Vote for Jordan Burroughs, Stephany Lee & Men’s Freestyle Pan Am Team for USOC Athletes of the Month

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
03/06/2012


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

Vote for Jordan Burroughs

Vote for Stephany Lee

Vote for U.S. Pan American Men’s Freestyle Team

Representing USA Wrestling in men's freestyle is Jordan Burroughs, who won gold medals at the Dave Schultz Memorial International in Colorado Springs, Colo. and the Cerro Pelado International in Havana, Cuba

Representing USA Wrestling in women’s freestyle is Stephany Lee, who won gold medals at the Dave Schultz Memorial International in Colorado Springs, Colo. and the Pan American Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Representing USA Wrestling in the team contest is the 2012 U.S. Pan American Championships Men’s Freestyle Team, which won six of the seven gold medals at the Pan American Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo.

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

SportsMan of the Month for February 2012
Sport: Freestyle wrestling
Athlete: Jordan Burroughs
Position: 74 kg/163 lbs. in freestyle wrestling

Jordan Burroughs won two international wrestling competitions at 74 kg/163 lbs. in men’s freestyle in February, the Dave Schultz Memorial International in Colorado Springs, Colo., Feb. 4 and the Cerro Pelado International in Havana, Cuba, Feb. 13.

At the Dave Schultz Memorial, he won five bouts. Burroughs opened with a 1-0, 3-0 win over Kohei Kitamura of Japn. He pinned Carmelo Lumia of Italy in the second period, 2-0, 0:48. In the quarterfinals, Burroughs stopped Muzaffar Abdurakhmanov of Uzbekistan, 5-1, 2-0.

In the semifinals, Burroughs defeated Tyler Caldwell of the USA, 1-0, 1-0. In the finals, he defeated 2009 U.S. World Team member Trent Paulson of the USA, 1-0, 6-0.

At the Cerro Pelado International, he won three matches, opening with a 7-0, 6-0 technical fall over Ivan Lano of Argentina. In the semifinals, he stopped 2011 U.S. Open runner-up Nick Marable, 1-0, 1-1. In the finals, he stopped Trent Paulson of the USA again, this time by a 2-1, 5-1 margin.

This extends Burroughs winning streak to eight straight freestyle competitions and 27 straight matches, going back to April of 2011. Burroughs has won the U.S. Open, Beat the Streets USA/Russia Dual, World Team Trials, Ukrainian Memorial International, World Championships, Pan American Games, Dave Schultz Memorial and the Cerro Pelado International. 

SportsWoman of the Month for February 2012
Sport: Women’s Freestyle Wrestling
Athlete: Stephany Lee
Position: 72 kg/158.5 lbs. in women’s freestyle wrestling

Stephany Lee won two major international competitions in February at 72 kg/158.5 lbs., the Dave Schultz Memorial International in Colorado Springs, Colo., Feb. 3 and the Pan American Wrestling Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo., Feb. 25.

At the Dave Schultz Memorial, she opened with a second period pin over Canada’s Justina Distacio, 3-0, 0:33. In the semifinals, she pinned 2009 World bronze medalist and 2008 Olympian Ohenewa Akuffo of Canada in the semifinals, 3-0, 0:46. Lee then pinned 2012 Canadian Olympic Trials champion Leah Callahan in the finals in 1:19.

At the Pan American Championships, Lee opened with a 1-0, 7-0 victory over Jaramit Weffer of Venezuela in the semifinals, then pinned 2011 Pan American Games champion Lisset Echavarria in the finals in 1:48.

Lee was a member of the 2008 and 2010 U.S. World Teams and a two-time University World champion.

Team of the Month for February 2012
Sport: Men’s freestyle wrestling
Team: 2012 U.S. Men’s Freestyle Pan American Championships Team

The United States won the team title in men’s freestyle at the 2012 Pan American Wrestling Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo., Feb. 26.

The United States won six of the seven gold medals available in the tournament, its most dominant effort since FILA, the international federation, changed the number of weight classes to seven in 2002. 

Team USA was well ahead of runner-up Canada and third place Cuba in the tournament, which featured 17 nations from North, South and Central American.

The individual U.S. champions were Sam Hazewinkel (55 kg), Phillip Simpson (66 kg), Trent Paulson (74 kg), Raymond Jordan (84 kg), Dustin Kilgore (96 kg), Tervel Dlagnev (120 kg). It was Dlagnev’s second career Pan Am Championships title, while the other five won the event for the first time.

2012 U.S. Men’s Freestyle Pan American Championships Team
55 kg/121 lbs. – Sam Hazewinkel, Norman, Okla. (Sunkist Kids) – 1st
60 kg/132 lbs. – Troy Nickerson, Ithaca, N.Y. (New York AC), dnp
66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Phillip Simpson, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army) – 1st
74 kg/163 lbs. – Trent Paulson, Ames, Iowa (Sunkist Kids) – 1st
84 kg/185 lbs. – Raymond Jordan, Lincoln, Neb. (Sunkist Kids) – 1st
96 kg/211.5 lbs. – Dustin Kilgore, Berea, Ohio (Sunkist Kids) – 1st
120 kg/264.5 lbs. – Tervel Dlagnev, Columbus, Ohio (Sunkist Kids) – 1st
National Freestyle Coach – Zeke Jones, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Assistant National Freestyle Coach – Brandon Slay, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Assistant National Freestyle Coach – Bill Zadick, Colorado Springs, Colo.