Nicholas Raimo named USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week

Nicholas Raimo (New Jersey) after winning his fourth Cadet Nationals title in Fargo, N.D. Photo: John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com.

Nicholas Raimo (East Hanover, N.J./Hanover Park) has been selected as TheMat.com Athlete of the Week on August 1, 2016.


Last week, the 16-year-old New Jersey sensation extended his undefeated streak at the Cadet Nationals in Fargo, N.D. by claiming gold in both the Greco-Roman and freestyle competitions for the second-straight year.


Raimo opened Fargo week with a dominant, seven-win showing in the Greco-Roman tournament. His road to gold included four technical falls, two sub 20-second pins, and a thrilling 13-10 victory over Pennsylvania’s Carter Tuttle in the finals.


Fast forward four days and Raimo stood atop the podium once more after blistering the 126-pound field in freestyle. Displaying near identical dominance to his Greco-Roman outing, Raimo scored three technical falls, two quick pins and a 3-1 decision over California’s Jaden Abas in the championship bout.


Raimo became just the 14th wrestler to double up at the Cadet Nationals two years in a row, and has never lost a match inside the Fargodome. The previous wrestler to accomplish this feat was 2016 Cadet World Team member Roman Bravo-Young who did so from 2014-15.


On the high school level, Raimo finished in second place at the New Jersey state championships at 120 pounds as a freshman for Hanover Park High School.


Raimo finished in third place at the UWW Cadet Freestyle Nationals at 54 kg held in Akron, Ohio in June.


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 USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week please send the athlete’s name, wrestling program and weekly and career accomplishments to Richard Immel at rimmel@usawrestling.org.