Yonger Bastida

Born in Trinidad, Cuba, Bastida became one of the most promising prospects in his native country in 2019, when he broke into the international scene.[3] His first competition came on the senior level on February, at the '19 Cerro Pelado International, where he took runner-up honors to three-time World Championship medalist Reineris Salas, after defeating '17 US Open National champion and '15 NCAA champion Kyven Gadson.[4] Next, he dropped down to 92 kilograms and claimed a Junior Pan American title on June[5] before once again bumping up a weight class to compete at the Junior World Championships of September, where he claimed a silver medal.[1] A recently-turned 20 year old, Bastida once again dropped down to 92 kilos, competing at the '19 U23 World Championship, where he compiled a fall and two technical falls to reach the semifinals, falling to Russia's Batyrbek Tsakulov and claiming the bronze medal afterwards to close the year.[6] At the Senior level Cerro Pelado International of February 2020, Bastida competed for the last time as a Cuban resident, scoring a notable victory over '15 US University National champion Hayden Zillmer before falling to two-time World Champion and '16 Olympic Bronze medalist J'den Cox.[7] Bastida was considered to be amongst the contenders for an '20 (21) Olympic spot before moving to the United States.[8]

Bastida earned the varsity spot at first when he defeated two-time Iowa (IHSAA) state champion Cody Fisher, via major decision (9–1).[10] As a freshman at 197 pounds, he started off with an undefeated 3–0, but went on to compile and overall 4–4 record in his first folkstyle matches ever.[11] After starting in regular season, Bastida was not chosen for the post-season and Marcus Coleman was started instead.[12]

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