Anthony Echemendia

When Echemendía arrived to Tucson, Arizona in late 2018, he was able to attend Sunnyside High School as a senior for one semester with the help of one of his Cuban coaches' friend Fernando Villaescusa. He started competing in folkstyle shortly after the arrival and dominated on his way to a Division II state title at 152 pounds compiling an unbeaten record of 26 wins and no losses.[8] He graduated as a 2018-19 student.[9]

After he won the Freestyle Junior Nationals in 2019, a lot of Division I coaches started reaching him out. In September, he announced that he had committed to the Iowa State Cyclones.[10] However, it was later reported that he hadn't signed an NLI and a whirlwind recruitment started after that.[11] He then visited Ohio State University, Arizona State University and finally University of Iowa.[8] He ended up officially committing to the Ohio State Buckeyes.[12][13]

Echemendía was defeated by his teammate and four-time OHSAA state champion Dylan D'Emilio at the OSU wrestle-offs on January 9.[14] However, Echemendia started shortly after at one of the duals of a tri-meet, defeating Wisconsin's Trey Escobar in his collegiate debut.[15]

In April, Echemendia competed at the junior level US Open at 65 kilograms. He defeated two opponents on points before injury defaulting out of the tournament.[4] While it is not confirmed why he did so, he affirms that he was kicked out due to legal issues with his ID and that it had nothing to do with his health.[16]

A few weeks later, Echemendía participated and won the AZ freestyle tournament, which qualified him for the USA Wrestling Nationals (Fargo Nationals).[4]

In July, he completely dominated Fargo in both international styles at 145 pounds. In freestyle, he won by technical fall in his first five matches and won by points in the semis and finals, claiming the championship. In Greco-Roman, he teched everyone on his way to the quarterfinals, where he won by points and same in the semifinals. In the finals, he once again teched his opponent to crown himself as a National double-champion. This accomplishment made him a sensation across the United States.[17]

In October, he competed at 65 kilograms and faced three-time MSHSAA champion Josh Saunders at Who's Number One.[18] He stopped Saunders with a 10-0 technical fall.[19]

After more than a year without stepping into the mats, Echemendia wrestled veteran Evan Henderson on November 14, as the co-main event of FloWrestling: Burroughs vs. Valencia. This marked Echemendia's debut as a senior in the United States.[20] He lost the match on points.[21]

Echemendia represented the Ohio RTC at 65 kilograms in the FloWrestling: RTC Cup during December 4-5, alongside his teammate Sammy Sasso.[22] In the opening dual against the NJRTC, he faced '17 World Championship runner-up James Green. After riding criteria at 4-4 in a near-upset, he was taken down and exposed multiple times with a lace in the last seconds of the match, the scoring ending up at 4-14. After initial refusal to roll with the laces, Echemendia suffered an injury due to the tightness of the technique and was unable to compete in the next matches.[23][24]

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