Listen to Joe Betterman's interview on the USA Wrestling MatChat Podcast.


Joe Betterman (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) has been named TheMat.com Wrestler of the Week for November 30-December 6.

Each week, TheMat.com 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.

Betterman won the Haparanda Cup championship in Greco-Roman wrestling this past weekend in Haparanda, Sweden. He won the title at 60 kg/132 lbs.

Betterman won all five of his matches in a six-athlete round robin, winning three bouts on Saturday and two on Sunday. Key wins were over eventual silver medalist Ruslan Israfilov of Ukraine, 0-1, 1-1, 2-0, and eventual bronze medalist Oleg Drozdov of Russia, 1-0, 2-0.

It was Betterman’s third gold medal of the new international season, to go with titles at the Sunkist Kids International Open and New York AC International.

Betterman made the U.S. World Team in 2007 and was a member of the American squad that won the World team title that year in Baku, Azerbaijan.

He is a resident-athlete at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.

Note: To nominate a wrestler for TheMat.com Wrestler of the Week, send the athlete's name, accomplishments for the week and career accomplishments to Craig Sesker at csesker@usawrestling.org