Keegan O'Toole selected as USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week

Photo of Keegan O’Toole at the 2022 NCAA Championships. Photo from Mizzou Athletics.

Keegan O’Toole (Hartland, Wisc./Univ. of Missouri) has been selected as USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week on March 21, 2022.

O’Toole topped the podium at the 2022 Division I NCAA Championships, winning the 165-pound bracket, one of the toughest in the tournament.

A second-year varsity wrestler for the Tigers, O’Toole entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed, behind undefeated Evan Wick of Cal Poly. He opened his weekend with a first-period fall over Michigan State’s Caleb Fish, the No. 31 seed, before securing a 7-0 shutout against No. 18 Anthony Valencia from Arizona State.

In the quarterfinals, O’Toole outlasted seventh-seeded Carson Kharchla of Ohio State and then punched his ticket to the finals with a decision over No. 6 Cam Amine of Michigan, 4-0.

For gold, the Tiger faced returning NCAA champion from Stanford Shane Griffith, who was seeded fifth. It was a back-and-forth bout with Griffith scoring the first two takedowns, but a second-period reversal and a takedown in the final frame gave O’Toole the edge, 6-5, for his first NCAA title.

A 2021 Junior World champion, O’Toole improved on his 2021 third-place finish at the NCAAs. He was also named Amateur Wrestling News’ Hammer Award winner, presented to the wrestler who wins the national title at the most competitive weight class. Additionally, he was named a finalist for the Dan Hodge Trophy, presented by WIN Magazine.

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.

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 and Social Media Taylor Miller-Gregorio at tmiller@usawrestling.org.