Canaan Bower selected as USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week

Canaan Bower (Las Cruces, N.M.) has been selected as USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week on April 1, 2020.

Bower, who is a junior in high school, took down and held a suspected kidnapper in gas station store in Las Cruces, N.M. on Friday.

According to several reports, Bower was pumping gas on Friday morning, when he heard a commotion across the street. A man had attempted to kidnap three children from their mother. After a struggle, the suspect went inside the convenient store, where multiple people tried to subdue him, but it didn’t work.

Bower, Mayfield High School in the District Wrestling Championship, ran into the store, where he tackled the man to the ground and pinned him down for over five minutes until the police arrived.

His amazing act of bravery has been recognized nationwide. Since then, Canaan has been a guest on several podcasts, including FloWrestling Radio Live.

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 Manager of Communications Taylor Miller at tmiller@usawrestling.org.