Helen Maroulis selected as USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week

Helen Maroulis (New York, N.Y./Sunkist Kids) has been selected as TheMat.com Athlete of the Week on Oct. 9, 2018.

Maroulis won a special wrestle-off against 2018 World Team Trials Challenge Tournament winner and U.S. Open champion Alex Hedrick for the 57 kg spot on the U.S. women’s freestyle World Team.

The wrestle-off took place on Saturday at Lehigh University’s Grace Hall in Bethlehem, Pa.

Maroulis spent a total of 5:49 on the mat on Saturday night, picking up a pair of technical falls against Hedrick, including a 10-0 win in 3:14 and a 12-0 win in 2:35.

With the win, Maroulis secured a spot on her ninth World-level team and eighth World Championship team.

Maroulis is a 2016 Olympic champion, two-time World champion (2015 and 2017) and owns two other Senior World medals, including one silver and one bronze. Additionally, she has three Junior World medals.

Maroulis and the rest of the women’s freestyle World Team will compete at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Oct. 22-25.

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.