Benjamin Alanis selected as USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week
by Taylor Miller, USA Wrestling
Photo by Josh Conklin.
Benjamin Alanis (Chandler, Ariz./Team Shutt) has been selected as USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week on April 21, 2021.
Wrestling at 63 kg for Team Shutt, Alanis put together an impressive weekend at the Ultimate Club Duals in State College, Pa., going 7-0 with six of his matches ending in either technical fall or pin.
Alanis, who entered the tournament ranked No. 9 at 138 pounds by FloWrestling, played a big part in Team Shutt emerging from pool action with a winning record. His performance ultimately helped the squad to a second-place finish at the event. His most notable victory came in the gold pool, where he defeated the nation’s No. 1 pound-for-pound high schooler Shayne Van Ness with a 16-5 technical fall.
Below is a short recap of Alanis’s performance:
WIN Ambrose Boni III (Quest 2), 10-0 1:26
WIN Jacob Wehr (Lost Boys), 11-0 1:37
WIN Nate Jones (BullTrained), fall 0:49
WIN Heidi Richardson (Capital WC), 10-0 0:35
WIN Shayne VanNess (Blairstown), 16-5 3:26
WIN David Panone (JK Squad), 8-0
WIN Jude Swisher (M2 Magicians), 13-3, 3:28
Alanis has moved up to the No. 4 pot in FloWrestling’s rankings and is committed to Northern Colorado University.
Each week USA Wrestling will select an Athlete of the Week based upon performance within wrestling for that week. The selection committee will consider any level of wrestling from youth programs through the senior level. Twitter fan votes also play a part in decision.
To nominate a wrestler for this honor please send the athlete's name, wrestling program, weekly accomplishments and career accolades to USA Wrestling Manager of Communications Taylor Miller at tmiller@usawrestling.org.