Ben VomBaur hoists the American Flag after winning the freestyle tournament at the Veterans World Championships.
Ben VomBaur named USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week presented by U.S. Air Force Special Warfare
by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling
Ben VomBaur (Greeley, Colo./Bear Cave WC) has been named USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week, presented by U.S. Air Force Special Warfare, on October 11, 2024.
VomBaur impressed on his way to a double gold medal effort at the 2024 Veterans World Championships, which is being held this week in Porec, Croatia. He topped the podium in both freestyle and Greco-Roman at 62 kg in Division B, which is comprised of athletes 41-45 years old.
On the freestyle front, VomBaur won four bouts on his way to the gold medal. He earned two bonus-point victories—a 16-4 technical fall against Individual Neutral Athlete Tumen Vasilev and a pin in 2:17 over Adlet Rakhimberdinov of Kazakhstan—plus a 7-0 blanking of Romania’s Dan Popa in the preliminary rounds. He topped fellow American Ben Kjar, a past Veterans World champion, on criteria in the finals, 3-3.
During the Greco-Roman event, VomBaur posted a 5-0 record with all victories coming by decision. He was stingy with his defense, only allowing five points to his opposition combined. VomBaur defeated Kjar in the semifinals, 5-0, and followed with a 5-0 win over Sweden’s Jarkko Wester in the championship bout.
His double gold effort improved upon his two-medal outing at last year’s Veterans Worlds where he took gold in freestyle and bronze in Greco-Roman.
VomBaur owns and operates Bear Cave Wrestling Club in Greeley, Colo. He was a multiple time NCAA Division I All American at Boise State and went undefeated during his high school career in Washington.
To nominate a wrestler for this honor please email the athlete's name, wrestling program, weekly accomplishments, and career accolades to communications@usawrestling.org.
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