Nate Rose falls in Bronze Medal Match at Pan-Am Championships; finishes 4th

In his 3rd time representing his native Trinidad and Tobago on the international circuit, UB freshman Nate Rose came tantalizingly close to his first international medal as he fell 11-0 in the bronze medal match to Scott Schiller of Team USA.

In his first bout of the tournament, Rose competed against Jose Daniel Diaz of Venezuela, who competed on the Venezuelan national team in the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Rose held his own against the Olympian, but his inexperience was no match for Diaz and Rose fell by technical superiority 10-0 after 5 minutes of competition.

Although he lost his match in the qualifying round, the bracket worked in Rose's favor as he earned a spot in one of the two bronze medal matches, taking on Team USA's Scott Schiller. Schiller most recently competed for the University of Minnesota and was a 3 time All-American for the Golden Gophers.

Schiller would get the best of Rose however, winning by technical superiority 11-0, ending Rose's run in the tournament. According to the results on FloArena, Rose improved on his place from last year's championships and ended 4th in the 97 kg bracket.

Even though that Rose was 0-2 in the tournament, he gained valuable experience facing a former Olympian and a former 3x NCAA All-American. Rose will take to the mat again in a couple of weeks when he competes in the Pan-American Olympic Games Qualifying tournament. If Rose finishes in the top 2 of his bracket, he will qualify for the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janiero.