Adaugo Nwachukwu selected as USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week
by Taylor Miller-Gregorio, USA Wrestling
Photo of Adaugo Nwachukwu at the 2022 NAIA Championships.
Adaugo Nwachukwu (San Jose, Calif./Iowa Wesleyan) has been selected as USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week on March 15, 2022.
Nwachukwu, a freshman at Iowa Wesleyan, won the 136-pound title at the NAIA Women’s National Championships over the weekend.
Entering the tournament as the No. 1 seed, she bonused her way to the semifinals, earning first-period pins in the Round of 32 and quarterfinals along with a 10-0 technical fall in the Round of 16. Nwachukwu shutout the No. 12 seed Diana Dzasezeva from Waldorf in the semis to punch her ticket to the finals.
There, she faced 2019 NAIA National champion and second-seeded Gracie Figueroa of Menlo, who was a 2016 Cadet World bronze medalist. Nwachukwu seemed unfazed by the caliber of her opponent, using a four-pointer in each period to propel her to 13-3 technical fall for the national title.
Each week USA Wrestling will select an Athlete of the Week based upon performance within wrestling for that week. The selection committee will consider any level of wrestling from youth programs through the senior level.
To nominate a wrestler for this honor please send the athlete's name, wrestling program, weekly accomplishments and career accolades to USA Wrestling Manager of Communications and Social Media Taylor Miller-Gregorio at tmiller@usawrestling.org.
