Augello, Snyder named ASICS High School Wrestlers of the Year

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
07/14/2013


Every year at the ASICS Junior National Championships, the ASICS High School Wrestlers of the Year are announced. This recognizes the top high school athlete in the nation, regardless of age level.
 
This year’s recipients are Kyle Snyder of Maryland for boys and Haley Augello of Illinois for girls. 

They are featured on the ASICS All-American posters for this year, which have been unveiled during the ASICS/Vaughan Junior and Cadet Nationals. This poster will be mailed to every high school wrestling team and USA Wrestling club in the fall.
 
Snyder is a junior at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Maryland, where he is a three-time National Prep School champion, where he competes at 220 pounds. It was the second straight year in which Snyder was selected for the ASICS First Team. Snyder was a champion at the respected Walsh Ironman Tournament in his sophomore and junior years.

He is also one of the nation’s top international style wrestlers. In June, he earned a spot on the U.S. FILA Junior World freestyle team, which featured the nation’s best 17-20 year old wrestlers. Earlier in the year, he won the title at the FILA Junior Nationals in freestyle in Las Vegas, Nev.

In 2012, he was the Greco-Roman champion and freestyle bronze-medalist at the ASICS/Vaughan Junior Nationals. In 2011, he was the freestyle champion and Greco-Roman champion at the ASICS/Vaughan Cadet Nationals.

Snyder has made a commitment to train at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. in the Resident Athlete Program for the 2013-14 academic year. Kyle will be completing his senior year of high school academics at a Colorado Springs area high school, but will not be competing in the scholastic season as he focuses on training and competitions at the Olympic Training Center.
As a junior this year, Snyder becomes eligible to win the award again next year. No boy has won the ASICS Wrestler of the Year more than once.

Augello is a senior at Lockport High School in Illinois. She was second at the U.S. Senior Open at Las Vegas, Nev. this year at 51 kg/112.25 lbs.  Competing up a weight at 55 kg/121 lbs., Augello was fifth at the U.S. Senior World Team Trials. She was also second at the 2012 New York Athletic Club International, fourth at the Austrian Ladies Open  and seventh at the Pan American Championships on the Senior level.

She won the 2013 Body Bar FILA Junior National Championships, to qualify for her second straight FILA Junior World Championships.

Augello, who won the award last year also, became the third girl to win the ASICS Girls Wrestler of the Year twice, joining California’s Tatiana Padilla who was honored in 2007 and 2008 and New York’s Jenna Burkert in 2010 and 2011. No boy has ever won this award twice.
 
The program began in 1986, when California’s Laurence Jackson was named as the first ASICS High School Boys Wrestler of the Year. With the growth of women’s wrestling, the first ASICS Girls High School Wrestler of the Year was recognized in 2001, with Toccara Montgomery of Ohio receiving the award.
 
Looking back over the history of the program, the winners have gone on to achieve great things at the higher levels of wrestling.
 
2008 Olympic champion Henry Cejudo of Colorado was the 2006 boys winner. 2012 World champion Adeline Gray of Colorado was the 2009 girls winner.

Others who have made Olympic teams for the United States include boys recipients Oscar Wood of Oregon, Cary Kolat of Pennsylvania, Joe Williams of Illinois and Steve Mocco of New Jersey and girls Toccara Montgomery of Ohio and Ali Bernard of Minnesota, a two-time Olympian.
 
World medalists who are past winners include girls Montgomery and Padilla and plus boys Kolat and Williams.
 
Wrestlers who have won multiple NCAA Div. I titles included Kolat, Williams, Mocco, Damion Hahn of New Jersey and Logan Stieber of Ohio. Others won an NCAA Div. I title were Alan Fried of Ohio, Jesse Jantzen of New York, Zach Esposito of New Jersey, Dustin Schlatter of Ohio, Troy Nickerson of New York and David Taylor of Ohio.
 
Future winners of this award may be competing this weekend in Fargo. A large majority of past winners have either won titles here or have been multiple All-Americans on the Junior or Cadet levels. 

ASICS Boys High School Wrestler of the Year
 1986 - Laurence Jackson, California
 1987 - Dan Knight, Iowa
 1988 - Alan Fried, Ohio
 1989 - Adam Mariano, New York
 1990 - Ray Brinzer, Pennsylvania
 1991 - Scott Schluchter, Oklahoma
 1992 - Cary Kolat, Pennsylvania
 1993 - Joe Williams, Illinois
 1994 - Oscar Wood, Oregon
 1995 - Sean Hage, Georgia
 1996 - David Kjeldgaard, Iowa
 1997 - Kenny Cox, Oregon
 1998 - T.J. Hill, Missouri
 1999 - Damion Hahn, New Jersey
 2000 - Jesse Jantzen, New York
 2001 - Steven Mocco, New Jersey
 2002 - Zack Esposito, New Jersey
 2003 - Roger Kish, Michigan
 2004 - Dustin Schlatter, Ohio
 2005 - Troy Nickerson, New York
 2006 – Henry Cejudo, Colorado
 2007 – Cody Gardner, Virginia
 2008 – Jason Chamberlain, Utah
 2009 – David Taylor, Ohio
 2010 – Logan Stieber, Ohio
 2011 – Morgan McIntosh, California
 2012 – Taylor Massa, Michigan
2013 – Kyle Snyder, Maryland
 
ASICS Girls High School Wrestler of the Year
 2001 - Toccara Montgomery, Ohio
 2002 - Brandy Rosenbrock, Michigan
 2003 - Samantha Lang, Oregon
 2004 - Ali Bernard, Minnesota
 2005 - Deanna Rix, Maine
 2006 – Jackie Cataline. California
 2007 – Tatiana Padilla, California
 2008 – Tatiana Padilla, California
 2009 – Adeline Gray, Colorado
 2010 – Jenna Burkert, New York
 2011 – Jenna Burkert, New York
2012 – Haley Augello, Illinois
2013 – Haley Augello, Illinois