Katja Osteen named USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week

Katja Osteen (Simi Valley, Calif./Team California) has been selected as TheMat.com Athlete of the Week on March 27, 2018.

Osteen, a freshman from Chaminade College Prep School in California, impressed at last weekend’s USA Wrestling’s Girls Folkstyle Nationals, winning titles in both the Cadet and Junior divisions at 164 pounds.

In her Cadet tournament, Osteen spent a total of 6:03 on the mat, pinning all four of her opponents in under three minutes in each outing. Her fastest fall came in 42 seconds against Brittany Allen of Oklahoma in her opening bout. In the finals, Osteen took on fellow Californian Alia Abushi, who she pinned in 2:59, which was the longest she spent on the mat at one time.

To begin her journey to gold in the Junior division, Osteen defeated 2017 Cadet World Team member and No. 2 at 152 pounds Kelani Corbett of Hawaii. She went on to defeat two more nationally ranked opponents in No. 15 Gabrielle Neal of Tennessee and No. 12 Augustina Ijoma of Texas, both ranked at 164 pounds, to advance to the finals. For the Junior crown, Osteen stuck Marlynne Deede of Utah in an even minute.

Overall, six of Osteen’s eight wins in the individual tournaments were falls.

Earlier this year, Osteen, who entered this weekend No. 9 in the nation, was crowned a CIF California state high school champion as a freshman. Additionally, so far in her young career, she is a several-time California USA Wrestling state champion and a multiple-time USA Wrestling national champion.

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 Communications Coordinator Taylor Miller at tmiller@usawrestling.org.