Escobedo topped a stacked field to earn the 60-kilogram (132-pound) freestyle title at the FILA Junior World Team trials at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. TheMat.com selects an Athlete of the Week each week at any level of wrestling, from youth programs through the senior level.
Escobedo was dominant in the Saturday challenge, winning all six periods to take first place at the elite event. He began the event by dropping Oklahoma wrestler Henry Roman 5-0 and 7-0, and then followed that with a strong win over Harvard signee Corey Jantzen, 3-1 and 8-0. In the finals, Escobedo faced the Olympic Training Center's own Pat McCaffrey, and Escobedo topped the two-time Junior World bronze medalist with a pair of 1-0 victories to take first place in the challenge.
In the Saturday final, Escobedo squared off with a familiar opponent in Northwestern grappler Brandon Precin. Escobedo defeated Precin in the IU-NU dual meet on Feb. 11 and then followed that with a 14-3 major decision at the Big Ten championships on March 3. In Saturday's final, Escobedo was topped 1-0 in the first period of round one, then took the next two periods, 3-0 and 2-0, to win the round. He then swept round two by scores of 3-0 and 1-0 to win the championship.
The Griffith, Ind., native will be joined on the Junior World Team in the freestyle division by David Taylor (50 kg), Tyler Graff (55 kg), Bubba Jenkins (66 kg), Jake Kerr (74 kg), Louis Caputo (84 kg), Taylor Moore (96 kg) and Dom Bradley (120 kg).
Escobedo wrapped up his debut season for the Hoosiers by finishing in third place at the Big Ten Championships and in fourth at NCAAs. The Griffith, Ind., native posted a 39-7 record on the year with 14 pins. Those totals rank him in a tie for sixth and seventh, respectively, on the IU wrestling single-season lists all-time. His 39 victories were the most ever by an IU freshman.
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