Kamal Bey named 2017 USA Wrestling Greco-Roman Wrestler of the Year

Kamal Bey (second from left) receives the Greco-Roman Wrestler of the Year award from National Greco-Roman Coach Matt Lindland, World Team Coach Herb House and USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender.


Kamal Bey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) was named 2017 Greco-Roman Wrestler of the Year by USA Wrestling. It is the first time that Bey has won this prestigious award.


Bey won a gold medal at the 2017 Junior World Championships at Tampere, Finland at 74 kg, using numerous spectacular throws all tournament long. He defeated Kyrgyzstan’s Akzhol Makhumudov in the gold-medal match, 16-11, and won five bouts on the way to the title.


Bey was the first U.S. Greco-Roman Junior World champion since 1999, when Garrett Lowney won Junior World gold for Team USA in Greco-Roman.


He qualified for the Junior World Team by winning a Special Wrestle-off over Jesse Porter in June. Earlier, he won a gold medal at the Austria Junior Greco-Roman Open in March.


Bey also had a very successful year on the Senior level. He won the U.S. Open in December of 2016, which set the ladder for the 2017 U.S. Greco-Roman World Team Trials in April 2017 in Las Vegas, where he placed second, falling to Mason Manville in the Championship Series.


In Senior international events, Bey won a gold medal at the Dave Schultz Memorial International in February, and claimed a bronze medal at the Grand Prix Zagreb Open in Croatia in March.


He captured a gold medal at the U23 World Team Trials in Rochester, Minn. in October, defeating Thomas Brackett in the Championship Series. He competed at the 2017 U23 World Championships in Bydogszcz, Poland, where he did not place.


Bey is currently a resident athlete at the U.S. Olympic Training Center. He came to the USOTC during his senior year in high school, and began to focus full-time on Greco-Roman wrestling. He now attends Daymar College.


Prior to being a USOTC resident athlete, he was a star for the powerhouse program at Oak Park-River Forest High School. He was a six-time All-American at the USA Wrestling Cadet and Junior Nationals held in Fargo, N.D., qualifying for the finals on five occasions, and winning the Junior Greco-Roman crown in 2015.

PAST GRECO-ROMAN WRESTLER OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS

2017 – Kamal Bey, Colorado Springs, Colo., Sunkist Kids

2016 – Andy Bisek, Marquette, Mich., Minnesota Storm

2015 – Andy Bisek, Colorado Springs, Colo., Minnesota Storm

2014 – Andy Bisek, Colorado Springs, Colo., Minnesota Storm

2013 – Spenser Mango, Colorado Springs, Colo., U.S. Army WCAP

2012 – Chas Betts, Colorado Springs, Colo., Minnesota Storm

2011 – Justin Lester, Colorado Springs, Colo., U.S. Army

2010 – Justin Ruiz, Meridian, Idaho, New York AC

2009 - Dremiel Byers, Colorado Springs, Colo., U.S. Army

2008 - Adam Wheeler, Colorado Springs, Colo., Gator WC

2007 - Brad Vering, Colorado Springs, Colo., New York AC

2006 - Joe Warren, Colorado Springs, Colo., New York AC

2005 - Justin Ruiz, Colorado Springs, Colo., New York AC

2004 - Rulon Gardner, Wellsville, Utah, Sunkist Kids

2003 - Jim Gruenwald, Colorado Springs, Colo., Sunkist Kids

2002 - Dremiel Byers, Colorado Springs, Colo., U.S. Army

2001 - Rulon Gardner, Cascade, Colo., Sunkist Kids

2000 - Rulon Gardner, Afton, Wyo., Sunkist Kids

1999 - Dremiel Byers, Colorado Springs, Colo., U.S. Army

1998 - Matt Lindland, Lincoln, Neb., Sunkist Kids

1997 - Rulon Gardner, Gilbert, Ariz., Sunkist Kids

1996 - Dennis Hall, Stevens, Point, Wis., Sunkist Kids

1995 - Dennis Hall, Stevens Point, Wis., Sunkist Kids

1994 - Dennis Hall, Stevens Point, Wis., Sunkist Kids

1993 - James Johnson, Phoenix, Ariz., Sunkist Kids