Continued from page 18 Sam Hazewinkel battles Tony Ramos in the 2014 U.S. World Team Trials in freestyle wrestling. Tony Rotundo photo.
pete on wrestling’s biggest stage. He won a very tough freestyle weight class that included returning Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo and 2011 World fifth-place finisher Nick Simmons. He accomplished a lifelong goal by joining his father and uncle as Olympians.
Hazewinkel also experienced his share of near-misses in col- lege. He placed third, third, third and second at the NCAA Championships in a standout college career at Oklahoma. But Hazewinkel has won his share of big matches in his career as well. Let’s not forget that Hazewinkel is a four-time U.S. Open champion. He won two Open crowns in Greco and two in freestyle. That’s four national titles in two styles. Very few wrestlers have achieved that impressive feat. Hazewinkel also won a University World title in Greco-Roman wrestling in 2008.
Hazewinkel became a father for the first time in April, and his little boy is in very good hands. He has a perfect role model to look up to. You won’t find a better person in the sport of wrestling than Hazewinkel. He’s a great representative of a great wrestling family. He’s a total class act all the way. He’s certainly been one of my favorite athletes to work with. Sam Hazewinkel didn’t win the World Team Trials this year, but he did what he’s always done. He gave it his best shot and he handled the circumstances well afterward. He will always be considered a champion in my book.
19 USA Wrestler
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