JT Felix named USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week
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by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling
| JT Felix pictured at the 2016 Dave Schultz Memorial International. Photo: Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com. |
JT Felix (Ann Arbor, Mich./Titan Mercury WC/Cliff Keen WC) has been selected as TheMat.com Athlete of the Week on January 23, 2017.
On Saturday, Felix torched the 97 kg/213 lbs. field at the Guelph Open held in Guelph, Canada, to win his second-consecutive gold medal at the event.
Felix won four matches on the day, all over Canadian opponents. Three of his wins came by technical fall and one was decided by pin. In the gold-medal match, Felix dominated Canada’s Hamed Rowshani, 13-2.
Felix is coming off a groundbreaking 2016 season where he won medals at three international events. He earned silver medals at the Dave Schultz Memorial International and the Bill Farrell International, in addition to claiming the Guelph Open gold. He also earned top 10 finishes at the Golden Grand Prix Final and Outstanding Ukrainian Memorial.
Domestically, Felix finished in sixth place at the 2016 U.S. Senior Nationals and qualified to compete at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials where he posted a 1-2 record.
Felix competed collegiately at Boise State where he was a three-time NCAA qualifier and 2014 Pac-12 champion. He was a round-of-12 finisher at the NCAA Championships in 2013 and 2014 at 285 pounds.
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.
