Anthony Cassioppi selected as USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week

Anthony Cassioppi (Roscoe, Ill.) has been selected as TheMat.com Athlete of the Week on Dec. 11, 2018.

Cassioppi, who is in his freshman season at Iowa, won his third open tournament of the season, taking the 285-pound title at the UNI Open last weekend, wrestling unattached. 

The Hawkeye took out three NCAA Division I starters to earn a spot atop the podium, winning all three of his matches by fall.

To open his tournament, Cassioppi defeated South Dakota State’s Blake Wolters with a 35-second pin. He moved on to the gold-medal match when he stuck Thomas Helton of EIU-Edwardsville in 1:52 in the semifinals. To cap off his day, Cassioppi took down North Dakota State’s Daniel Stribal with a fall at the 43-second mark to win the weight class.

Overall, Cassioppi spent 3:10 on the mat this weekend.

Cassioppi improved to 11-0 on the season. All of Cassioppi’s wins have come with bonus points attached, including 10 pins and one major decision.

This marks Cassioppi's second USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week win this year. 

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. Twitter fan votes also play a part in decision.

To nominate a wrestler for this honor please send the athlete's name, wrestling program, weekly accomplishments and career accolades to USA Wrestling Communications Coordinator Taylor Miller at tmiller@usawrestling.org.