Taylor LaMont named USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week
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by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling
Photo: Utah Valley freshman Taylor LaMont defeats Ethan Lizak of Minnesota in the quarterfinals of the 2017 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Photo by Richard Immel.
Taylor LaMont (Mapleton, Utah/Utah Valley University) has been selected as TheMat.com Athlete of the Week on December 5, 2017.
The Utah Valley freshman captured first place at 125 pounds at the 2017 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational held at the Las Vegas Convention Center over the weekend. As the No. 8 seed, LaMont defeated six foes, four of which were ranked nationally, on his way to becoming the first Wolverine to win the highly-touted event.
LaMont opened the tournament with first-period pins over Cal Baptist’s Alex Nunez and Harvard’s Lukus Stricker. He then defeated No. 9 seed Drew Mattin of Michigan, 8-5, before capping off day one with an impressive 4-3 decision over returning NCAA finalist and No. 1 seed Ethan Lizak of Minnesota.
The following day, LaMont ousted Stanford All-American and No. 5 seed Connor Schram in the semifinals, 4-1. It was a stingy, 4-3, victory over No. 3 seed Sean Russell of Edinboro, who is a returning All-American, in the championship bout.
His gutsy performance in Las Vegas pushed LaMont up to No. 6 in the 125-pound NCAA rankings released by Flowrestling. He now holds a record of 18-2 on the season, with a third-place finish at the Clarion Open and runner-up finish at the Wolfpack Open on his resume.
LaMont is a five-time U.S. World Team member in Greco-Roman, twice at the Junior level and three times at the Cadet level. He was a Junior World bronze medalist in 2016 and finished in fifth place at the Junior Worlds this year.
In addition to his Junior Worlds trip in 2017, LaMont excelled on the Senior level, finishing in sixth place at the Greco-Roman World Team Trials and in fourth place at the U.S. Senior Nationals in Greco-Roman.
LaMont was a four-time champion at the USA Wrestling Cadet and Junior Nationals held annually in Fargo, N.D. He has earned bronze medals in Greco-Roman at both the Junior and Cadet Pan American Championships.
Prior to attending Utah Valley, LaMont was a four-time Utah state champion for Maple Mountain High School, where he finished his career with a 244-9 overall record.
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 Richard Immel at rimmel@usawrestling.org.
Taylor LaMont (Mapleton, Utah/Utah Valley University) has been selected as TheMat.com Athlete of the Week on December 5, 2017.
The Utah Valley freshman captured first place at 125 pounds at the 2017 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational held at the Las Vegas Convention Center over the weekend. As the No. 8 seed, LaMont defeated six foes, four of which were ranked nationally, on his way to becoming the first Wolverine to win the highly-touted event.
LaMont opened the tournament with first-period pins over Cal Baptist’s Alex Nunez and Harvard’s Lukus Stricker. He then defeated No. 9 seed Drew Mattin of Michigan, 8-5, before capping off day one with an impressive 4-3 decision over returning NCAA finalist and No. 1 seed Ethan Lizak of Minnesota.
The following day, LaMont ousted Stanford All-American and No. 5 seed Connor Schram in the semifinals, 4-1. It was a stingy, 4-3, victory over No. 3 seed Sean Russell of Edinboro, who is a returning All-American, in the championship bout.
His gutsy performance in Las Vegas pushed LaMont up to No. 6 in the 125-pound NCAA rankings released by Flowrestling. He now holds a record of 18-2 on the season, with a third-place finish at the Clarion Open and runner-up finish at the Wolfpack Open on his resume.
LaMont is a five-time U.S. World Team member in Greco-Roman, twice at the Junior level and three times at the Cadet level. He was a Junior World bronze medalist in 2016 and finished in fifth place at the Junior Worlds this year.
In addition to his Junior Worlds trip in 2017, LaMont excelled on the Senior level, finishing in sixth place at the Greco-Roman World Team Trials and in fourth place at the U.S. Senior Nationals in Greco-Roman.
LaMont was a four-time champion at the USA Wrestling Cadet and Junior Nationals held annually in Fargo, N.D. He has earned bronze medals in Greco-Roman at both the Junior and Cadet Pan American Championships.
Prior to attending Utah Valley, LaMont was a four-time Utah state champion for Maple Mountain High School, where he finished his career with a 244-9 overall record.
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 Richard Immel at rimmel@usawrestling.org.
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