Big Ten, USA Wrestling Select Sasso as Week’s Best
1/28/2020 2:34:30 PM | General, Wrestling
ADDITIONAL INFO
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Sammy Sasso earned recognition at both the conference and national levels on Tuesday (Jan. 28), named the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week and USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week. The incoming honors are a byproduct of Sasso’s tear through the Northern Tier, taking out not one, but two top-4 opponents inside their own arenas.
Sasso opened the weekend by knocking off the country’s top-ranked 149-pounder, Pat Lugo of Iowa. Scramblin’ Sammy demonstrated next level defensive effort, thwarting any and all Lugo scoring attempts. Eight minutes was not to separate the two combatants as the 1-1 stalemate spilled over into a tiebreaker period. Sasso hit the deck first and broke away for an escape. It was then his turn to go for a ride, hanging in for the full 30 seconds and eliciting the boo birds as the Hawkeye faithful witnessed Lugo’s first loss of the season (13-1).
Sasso then provided an exclamation point, putting on quite an encore to his unseating of No. 1 48 hours earlier. Sasso once again flashed elite defensive prowess, fending off fourth-ranked Brayton Lee’s offensive advances. The pair of freshman phenoms are quite familiar with each other, splitting two previous collegiate folkstyle meetings (both 6-4 decisions) and clashing several times on the freestyle circuit. Sasso starred in the latest chapter, recording a dramatic 4-2 winner to close out the dual.
