53°
The former Rutgers University wrestler won a bronze medal representing Puerto Rico at the 2024 Summer Olympics. He was back in Toms River less than two days after his final match in Paris to pick up some treats at Ob-Co's Donuts.
The Fischer Boulevard shop posted a Facebook picture on Tuesday, Aug. 13 of Rivera posing with his bronze medal and a box of donuts.
"Congratulations, NJ local, Sebastian Rivera, for winning the bronze in wrestling for Puerto Rico!!!!" Ob-Co's Donuts posted. "Thank you so much for stopping by! Enjoy those donuts."
Rivera also posted an Instagram story on Monday, Aug. 12 of his bronze medal next to a glass of wine on a waterfront table with the caption "Good to be home!"
Rivera defeated Mongolia's Tulga Tumur-Ochir in the 65-kilogram freestyle weight class on Sunday, Aug. 11. After time expired, he won a challenge that awarded him a two-point takedown, giving him a 10-9 victory in the bronze medal match.
The five-time All-American and two-time Big Ten champion is the first Rutgers grappler to win an Olympic medal. Rivera wrestled for four seasons at Northwestern University before returning closer to home in 2020 and joining Rutgers for two years as a graduate student.
Two other former Scarlet Knights also captured medals in Paris. North Philadelphia native Kahleah Copper won gold for Team USA in women's basketball and Bridgewater's Casey Murphy was the backup goalkeeper for the U.S. women's soccer team, which won its first gold since London 2012.
Before his college career, Rivera wrestled at Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft. He was a 2016 state champion, posting a 31-1 record for the Colts in his senior season.
Sebastian's father Steve Rivera was an NCAA Division III national champion at The College of New Jersey. He was inducted into the NWCA Division III Hall of Fame in 2018.
Both of Puerto Rico's medals at the 2024 Summer Games were bronze. Jasmine Camacho-Quinn won the other medal, fishing third in the women's 100-meter hurdles in track and field after winning gold in the event at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Rivera and Camacho-Quinn were Puerto Rico's flag bearers during the opening ceremony along the River Seine. The only other Puerto Rican wrestler given that honor was Jaime Espinal at Rio 2016 after he won the island's first wrestling medal in 2012.
Rivera's bronze was Puerto Rico's 12th Olympic medal since the island began competing separately from the U.S. in 1948.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Toms River and receive free news updates.
