Sao Paulo BRAZIL The U.S. closed out the 2025 WWR Americas Championship with a gold medal finish with a 61-47 win over Brazil. Top scorers for the United States were Alejandro Pabon with 18, Chuck Aoki with 15, and Sarah Adam with 9.
USA’s Chuck Aoki took the tip off getting the ball to fellow co-captain Sarah Adam who took it in for the first try of the match. While the back and forth play maintained for the first few minutes, a steal by Brazil allowed them to go up by one. Brazil quickly forced a second turnover but was not able to convert keeping the margin within one. A strong key defense by the U.S. didn’t allow the Brazilians to maintain their slight lead and the U.S. would go up by one half-way through the first. Yet another forced turnover by Brazil seemed like it could throw the game in favor of the home team but a hard hit by U.S.’s Zion Redington with two minutes left in the first allowed the U.S. to take their first two try lead of the match. A forced turnover by Aoki in the backcourt notched a three try lead for the Americans to close out the first up 18-15.
The U.S. came out of the second with a calm and measured presence that saw them go up by four early in the period. The physical match continued bu,t the Brazilians were not able to close the gap. A penalty try by U.S. ‘s number 23, Alejandro Pabon with 2:15 left in the second extended the U.S. lead to five. With less than one second left on the clock Brazil appeared to covert an inbound to a try but the call on the floor was reversed. With 1.4 put back on the clock Brazil could not repeat the score and the first half closed with the U.S. up 31-26.
The second half much like the first was a punch and be punched back and forth but the U.S. meticulously employed multiple lines to extend the lead again up by as many as 10 in the period finishing out the third up 46-37.
The Brazilians seemed to have little left in the tank in the fourth and the U.S. dominance at both ends of the court simply proved to be too much to overtake leading to the U.S. win 61-47.
Winning today’s match is an excellent way to close out a terrific tournament,” said head coach Joe Delagrave. “We came here to not only qualify for World Championships, but to win this prestigious event. This was no easy task this week as the level of play in the Americas continues to get better and better. I am proud of the team and how they responded; so grateful to the staff for their incredible dedication and hard work and to our family and fans here and back home who support us every day! We want to thank World Wheelchair Rugby and the Brazilian Paralympic Committee for organizing this tournament here in São Paulo and look forward to coming back next year for World Championships!”
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