The U.S. Olympic Committee has announced its Twitter voting is now open for the February Male & Female Athletes of the Month.

Vote for Justin Lester

Vote for Tatiana Padilla

Representing USA Wrestling are Greco-Roman wrestler Justin Lester and women’s freestyle wrestler Tatiana Padilla. Lester won gold medals in two international events, the Dave Schultz Memorial International at 66 kg and the Granma Cup in Cuba at 74 kg. Padilla won a gold medal at the Grand Prix of Tourcoing in France, and a silver medal at the Dave Schultz Memorial International, both at 55 kg.

Fans are encouraged to vote and re-tweet the poll links.

SportsMan of the Month for February 2011
Sport: Greco-Roman wrestling
Athlete: Justin Lester
Position: 66 kg/145.5 lbs. in Greco-Roman wrestling

Justin Lester won gold medals in two highly competitive international competitions in February.

Lester captured a gold medal at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. at the Dave Schultz Memorial International in Colorado Springs, Colo., Feb. 3. 

Lester won five straight matches to claim the title, including a pin over Yuji Okamoto of Japan in the finals.

Other victories were over Furgak Mariusz of Poland, Daniel Sotonieves of the United States, Emiliyan Todorov of Bulgaria and Stig Andre Berge of Norway.

He also won a gold medal competing up a weight class at 74 kg/163 lbs. at the Granma Cup in Havana, Cuba, Feb. 17.

Lester won five matches in a row in a large and competitive field. He stopped 2009 Pan American champion Jorgisbel Alvarez Hernandez of Cuba, 3-5, 1-0, 1-1 in the gold-medal finals.

He opened with victories over Jesus Mina of Ecuador, Anton Gottfredson of the USA and Luis Perez of Venezuela. In the semifinals, he stopped 2010 Pan American champion Mayli Consuegra of Cuba.

Lester is a two-time World bronze medalist. He did not compete in 2010, and recently made a comeback after joining the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program.

SportsWoman of the Month for February 2011
Sport: Women’s Freestyle Wrestling
Athlete: Tatiana Padilla
Position: 55 kg/121 lbs. in women’s freestyle wrestling

Padilla won a pair of medals in two major international events in February

She captured a gold medal at 55 kg/121 lbs. at the Grand Prix of Tourcoing in Tourcoing, France, Feb. 26.Padilla defeated Brittany Laverdure of Canada in the gold-medal finals, 3-0, 3-0. 

She also won a big semifinal match over 2010 Asian champion Senlian Yang of China. Other victories were over Natascha Ballas of Germany, Nicole Hauptmann of Germany and Kataryna Krawczyk of Poland. This event was loaded with top international stars, as a tuneup event for the 2010 Women’s World Cup.

Padilla also claimed a silver medal at the Dave Schultz Memorial International in Colorado Springs, Colo., Feb. 5.

She won four straight matches to reach the finals, opening with wins over Lissette A Antes Castillo of Ecuador, Alex Kovalick of the United States and Jazzy Barker of Canada. In the semifinals, she defeated four-time World champion and Olympic bronze medalist Anna Gomis of France.

Padilla was edged in the gold-medal finals by two-time Olympic medalist Tonya Verbeek of Canada, 0-1, 0-1.

Padilla, a two-time World bronze medalist, is a U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete.