Jack Pinto Cup awards to go to Most Outstanding U.S. and international wrestler of the event on Saturday

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
01/24/2013


For the first time, two Outstanding Wrestler awards will be presented at the Jack Pinto Cup, presented by Kiki Kelley and Morgan Stanley.

This annual international Greco-Roman dual meet tournament will be held at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. on Saturday, January 26.

Two Jack Pinto Cup awards will be presented, one to the Outstanding Wrestler from the United States and one to the Outstanding Wrestler from the international teams. No Outstanding Wrestlers were recognized in previous years of the competition.

The Jack Pinto Cup features a dual meet format, where four U.S. teams will face teams from Japan, Kazakhstan, Sweden and Lithuania. None of the U.S. teams will face another U.S. team, and the international teams will only face teams from the USA. Each team will receive four dual meets.

This event was formerly known as the Kiki Cup. Event sponsor Kiki Kelley and USA Wrestling renamed the tournament in honor of Jack Pinto, a 6-year-old wrestler who lost his life in the tragic December shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. 

The presentation of the Jack Pinto Cup awards to the two Outstanding Wrestlers was introduced this year as another way to honor the memory of Jack Pinto through this competition.

All eight sessions of the Jack Pinto Cup will be webcast live on TheMat.com and TheMat.TV, starting at 9:00 a.m. and running through 6:00 p.m.