Anthony Cassioppi selected as USA Wrestling Co-Athlete of the Week

Anthony Cassioppi (Roscoe, Ill./Team Illinois) has been selected as TheMat.com Co-Athlete of the Week on July 24, 2018.

USA Wrestling will announce the other Co-Athlete of the Week later this week.

Cassioppi matched history last week at the Cadet and Junior National Championships in Fargo, N.D., becoming only the second wrestler in history to win two Junior-level USA Wrestling Triple Crowns.

The only other wrestler to accomplish the feat was Adam Coon in 2012 and 2013. Coon is now a 2018 Senior Greco World Team member.

The Triple Crown is awarded to wrestlers who win the folkstyle, freestyle and Greco-Roman national championships in the same season.

After winning the folkstyle national title in April, Cassioppi entered Fargo as one of few eligible for this year’s Triple Crown.

He started the week with an impressive run in freestyle, ending all six of his matches in the first period with three pins and three technical falls.

In the finals, he took on Nash Hutmacher of South Dakota, who was a 2017 Cadet Freestyle national champion. Cassioppi collected 10 points before ending the bout in 1:14.

The Illinois native was equally dominant in the Greco tournament, with only one match going the full six minutes. Cassioppi tallied three wins by tech, two by fall and one by overwhelming decision.

To cap off his Triple Crown run, Cassioppi defeated Austin Emerson of Michigan in the Junior Greco finals with a fast 11-0 tech fall.

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.