Kurt McHenry named USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week
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by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling
Photo: Kurt McHenry navigated to his second Cadet World title in Athens, Greece. Photo by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling.
Kurt McHenry (Leesburg, Va./Ranger WC) has been selected as TheMat.com Athlete of the Week on September 12, 2017.
McHenry etched his name into the USA Wrestling history books last week in Athens, Greece, by becoming just the third American to win two Cadet World titles. He joined past two-time champions Yianni Diakomihalis (2015-16) and Gable Steveson (2015-16) with the distinction.
Competing at 46 kg/101 lbs., McHenry blasted through five international opponents at Ano Liosia Olympic Hall, the site of the 2004 Olympic Games, to strike gold in back-to-back years at the prestigious event.
He collected wins over Cadet Pan American bronze medalist Fotis Papadopoulos of Canada, Taiyrbek Zhumashbek Uulu of Kyrgyzstan and Adem Uzun of Turkey to book a spot in the 46 kg semifinals.
Standing opposite McHenry in the semis was two-time Cadet World bronze medalist and Cadet European runner-up Magomed Abdurakhmanov of Russia. The two met in the Cadet World semifinals one year ago with McHenry winning, 11-0. It was a much tighter match in 2017, but the result remained the same as McHenry advanced with a 5-4 win.
It was all McHenry in the gold-medal match. He controlled the action against two-time Cadet World medalist and Cadet European champion Giorgi Gegelashvili of Georgia. McHenry scored five takedowns in the bout, including a four-pointer at the buzzer, to take the win, 12-4.
McHenry was the leader of a U.S. squad that collected six medals at the Cadet World Championships, four gold and two bronze. The U.S. finished in second place in the team standings for the second-straight year.
McHenry is a two-time Maryland Independent School state champion for St. Paul’s School entering his junior campaign.
On the freestyle circuit, he claimed top prize at the USA Wrestling Northeast Regional this year prior to qualifying for his second U.S. Cadet World Team. He was an All-American at the 2015 USA Wrestling Cadet Nationals held in Fargo, N.D.
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.
Kurt McHenry (Leesburg, Va./Ranger WC) has been selected as TheMat.com Athlete of the Week on September 12, 2017.
McHenry etched his name into the USA Wrestling history books last week in Athens, Greece, by becoming just the third American to win two Cadet World titles. He joined past two-time champions Yianni Diakomihalis (2015-16) and Gable Steveson (2015-16) with the distinction.
Competing at 46 kg/101 lbs., McHenry blasted through five international opponents at Ano Liosia Olympic Hall, the site of the 2004 Olympic Games, to strike gold in back-to-back years at the prestigious event.
He collected wins over Cadet Pan American bronze medalist Fotis Papadopoulos of Canada, Taiyrbek Zhumashbek Uulu of Kyrgyzstan and Adem Uzun of Turkey to book a spot in the 46 kg semifinals.
Standing opposite McHenry in the semis was two-time Cadet World bronze medalist and Cadet European runner-up Magomed Abdurakhmanov of Russia. The two met in the Cadet World semifinals one year ago with McHenry winning, 11-0. It was a much tighter match in 2017, but the result remained the same as McHenry advanced with a 5-4 win.
It was all McHenry in the gold-medal match. He controlled the action against two-time Cadet World medalist and Cadet European champion Giorgi Gegelashvili of Georgia. McHenry scored five takedowns in the bout, including a four-pointer at the buzzer, to take the win, 12-4.
McHenry was the leader of a U.S. squad that collected six medals at the Cadet World Championships, four gold and two bronze. The U.S. finished in second place in the team standings for the second-straight year.
McHenry is a two-time Maryland Independent School state champion for St. Paul’s School entering his junior campaign.
On the freestyle circuit, he claimed top prize at the USA Wrestling Northeast Regional this year prior to qualifying for his second U.S. Cadet World Team. He was an All-American at the 2015 USA Wrestling Cadet Nationals held in Fargo, N.D.
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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