Sebastian Rivera named USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week

Photo courtesy of Rutgers Athletics.

Sebastian Rivera (Toms River, N.J./Scarlet Knight WC) has been selected as USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week on Jan. 5, 2021.

Rivera, a Rutgers transfer and three-time All-American for Northwestern, competed at the Battle on the Banks card on Saturday, which was put on by Mobbin’ Media. In one of the night’s headlining bouts, Rivera took on 2020 Senior Nationals All-American and a three-time NCAA qualifier for Pittsburgh Shelton Mack in a freestyle bout.

Rivera led only 2-1 at the break then trailed 3-2 at the start of the second period. Rivera scored the next 11 points, with two takedowns, two turns and three step outs to close out the victory.

It was one of his first matches since returning to his home state.

A college star, Rivera earned All-American finishes at the 2018 and 2019 NCAA Championships. Last season, he was named an NWCA All-American after the NCAA Championships were canceled. He is also a 2019 and 2020 Big Ten champion.

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.