SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga -- Adrian Guggenheim and Annie Ramirez capped off the Philippine jiujitsu team's 30th Southeast Asian Games campaign by winning gold Tuesday at the LausGroup Event Center.
Guggenheim won the men's under-77 kg final after beating Indonesia's Willy via armbar with 1:17 left in their finals match. Singapore's Yan Wei Kwan and Thailand's Rachata Ngamyoo settled for third in the category.
"I was patient, stuck to the game plan care of our brilliant coaches, played it smart to ensure the win and when the opportunity arose, I went for the armbar," said Guggenheim. "It's an awesome privilege for all of us to be representing the country. It's the first time, it's part of history."
Meanwhile, Ramirez overcame an early struggle against Malaysian Poyong Cassandra J's to hack out a 3-0 win and take first-place under-55 kg division. Oanong Sangsirichok from Thailand and Singapore's Fiona Toh bagged bronzes.
"She's physically strong so I was really cautious, especially in the earlier part," Ramirez said. "So much could have happened there. I got more confident after I was able to free myself from that."
Ramirez and Guggenheim joined Meggie Ochoa, Dean Roxas and Carlo Pena in the country's gold tally.
The Philippines also won a silver courtesy of Luigi Ladera, who dropped a close 3-0 decision to eventual gold-medalist Natdanai Netthip from Thailand in the under-94 kg division. Vietnam's Duy Thanh Leh and Indonesia's Yunus Paays placed third .
Peter Meimban and Apryl Eppinger clinched bronzes after losing to the eventual champions in their divisions.
Meimban surrendered a 14-0 loss to Indonesia's Muhammad Noor in their under-120 kg semifinals clash, while Eppinger was stopped in her tracks after being submitted via bow and arrow choke by Singapore's Tianen Constance Lien in the final four of the under-62 kg class.
With a total of five golds along with three silvers and bronzes, the Filipinos have emerged as runaway winners in the sport's debut in the Games.
Vietnam dominates as PH wrestlers settle for silver
Meanwhile, a deluge of silver medals ended Team Philippines campaign in the final day of the wrestling competition.
Six wrestlers settled for second place behind Vietnam, whose fighters repeatedly stood in the way of the Filipinos' bid for gold.
In the under-57 kg division, Alvin Lobreguito lost his only match against Vietnam's Van Cong Nguyen.
Joseph Angana sustained a similar result in the under-70 kg category, where he lost 10-0 in the opening match to Tat Du Can before dispatching Cambodia, Thailand and Singapore the rest of the way.
Roni Tubog snagged silver after being unable to turn back Huu Dinh Nguyen (10-0) in his second shot at beating the Vietnamese in the under-61 kg division, while Johnny Morte couldn't complete a sweep in under-65 kg after Xuan Dinh Nguyen dominated 10-0 their finals matchup.
Thailand grabbed a silver and three bronzes in the men's events.
Minalyn Foy-Os stood second in the women's under-55 kg podium after losing 4-0 to Thi Ly Kieu in the final, while in the under-62kg division, Noemie Tener lost against Vietnam's Thi My Hanh Nguyen (gold) but beat everyone else, including Thailand's Salinee Srisombat 12-2 (bronze) to seal a silver finish.
The Philippines will end its run with two golds, 10 silvers and a bronze as Vietnam (12 golds, 2 silvers) stamped its class as the eventual winner in the event.