Franklin Gómez

Franklin Gómez Matos (born August 5, 1986) is a Dominican-born Puerto Rican freestyle wrestler.

Early years and education Gómez was born in Puerto Plata Province in the Dominican Republic. His father, Eugenio Gómez, was a fisherman and his mother, Margarita Matos, was a housewife. In 1991, Franklin's father died as a consequence of medical malpractice. As a result, his mother decided to move to Puerto Rico, along with Franklin and her other two sons: Emanuel and Abel. During childhood, Gómez played basketball and baseball. He began wrestling when he was 12 years old, training at Club Sparta in San Juan.

He came to the United States and lived in New Jersey his freshman year of high school where he stayed with a host family, Bill and Diane McGrath, and attended St. Augustine Preparatory School in Richland, New Jersey. Gómez would then move to Brandon, Florida, where he attended Brandon High School.

Aside of wrestling, Gómez completed a Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, with a major in psychology from Michigan State, as well as a Master's degree in Business Administration from Walden University. Gómez also completed the triple crown of high school wrestling in 2005, winning a folkstyle national championship, along with the junior freestyle and junior Greco-Roman national championships.

College Following high school, Gómez wrestled collegiately for Michigan State, where he won an NCAA Division I title at 133-pounds in 2009. After graduation, he was recruited to the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club at Penn State University, where he trained in freestyle wrestling.

Senior level During the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, Gómez won the first gold medal in the sport of wrestling for Puerto Rico. He would win his next three tournaments in Romania, Italy and Germany. In his last performance, he defeated the current world champion in the 60 kg, the Russian wrestler Besik Kudukhov, claiming the gold medal in the Grand Prix of Germany. After becoming the sub-champion and winning a silver medal in the 2011 World Championships, Gomez also won his country a spot at the 2012 London Olympics.

At the 2012 Olympics in London, Gómez faced Besik Kudukhov of Russia again but this time in the first round. Kudukhov defeated Gomez 3–1 and made the final but was defeated by Toghrul Asgarov of Azerbaijan. With Kudukhov making the final, Gomez was made eligible to wrestle for a medal in the repechage rounds. Gómez fought against Yogeshwar Dutt in the repechage rounds, but lost again 0–3, and Dutt eventually claimed the bronze medal.

At the 2014 World Wrestling Championships in the round of 16 he lost to Soslan Ramonov (by fall) of Russia and in the repechage round 2 he lost again to Ganzorigiin Mandakhnaran of Mongolia (4–7). In the match against Soslan Ramonov he wrestled with extreme, violent energy, intense determination, competed on equal terms with the eventual world champion, leading on points 10-8 before his losing.

At the 2016 Dan Kolov – Nikola Petrov Tournament Gómez held the gold medal after defeating the strong international wrestler Borislav Novachkov of Bulgaria.

At the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Gómez faced Ikhtiyor Navruzov of Uzbekistan. Gómez and Navruzov were tied 5–5 in the second round. As the match was about to end, Gómez made a move that took Navruzov outside of the ring, initially warranting two points for Gómez. However, one of the officers argued that the move favored Navruzov, forcing Gómez' corner to challenge the call. When the officers decided against him, the bout ended 8–5 against Gómez.

The decision was controversial from the beginning, with various experts and sources calling the decision "insane", and saying that Gómez was "robbed" on Twitter. Some notable wrestlers and coaches that tweeted in support of Gómez were Eric Thompson, Jake Varner, Cael Sanderson, Mark Hemauer, and Ben Askren. Former Governor of Puerto Rico Aníbal Acevedo Vilá tweeted using the hashtag "#GomezGotRobbed". Meanwhile, current Governor Alejandro García Padilla vowed to protest what he called a "theft" to the sport.

Shortly after the match, the three officers in charge of the match were suspended by United World Wrestling because of "suspicious officiating". They also claimed that an investigation would be done, but their decision couldn't be overturned. On September 3, 2016, it was announced that the three officers were officially expelled from the UWW, without offering the reasons for the expulsion.

Gómez was inducted into the Michigan State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2021, and the Florida Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2023.

Achievements NCAA Division I champion at 133 pounds (2009) Athlete of the Year at Michigan State University (2009) Two-time Big Ten Conference champion (2008, 2009) Silver medal at the 2011 World Wrestling Championships in Istanbul, Turkey (2011) Gold medal at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico (2011) Gold medal at the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games in Veracruz, Mexico (2014)

Freestyle record

Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event Location

Loss 114–46

Tehran, Iran Win 114–45

Win 113–45

Loss 112–45

Win 112–44

Loss 111–44

Paris, France Win 111–43

Win 110–43

Win 109–43

Win 108–43

Loss 107–43

Win 107–42

Loss 106–42

Madrid, Spain Win 106–41

Win 105–41

Win 104–41

Win 103–41

Havana, Cuba Win 102–41

Loss 101–41

Win 101–40

Win 100–40

Loss 99–40

Istanbul, Turkey Win 99–39

Win 98–39

Sofia, Bulgaria Win 97–39

Win 96–39

Loss 95–39

Win 95–38

Loss 94–38

Win 94–37

Win 93–37

Win 92–37

Win 91–37

Loss 90–37

Tashkent, Uzbekistan Win 90–36

Loss 89–36

Win 89–35

Loss 88–35

Win 88–34

Win 87–34

Win 86–34

Win 85–34

Win 84–34

Win 83–34

Sofia, Bulgaria Win 82–34

Win 81–34

Win 80–34

Loss 79–34

Colorado Springs, Colorado Win 79–33

Win 78–33

Win 77–33

Loss 76–33

Budapest, Hungary Win 76–32

Loss 75–32

Win 75–31

Win 74–31

Win 73–31

Win 72–31

Madrid, Spain Win 71–31

Win 70–31

Loss 69–31

Loss 69–30

Loss 69–29

Loss 69–28

Win 69–27

Dortmund, Germany

Win 69–27

Sassari, Italy

Win 68–27

Targoviste, Romania

Win 67–27

Win 66–27

Win 65–27

Loss 64–27

Istanbul, Turkey Win 63–26

Win 62–26

Win 61–26

Win 60–26

Win 59–26

Win 58–26

Madrid, Spain

Win 57–26

Rionegro, Colombia Win 56–26

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Win 55–26

Colorado Springs, Colorado Win 54–26

Win 53–26

Win 52–26

Loss 51–26

Win 51–25

Loss 50–25

New York, New York Loss 50–24

Win 50–23

Win 49–23

Win 48–23

Tempe, Arizona Loss 47–23

Win 47–22

Win 46–22

Loss 45–22

Loss 45–21

Moscow, Russia

Win 45–20

Waterloo, Iowa Win 44–20

Loss 43–20

Win 43–19

Win 42–19

Akron, Ohio Win 41–19

Win 40–19

Win 39–19

Win 38–19

Win 37–19

Loss 36–19

Win 36–18

Win 35–18

Loss 34–18

Las Vegas, Nevada Win 34–17

Loss 33–17

Loss 33–16

Colorado Win 33–15

Loss 32–15

Iowa Win 32–14

Win 31–14

Loss 30–14

Nevada Loss 30–13

Win 30–12

Loss 29–12

Win 29–11

Loss 28–11

Win 28–10

Win 27–10

Loss 26–10

Ohio Win 26–9

Win 25–9

Win 24–9

Win 23–9

Win 22–9

Loss 21–9

Nevada Loss 21–8

Win 21–7

Win 20–7

Ohio Loss 19–7

Win 19–6

Loss 18–6

Win 18–5

Win 17–5

Win 16–5

Loss 15–5

Nevada Loss 15–4

Win 15–3

Win 14–3

Win 13–3

Win 12–3

Loss 11–3

Win 11–2

New York Win 10–2

Win 9–2

Win 8–2

Loss 7–2

Iowa Win 7–1

Win 6–1

Loss 5–1

Win 5–0

Win 4–0

Illinois Win 3–0

Win 2–0

Win 1–0