Alex Marinelli selected as USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week for the second time this season

Photo of Alex Marinelli courtesy of Iowa Athletics.

Alex Marinelli (Miamisburg, Ohio./Univ. of Iowa) has been selected as TheMat.com Athlete of the Week on March 12, 2019.

A sophomore for the Hawkeyes, Marinelli, won the 2019 Big Ten Championship title at 165 pounds over the weekend in Minneapolis, Minn.

Entering as the No. 2 seed, the Hawkeye began the tournament with a 6-3 win over Ohio State’s Te’Shan Campbell to move onto the semifinals.

There, he faced off against third-ranked Evan Wick of Wisconsin. It was their third meeting of the season, and Marinelli secured a 2-1 decision over Wick, improving to 3-0 this year agaisnt the Badger.

Awaiting Marinelli in the finals was two-time NCAA champion and undefeated Vincenzo Joseph of Penn State, who was the No. 1 seed.

After a scoreless first period, Joseph was on the board first with an escape to start the second. Shortly after, the Hawkeye scored a takedown and tacked on four nearfall points to take a commanding lead.

In the third period, Marinelli added an escape and a takedown for a 9-3 win and his first Big Ten title. He enters next week’s NCAA Championships with a perfect 23-0 record.

This marks the second time this season that Marinelli has received USA Wrestling’s Athlete of the Week. The first came last month, when Marinelli defeated Wick in a dual to help Iowa secure the Big Ten regular season title.

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.