Sarah Hildebrandt selected as USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week

Sarah Hildebrandt (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC/USOPTC) has been selected as USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week on Jan. 21, 2020.

2018 World silver medalist at 53 kg Hildebrandt debuted at a brand new weight, 50 kg, and won her bracket last weekend at the Matteo Pellicone International, a UWW Ranking Series event held in Rome, Italy.

To open her tournament, Hildebrandt took only 1:33 to pin Ana Maria Torres Rubio of Spain. In the second round, she met up with fellow Team USA athlete Victoria Anthony, who has two fifth-place finishes at the World Championships. Hildebrandt came out on top in a 7-5 decision.

In the semifinals, Hildebrandt surpassed three-time Commonwealth champion Devi Nirmala from India with an 8-2 decision.

Awaiting Hildebrandt in the finals was 2017 and 2019 World silver medalist Alina Vuc from Romania.

Hildebrandt scored first, drawing a passivity point from Vuc to lead 1-0 at the break. In the second period, Hildebrandt went on the shot clock, but Vuc was able to pick up a takedown on the edge.

With about 13 seconds left, a scramble ensued with Hildebrandt trailing 2-1. The American got behind Vuc and had her in a quad pod as the clock ticked down. With two seconds left, Hildebrandt flattened Vuc on the mat to take an eventual 4-2 win.

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.