Michael Hooker named USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week

PFC Michael Hooker of the U.S. Army turns an opponent on the way to the 65 kg title in freestyle at the Armed Forces Championships.  Photo by Steven Dinote, Armed Forces Sports.

Michael Hooker (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) has been selected as TheMat.com Athlete of the Week on Feb. 22, 2016.


An emerging member of the Army program, Hooker won both the Greco-Roman and men’s freestyle gold medal at the 2016 Armed Forces Wrestling Championships held at Naval Base Kitsap, Bremerton, Wash. over the weekend.


During Greco-Roman competition on Saturday, Hooker scored a pin over Whit Dawkins (Navy) in 2:42, a tight 4-0 decision win over Thomas Domerese (Air Force) and an 8-0 technical fall over Joshua Russo (Marines) in the championship match.


The 66 kg/145.5 lbs. gold medal performance qualified Hooker for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Greco-Roman.


Hooker performed even better on the scoreboard during the men’s freestyle tournament on Sunday. He earned 10-0 technical fall victories over Raymond Bunker (Marines), Kurt Spranger (Air Force) and Whit Dawkins (Navy) to claim the 65 kg/143 lbs. gold medal.


The U.S. Army squad won all six of its dual meets over the weekend to win the Armed Forces Championships for the 15th consecutive time in both styles.


In addition to his stellar performance at the Armed Forces Championships this year, Hooker owns a Dave Schultz Memorial International title from 2015. He was a three-time Tennessee state champion and wrestled in college at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.


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.