Riley Lefever named USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week
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by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling
Photo: Riley Lefever (Wabash College) celebrates his fourth NCAA Division III title. Photo by Geoffrey Riccio.
Riley Lefever (Fort Wayne, Ind./Wabash College) has been selected as TheMat.com Athlete of the Week on March 13, 2017.
The Wabash College senior capped off an illustrious career on the NCAA Division III level by capturing his fourth national championship over the weekend in La Crosse, Wis.
Entering the NCAA Division III Championships as the No. 1 seed at 197 pounds, Lefever won four-straight bouts in convincing fashion to claim first place and helped lead Wabash to a third-place team finish.
He opened with a 36-second pin over Robert Tair of St. John’s, followed by a pin in 2:31 over No. 8 seed Kacee Hutchinson of Greensboro to qualify for the semifinals where he downed No. 5 seed AJ Kowal of Stevens Tech, 16-5.
Lefever ended his collegiate career with a second-period fall over No. 3 seed Carlos Toribio of Ithaca in the championship match. With the win, Lefever became the second wrestler in NCAA Division III history to win four individual titles joining Augsburg’s Marcus LeVesseur as the only wrestlers to earn the distinction.
During his first three seasons of competition, Lefever won the Division III championship at 184 pounds prior to making the move to 197 pounds this year. He finished his career a perfect 129-0 against competitors at the Division III level.
Lefever also owns high placements at several prestigious national events in freestyle wrestling. Last year, Lefever finished in fifth place at the University Nationals held in Akron, Ohio. In 2015, he finished in fourth place at the UWW Junior World Team Trials and third place at the UWW Junior Nationals. He also earned runner-up honors at the 2013 Junior Nationals.
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.
Riley Lefever (Fort Wayne, Ind./Wabash College) has been selected as TheMat.com Athlete of the Week on March 13, 2017.
The Wabash College senior capped off an illustrious career on the NCAA Division III level by capturing his fourth national championship over the weekend in La Crosse, Wis.
Entering the NCAA Division III Championships as the No. 1 seed at 197 pounds, Lefever won four-straight bouts in convincing fashion to claim first place and helped lead Wabash to a third-place team finish.
He opened with a 36-second pin over Robert Tair of St. John’s, followed by a pin in 2:31 over No. 8 seed Kacee Hutchinson of Greensboro to qualify for the semifinals where he downed No. 5 seed AJ Kowal of Stevens Tech, 16-5.
Lefever ended his collegiate career with a second-period fall over No. 3 seed Carlos Toribio of Ithaca in the championship match. With the win, Lefever became the second wrestler in NCAA Division III history to win four individual titles joining Augsburg’s Marcus LeVesseur as the only wrestlers to earn the distinction.
During his first three seasons of competition, Lefever won the Division III championship at 184 pounds prior to making the move to 197 pounds this year. He finished his career a perfect 129-0 against competitors at the Division III level.
Lefever also owns high placements at several prestigious national events in freestyle wrestling. Last year, Lefever finished in fifth place at the University Nationals held in Akron, Ohio. In 2015, he finished in fourth place at the UWW Junior World Team Trials and third place at the UWW Junior Nationals. He also earned runner-up honors at the 2013 Junior Nationals.
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.
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