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Seth Gross named USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week

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by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling

Photo: South Dakota State’s Seth Gross in action at the 55th annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships. Photo by Richard Immel.


Seth Gross (Apple Valley, Minn./South Dakota State) has been selected as TheMat.com Athlete of the Week on January 4, 2018.


Gross continues to make history for the South Dakota State wrestling program. Already the first NCAA Division I finalist in school history, he became the first Jackrabbit to win the prestigious Ken Kraft Midlands Championships last weekend.


A superb run at Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, saw Gross score the 133-pound title with apparent ease, being named the Outstanding Wrestler at tournament’s end. Moreover, he tallied the most team points of any individual in the field.


Gross won six bouts at the Midlands Championships, with four coming by technical fall and two by pin. He defeated three seeded competitors, No. 8 Ali Naser of Arizona State, No. 4 Dylan Duncan of Illinois and No. 6 Bryan Lantry of Buffalo, to round out his tournament. Gross pinned Lantry in 2:47 of the championship match.


Now a junior for South Dakota State, Gross has accumulated a 12-0 season record thus far. Five of his 12 wins have come by fall, five others have ended via technical fall, and one resulted in a major decision. Gross has earned tournament titles at the Bison Open and Midlands Championships as we approach the midway point of the college season. He is among the early front-runners for the Dan Hodge Trophy awarded annually to the nation’s top college wrestler.


Gross is a two-time NCAA qualifier and finished in second place at 133 pounds last season to Iowa’s Cory Clark. He finished his sophomore campaign with a 34-2 record and a Big 12 Conference championship.


On the freestyle side, Gross has excelled. He was the 61 kg fifth-place finisher at the U.S. Senior Open last summer. Gross has qualified for two age-group U.S. World Team’s, finishing in eighth place at the 2016 Junior World Championships and in 13th place at the 2012 Cadet World Championships. He was a three-time champion at the USA Wrestling Junior and Cadet 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, weekly accomplishments and career accolades to USA Wrestling Manager of Communications Richard Immel at rimmel@usawrestling.org.

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