2023 USA Wrestling Men’s Freestyle Awards: Vito Arujau (Wrestler), Jake Varner (Coach)

USA Wrestling announced its 2023 Athlete and Coach of the Year award winners during the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Wrestling at Penn State, April 19-20. We have posted the winners of these awards this week, one day for each Olympic discipline. Greco-Roman awards were announced Wednesday, women’s freestyle on Thursday and men’s freestyle today.

Vito Arujau named 2022 John Smith Award winner, as USA Wrestling’s Men’s Freestyle Wrestler of the Year

Vito Arujau (Syosset, N.Y., Titan Mercury WC/Spartan Combat WC) has been named the winner of the 2023 John Smith Award as the Freestyle Wrestler of the Year by USA Wrestling. It is the first time that he has won this prestigious award.

The award is named in honor of two-time Olympic champion and four-time World champion John Smith.

Competing in his first Senior World Championships, Arujau won the World gold medal at 61 kg in Belgrade, Serbia in September. He opened with technical falls over Ossimzhan Dastanbek of Kazakhstan and Stilyan Iliev of Bulgaria. In the quarterfinals, he stopped Kodei Ogawa of Japan, 8-2. His semifinal victory was another technical fall over Tairybek Zhumashbek Uulu of Kyrgyzstan. In the gold medal finals, Arujau defeated 2021 World champion Abasgadzhi Magomedov, an Individual Neutral Athlete from Russia, 10-9.

He also won a bronze medal at the Imre Polyak & Janos Varga Memorial in Budapest, Hungary in July. He lost his

opening match to 2022 World champion Zelimkhan Abakarov of Albania, then wrestled back to win a bronze medal.

Arujau qualified for the Senior World Team with his victory in 2023 Final X in Newark, N.J. in June, defeating Nahshon Garrett in two straight matches, 6-5 in bout one and 13-10 in bout two.

Arujau claimed a gold medal at the 2023 Pan American Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina in May, going 4-0 in a five-athlete round-robin, including a victory over silver medalist Joseph Silva of Puerto Rico.

He won the 2023 U.S. Open in Las Vegas in April, scoring a 10-0 technical fall victory over Austin DeSanto in the championship finals.

Also during the 2023 season, Arujau won the NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championships at 133 pounds, competing for Cornell. Seeded No. 3, he defeated No. 2 seed Daton Fix of Oklahoma State in the semifinals, then beat No. 1 seed and returning champion Roman Bravo Young of Penn State in the finals.

Arujau was a 2016 U17 World silver medalist and a 2019 U20 World silver medalist. He also competed in the 2022 U23 World Championships. He has qualified for the last three U.S. Senior National Teams and was second in the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials.

As of today, he is a two-time NCAA champion and four-time All-American for Cornell. He won four New York state titles for Syosset High School. Arujau is the son of Vougar Oroudjov, an Olympic medalist and World champion for the former Soviet Union who emigrated to the United States.

PAST JOHN SMITH AWARD WINNERS AS FREESTYLE WRESTLER OF THE YEAR

2023 – Vito Arujau, Syosset, N.Y., Titan Mercury WC/Spartan Combat WC

2022 - David Taylor, State College, Pa., Titan Mercury WC/Nittany Lion WC

2021 - Gable Steveson, Apple Valley, Minn., Gopher WC RTC

2020 - No award (COVID-19)

2019 – J’den Cox, Colorado Springs, Colo., Titan Mercury WC

2018 - David Taylor, State College, Pa., Nittany Lion WC

2017 – Kyle Snyder, Woodbine, Md., Titan Mercury WC

2016 – Kyle Snyder, Woodbine, Md., Titan Mercury WC

2015 – Kyle Snyder, Woodbine, Md., Titan Mercury WC

2014 – Tervel Dlagnev, Columbus, Ohio, Sunkist Kids

2013 - Jordan Burroughs, Lincoln, Neb., Sunkist Kids

2012 - Jordan Burroughs, Lincoln, Neb., Sunkist Kids

2011 – Jordan Burroughs, Lincoln, Neb., Sunkist Kids

2010 – J.D. Bergman, Columbus, Ohio, New York AC

2009 – Jake Herbert, Evanston, Ill., New York AC

2008 - Henry Cejudo, Colorado Springs, Colo., Sunkist Kids

2007 - Daniel Cormier, Stillwater, Okla., Gator WC

2006 - Bill Zadick, Colorado Springs, Colo., Gator WC

2005 - Tolly Thompson, Cedar Falls, Iowa, Sunkist Kids

2004 - Cael Sanderson, Ames, Iowa, Sunkist Kids

2003 - Cael Sanderson, Ames, Iowa, Sunkist Kids

2002 - Joe Williams, Iowa City, Iowa, Sunkist Kids

2001 - Joe Williams, Iowa City, Iowa, Sunkist Kids

2000 - Brandon Slay, Amarillo, Texas, Dave Schultz WC

1999 - Stephen Neal, Bakerfield, Calif., Dave Schultz WC

1998 - Sammie Henson, Norman, Okla., Sunkist Kids

1997 - Les Gutches, Corvallis, Ore., Sunkist Kids

1996 - Kendall Cross, Raleigh, N.C., Sunkist Kids

1995 - Kevin Jackson, Phoenix, Ariz., Sunkist Kids

1994 - Melvin Douglas, Mesa, Ariz., Sunkist Kids

1993 - Terry and Tom Brands, Iowa City, Iowa, Team Foxcatcher

1992 - John Smith, Stillwater, Okla., Sunkist Kids

Jake Varner named 2023 Terry McCann Award winner as USA Wrestling Men’s Freestyle Coach of the Year

Jake Varner (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC) has been named the winner of the 2023 Terry McCann Men's Freestyle Coach of the Year by USA Wrestling. This is the first time Varner has won this prestigious honor.

Varner is a coach with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, the Regional Training Center affiliated with Penn State University. Varner coaches the men and women who train with the Nittany Lion WC, along with a staff of other top-level coaches.

In 2023, the Nittany Lion WC placed five wrestlers on the Senior World Team in men’s freestyle, with NLWC wrestlers Kyle Dake (74 kg), David Taylor (86 kg) and Zain Retherford (70 kg) winning World gold medals, Kyle Snyder (97 kg) winning a World bronze medal and Nick Lee (65 kg) placing seventh. In women’s freestyle, NLWC wrestler Jennifer Page (59 kg) won a World bronze medal. There are also some international athletes who compete for other nations who have trained with the Nittany Lion WC.

Varner was also a freestyle coach of the 2023 U.S. Pan American Games team which competed in Santiago, Chile. The United States won six medals in the six weight classes, led by 2023 Pan American Games champions Zane Richards (57 kg), Tyler Berger (74 kg), Kyle Snyder (97 kg) and Mason Parris (125 kg), plus two silver medalists.

Varner is also a volunteer coach for the national champion Penn State wrestling team, and previously served on the Penn State coaching staff prior to taking the position leading the Nittany Lion WC.

Jake Varner has been inducted as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, based upon his highly successful competitive career. Varner was a 2012 Olympic champion and 2011 World bronze medalist in men’s freestyle and also competed in the 2009 Senior World Championships. He won a gold medal at the 2011 Pan American Games. Varner placed second in the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials.

In college, Varner was a two-time NCAA champion and four-time NCAA finalist for Iowa State. A native of Bakersfield, Calif., Varner won two California state titles, winning Outstanding Wrestler in 2005, for Bakersfield High School.

PAST TERRY McCANN AWARD WINNERS AS FREESTYLE COACH OF THE YEAR

2023 – Jake Varner, State College, Pa., Nittany Lion WC

2022 - Casey Cunningham, State College, Pa., Nittany Lion WC

2021 - Casey Cunningham, State College, Pa., Nittany Lion WC

2020 - No award (COVID-19)

2019 – Reece Humphrey, Dayton, N.J., New Jersey RTC

2018 - Casey Cunningham, State College, Pa., Nittany Lion WC

2017 - Mark Manning, Lincoln, Neb., Nebraska RTC and Bryan Snyder, Lincoln, Neb., Nebraska RTC

2016 - Lou Rosselli, Norman, Okla., New York AC

2015 – Mark Manning, Lincoln, Neb., Nebraska RTC

2014 – Terry Brands, Iowa City, Iowa, Hawkeye WC

2013 - Lou Rosselli, Columbus, Ohio, New York AC

2012 – Cael Sanderson, State College, Pa., Nittany Lion WC

2011 – Mark Manning, Lincoln, Neb., Sunkist Kids

2010 - Sean Bormet, Naperville, Ill., New York AC

2009 – John Smith, Stillwater, Okla., Gator WC

2008 - Sean Bormet, Naperville, Ill., New York AC

2007 - Lou Rosselli, Columbus, Ohio, New York AC

2006 - Sean Bormet, Naperville, Ill., New York AC

2005 - Mike Duroe, Iowa City, Iowa, Hawkeye TC

2004 - Bobby Douglas, Ames, Iowa, Sunkist Kids

2003 - Tom Brands, Iowa City, Iowa, Hawkeye WC

2002 - Tom Brands, Iowa City, Iowa, Hawkeye WC

2001 - Zeke Jones, Morgantown, W.Va., Sunkist Kids

2000 - John Smith, Stillwater, Okla., Sunkist Kids

1999 - Greg Strobel, Bethlehem, Pa., New York Athletic Club

1998 - John Smith, Stillwater, Okla., Sunkist Kids

1997 - Greg Strobel, Bethlehem, Pa., New York Athletic Club

1996 - Bruce Burnett, Colorado Springs, Colo., National Freestyle Coach

1995 - Bruce Burnett, Colorado Springs, Colo., National Freestyle Coach

1994 - Gene Davis, Colorado Springs, Colo., Athletes In Action

1993 - Joe Seay, Oklahoma City, Okla., Sunkist Kids

1992 - Bobby Douglas, Ames, Iowa, Sunkist Kids