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Gracie Figueroa named USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week

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by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling

Photo: Gracie Figueroa (Red) wrestling in the finals of the UWW Cadet Nationals. Photo by Ray Shoaf, WrestlingTexas.com.

Video: Gracie Figueroa after winning the UWW Junior Nationals held in Irving, Texas


Gracie Figueroa (Selma, Calif./Titan Mercury WC) has been selected as TheMat.com Athlete of the Week on May 23, 2017.


Over the weekend, Figueroa made USA Wrestling history by becoming the first woman to win both the UWW Cadet and UWW Junior Nationals, thus qualifying for the U.S. World Team in both age groups.


Figueroa began her weekend by topping the 56 kg UWW Cadet bracket in Irving, Texas, winning five matches by pin or technical fall to qualify for the best-of-three championship series against 2016 Junior Freestyle Nationals champion Michaela Beck of New York. The series went the distance with the duo splitting matches before Figueroa took the final showdown, 7-0.


It was much of the same the following day for Figueroa, who picked up six-straight wins to claim the gold at 59 kg in the UWW Junior division. She defeated Nicole Joseph of King two matches to none in the championships series by scores of 9-2 and 12-2.


Her combined record at the USA Wrestling Women's Nationals came out to be 13-1 over the two days of competition. She totaled two pins and five technical falls along the way.


Figueroa will compete at the UWW Cadet World Championships for the third time this September in Athens, Greece. She won a bronze medal at the event last year. It will be her first time to wrestle at the UWW Junior World Championships when she steps on the mat in Tampere, Finland, this August.


Domestically, Figueroa has been dominant in recent years. She has claimed top prize at the USA Wrestling Folkstyle Nationals three times since 2016 across the Cadet and Junior Divisions. In addition, Figueroa has won the USA Wrestling Freestyle Nationals in the both Cadet and Junior Divisions the past two years.


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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