PanAm Games, Santo Domingo, Dominican
Republic August,2003
Wunderle Takes Home the Gold and Sets Pan Am Record, Krueger Wins Silver
by Mary Beth Vorwerk – USA Archery
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 15, 2003
SANTO DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – Head to head elimination was held for the men at the archery venue in Parque del Este today, with Vic Wunderle (Mason City, Ill.) capturing the gold and setting a new Pan Am record, while Guy Krueger (Blessing, Texas) took the silver.
Like yesterday’s competition for the women, twenty-four archers started the elimination round, with the top eight finishers from Tuesday and Wednesday’s qualification rounds having first round byes. Wunderle came into the elimination round seeded first, and faced Santiago Echeverri (Colombia) in the 1/8 elimination round. Wunderle took the match 166-158, advancing to the quarterfinals, where he met Hugh MacDonald (Canada) and won the match 111-109, setting a new 12-arrow Pan American record.
Robert Rusnov of Canada set the old record of 110 in 1995. With Wunderle’s record-setting match, the U.S. men now hold all 11 Pan Am records.
Second seeded Guy Krueger (Blessing, Texas) faced Mario Valdes (Chile) in the 1/8 elimination round and won the match easily 164-150 to advance to the quarterfinals where he went up against Jose Robiou (Dominican Republic). Krueger beat Robiou 106-99, advancing to the semifinals.
Glenn Meyers (Grand Rapids, Mich.) was seeded fourth coming in to the competition today and faced Andrei Lerque (Ecuador) in the 1/8 elimination round, where he won the match 155-150, also advancing to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinal match, Meyers edged past Oscar Camacho (Venezuela) to win 114-112.
In the semifinals, Wunderle went head to head with fellow teammate Meyers and took the match 112-97, breaking his own 12-arrow Pan Am record he set earlier in the quarterfinals. Krueger faced Cristobal Merlos (El Salvador) and won 108-105, setting up a gold medal match between Wunderle and Krueger.
“Form wise, I’ve never shot like this in a tournament before,” said Krueger. “I’m really happy with the way I shot in that match.”
Meyers went up against Merlos for the bronze and won the match 107-102, but because of official rules declared by the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO) saying that one country cannot sweep the medals, Meyers was not awarded the bronze.
“I feel I could’ve shot a lot better today, but that last end was really good,” said Meyers. When I had to do it, I did it and as a team we came here and did what we set out to do by finishing in the top three. That was our goal and we accomplished it”
In the gold medal match, Wunderle edged past Krueger to take home the gold by winning the match 109-106. Krueger walked away with the silver for the U.S.
“I’m ecstatic because our team shot really well and we finished in first, second and third like we hoped we would,” said Wunderle. “I feel bad Glenn didn’t get his medal, but we all know he shot well and earned it.”
This is Wunderle’s third straight Pan American Games and his fifth gold medal. He also has two silver medals and holds two Pan Am records.
Team rounds for both men and women will conclude archery competition on Saturday.
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