March 19, 2002 - Penn State wrestling coaching assistant Ross Thatcher and former two-time NCAA champion Jeff Prescott placed third and second, respectively, at the 2002 Pan American Championships in Caracas, Venezuela, March 14-17.

Prescott (Colorado Springs, Col./NYAC) took home a silver medal at 121 pounds in the freestyle division. He fell to Cuban Rene Montero, 7-3, in the final and helped lead the US team to a second place finish. Cuba won the team title in the event edging the USA by a 67 to 65 count.

Thatcher, (State College, Pa./NYAC) wrestling at 211.45 pounds of the Greco-Roman division, took home a bronze medal after posting a 2-1 mark. He was downed by technical fall in his first match by a Cuban and then returned to pin a representative of the Dominican Republic. In the third place match he downed Brazil's Renato Cunha, 5-1, for the medal. The US team also went on to finish second in the Greco-Roman division to Cuba.