Rachel Watters selected as USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week

Rachel Watters (Ankeny, Iowa/Oklahoma City Univ.) has been selected as USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week on Feb. 11, 2020.

A senior at Oklahoma City University, Watters won the 155-pound title at the Women’s College Wrestling Association (WCWA) National Championships over the weekend in Marietta, Ga. It was her fourth All-American honor and first championship at the event.

Entering as the No. 3 seed, Watters outscored her opponents 49-2, collecting three technical falls, one pin and a decision in the finals.

For gold, five-time age-group World Team member Watters defeated two-time Junior World teamer, Senior National Team member and returning WCWA champion Jayden Laurent, a sophomore for Lakeland, with a 6-1 win. It was Laurent’s first loss of her college career.

With the tournament win, Watters secured a bid to the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, set for April 4-5 in State College, Pa.

In addition to being selected as USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week, Watters was also named the Sooner Athletic Conference Wrestler of the Week for the second week in a row.

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.