John Hanrahan hoists the American Flag following his win at the 2016 Veterans World Championships.

John Hanrahan (Alpharetta, Ga./Team USA) has been selected as TheMat.com Athlete of the Week on Oct. 11, 2016.

Hanrahan dominated the 85 kg/187 lbs. bracket in Div. E at the 2016 Veterans Freestyle World Championships in Walbrzych, Poland over the weekend to win his first title at the event.

On his road to the gold, Hanrahan won four matches by a combined 27-0 score, including a 2-0 win over 10-time Veterans World champion Willem Putter of South Africa in the championship match to win the tournament.

Hanrahan was a U.S. Veterans Nationals champion in both freestyle and Greco-Roman the past two years. He also won the Veterans Folkstyle Nationals in 2016.

During his college days, Hanrahan was a two-time NCAA All-American and four-time NCAA qualifier for Penn State University. He finished in third place at the NCAA Championships at 167 pounds in 1981 and in fifth place at the same weight class in 1982. He was the first Nittany Lion All-American under legendary coach Rich Lorenzo.

While competing on the Senior level, Hanrahan was a three-time New York AC International champion, bronze medalist at the Canada Cup and participated at the 1984 and 1996 U.S. Olympic Team Trials.

Each week USA Wrestling 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.

To nominate a wrestler for USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week please send the athlete’s name, wrestling program and weekly and career accomplishments to Richard Immel at rimmel@usawrestling.org.