Helen Maroulis named USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week
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by Taylor Miller, USA Wrestling
Helen Maroulis (New York, N.Y./Sunkist Kids) has been selected as TheMat.com Athlete of the Week on August 23, 2017.
On Wednesday afternoon, Maroulis captured her second World title, dominating the field at the 2017 World Championships in Paris, France.
Maroulis, a 2016 Olympic champion, entered the tournament up two weight classes at 58 kg/127.5 lbs., where she torched the competition in the first session, collecting four technical falls en route to the finals.
In her opener, Maroulis took out Hanbit Kim of Korea with an 11-0 win in 49 seconds. Her dominance continued as Maroulis shut out 2015 Junior World champion Elin Nilsson of Sweden, 10-0.
In the quarterfinals, she put away two-time Pan American silver medalist Yessica Ovieda Perez of the Dominican Republic with another 11-0 win, before securing her spot in the finals with a 10-0 tech fall over 2016 Olympian and four-time World Team member Michelle Fazzari of Canada.
Waiting for her in the finals was 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Marwa Amri of Tunisia. Maroulis struck early with a foot sweep to put Amri to her back for four points. She later countered a leg attack for a takedown before forcing a step out to extend her lead to 7-0. The champ sealed the win with a takedown and gutwrench to defeat Amri, 11-0.
Overall, Maroulis outscored her opponents, 53-0, in her five matches and won her third-consecutive gold medal in three different weights.
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 and weekly and career accomplishments to Richard Immel at rimmel@usawrestling.org.
