Wrestler of the Week for Sept. 11-17

Harry Lester (Akron, Ohio/Gator WC/USOEC) has been named TheMat.com Wrestler of the Week for Sept. 11-17.

Each week, TheMat.com 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. The announcement will be made each week on Wednesday.

Lester won a bronze medal at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. in Greco-Roman on the first day of the World Wrestling Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 17.

It was the second straight year that Lester has won a World bronze medal at this weight class.

Lester defeated Hungary’s Tamas Lorincz, 3-1, 2-1 in the bronze-medal match by employing his aggressive, attacking and entertaining style to control the match from start to finish.

Lester rebounded after a controversial semifinal loss to Olympic champion Farid Mansurov of Azerbaijan, 3-6, 1-4.

He won his first four matches in the tournament, opening with a 7-0, 6-0 technical fall over Juha Hiltunen of Finland. In the second round, he stopped former World champion Seref Eroglu of Turkey, 3-2, 3-0. His next bout was a 1-1, 3-0 decision over Mayil Consuegra of Cuba. In the quarterfinals, Lester stopped Ionel Puscasu of Romania, 5-0, 3-1.

Lester was competing in his third straight World Championships for the United States. He became a prominent international wrestler as a member of the U.S. Olympic Education Center Greco-Roman wrestling team at Northern Michigan University, which is coached by Ivan Ivanov and Jim Gruenwald.