Toccara Montgomery (Cleveland, Ohio/Sunkist Kids) has been named the 2001 Women's Wrestler of the Year by USA Wrestling. It is the first time that Montgomery has received this prestigious award.    Montgomery won a silver medal at 68 kg/149.75 lbs. at the Women's World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, Nov. 22-25. She was one of two U.S. silver medalists, leading the USA to a seventh-place team finish. It was her first Senior World Championships appearance.    Her only loss at the World Championships came in the gold-medal finals to six-time World Champion Christine Nordhagen-Vierling of Canada, 4-1. She pinned her other four opponents in the tournament.    During the 2001 year, Montgomery claimed seven gold medals at major Senior women's events. She won three major international events, the Yasar Dogu Tournament in Turkey, the Manitoba Open in Canada and the Sunkist Kids International in the USA.    Domestically, she was also the U.S. Nationals and World Team Trials champion, as well as the Hoover/Geller Keystone Open champion and the University Nationals champion. Montgomery won Outstanding Wrestler awards at the U.S. Nationals and the Sunkist Kids International Open.    During the 2001 season, Montgomery defeated three past Women's World Champions. She beat Nordhagen-Vierling in the finals of the Sunkist Kids International Open in October. Montgomery also defeated 2000 World Champion Kristie Marano of the United States at both the U.S. Nationals and the World Team Trials. She also scored a victory over 1999 World Champion Sandra Bacher of the United States at the U.S. Nationals.    Montgomery also claimed a silver medal at the Junior World Championships. She qualified for the U.S. Junior World Team by winning the FILA Junior Nationals title, her second straight Junior World team appearance.    She was named the 2001 International Women's Wrestler of the Year by FILA, the international wrestling federation. Montgomery was the first U.S. women's wrestler to win this prestigious award and only the third American to win a FILA International Wrestler of the Year honor, joining men freestyle wrestlers John Smith (1995) and Stephen Neal (1999).    Montgomery also received a number of other top wrestling honors. She was named 2001 USOC Female Wrestler of the Year. She received the 2001 USA Wrestling Championship Belt Series for Senior women, recognizing the most successful and active women's wrestler on the Senior level. She was also the winner of the 2001 TheMat.com/ASICS Girls High School Wrestler of the Year award, recognizing the top U.S. high school female wrestler.    Montgomery is now a freshman at Cumberland College in Kentucky, competing on its women's varsity wrestling team. In June, she completed her high school career at East Technical High School in Cleveland.    USA Wrestling will be announcing major award winners each day this week on TheMat.com, the official web page of the Amateur Wrestling Alliance.    PAST WOMEN'S WRESTLER OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS  2001 - Toccara Montgomery, Cleveland, Ohio, Sunkist Kids  2000 - Kristie Marano, Albany, N.Y., ATWA  1999 - Tricia Saunders, Phoenix, Ariz., Sunkist Kids  1998 - Kristie Stenglein, Albany, N.Y., ATWA  1997 - Sandra Bacher, San Jose, Calif., Dave Schultz WC  1996 - Tricia Saunders, Phoenix, Ariz., Sunkist Kids  1995 - Vickie Zummo, Hamburg, N.J., New York AC  1994 - Shannon Williams, Ontario, Calif., Sunkist Kids  1993 - Tricia Saunders, Phoenix, Ariz., Sunkist Kids