
Aug. 28: Canada def. Colombia 25-19, 25-21, 25-17 (Bronze-Medal Match)
Aug. 28: Brazil def. USA 25-18, 25-22, 25-12 (Gold-Medal Match)