Arseni Kikiniou named USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week presented by U.S. Air Force Special Warfare

Arseni Kikiniou (Escondido, Calif./Poway Wrestling) has been named USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week, presented by U.S. Air Force Special Warfare, on August 6, 2025.

It was a remarkable week for Kikiniou at the 2025 U17 World Championships. The California product became the first American to win a medal in both Greco-Roman and freestyle at the U17 Worlds in the same year. He finished with a bronze medal in Greco-Roman and a silver medal in freestyle, both at 65 kg.

Beginning his week in Athens, Greece, with the Greco-Roman competition, Kikiniou matched up with eventual champion Janes Nazaryan of Armenia in round one, dropping a 4-1 decision. He rebounded with three straight wins—a pin against Huseyn Isgandarov of Azerbaijan and 5-1 decisions over Kyliane of France and Yehor Tarasenko of Ukraine—to secure a bronze medal.

Three days later, Kikiniou made a run to the gold medal finals in freestyle, earning four impressive wins against top international competition. Notably, he defeated 2025 U17 Asian champion Gourav Punia of India in the quarterfinals, 5-4, and won a 3-2 thriller against Iran’s Morteza Haj Mollamohammadi in the semifinals. The championship match saw Kikiniou come out on the wrong end of a 1-1 criteria contest to returning U17 World silver medalist Huseyn Ismayilov of Azerbaijan, giving the American a silver medal.

Kikiniou was a critical component of two historic team performances for the nation. Team USA finished the Greco-Roman portion of the U17 Worlds with a modern-era record three medals and 10^th place as a team. The men’s freestyle team made a monumental comeback run on the final day of wrestling with total seven medalists and four champions to overtake Iran for the team title by four points.

Kikiniou was a gold medalist at the 2025 U17 Pan American Champions in both styles, in addition to winning the U17 World Team Trials in both styles held at the CLAW U.S. Open Championships in Las Vegas, Nev. He was a USA Wrestling 16U Nationals champion in Greco-Roman in 2024.

To nominate a wrestler for this honor please email the athlete's name, wrestling program, weekly accomplishments, and career accolades to communications@usawrestling.org.