USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender, Tamyra Mensah-Stock and National Women’s Coach Terry Steiner pose as Mensah-Stock received her award in Lincoln, Neb. Photo by Tony Rotundo, Wrestlers Are Warriors
Tamyra Mensah-Stock (Colorado Springs, Colo./Titan Mercury) was named 2017 Women’s Wrestler of the Year by USA Wrestling. It is the first time that Mensah-Stock has received this prestigious award.
Mensah-Stock, who previously competed under her maiden name Tamyra Mensah, won a number of international competitions during the 2017 season.
She opened the year with a victory at the Ivan Yarygin Memorial Grand Prix in Russia in January, one of the most prestigious Open tournaments in the world, winning bouts against four top foreign opponents. She becames only the sixth U.S. woman to have ever won this event. The previous U.S. woman winner was Kelsey Campbell in 2010.
Mensah-Stock was also a champion at the Grand Prix of Spain in July, winning four bouts, including a 10-0 technical fall over Russia’s Galina Bulitova in the finals.
She added a pair of international silver medals, taking a silver at the Dave Schultz Memorial International in November and the Russia Cup in December. She also competed on the U.S. Women’s World Cup team in Russia in December, earning a 3-1 record in her dual meets.
Mensah-Stock also won her match at the Beat the Streets Benefit “East Meets West” in May in New York City, stopping Japan’s Miwa Morikawa, 5-1.
Domestically, she won the World Team Trials in Las Vegas in April, where she beat two-time Olympian and four-time World medalist Elena Pirozhkova in the finals in two straight matches, 4-3 and 6-2.
Competing in her first Senior World Championships in Paris, France in August, Mensah-Stock finished with a 1-1 record at 69 kg. She opened with a 12-2 technical fall over Alla Belinska of Ukraine, then was beaten by China’s Yue Han, 5-2. Han did not reach the finals, so Stock was not eligible for repechage.
She also completed her college career with a WCWA national title for Wayland Baptist in February, defeating Niauni Hill of Lindenwood-Belleville in the finals at 155 pounds. It was her second career WCWA title. She finished as a four-time All-American.
Among her big achievements earlier in her career was a silver medal at the 2014 University World Championships. She won the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials but did not compete at the Rio Olympics because she was not able to qualify her weight class for the Olympic Games.
Mensah-Stock is a U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete. She is a native of Katy, Texas, where she was a two-time Texas state high school champion for Morton Ranch High School.
PAST WOMEN’S WRESTLER OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS
2017 – Tamyra Mensah-Stock, Colorado Springs, Colo., Titan Mercury WC
2016 – Helen Maroulis, New York, N.Y., Sunkist Kids
2015 – Adeline Gray, Colorado Springs, Colo., New York AC
2014 – Adeline Gray, Colorado Springs, Colo., New York AC
2013 – Alyssa Lampe, Colorado Springs, Colo., Sunkist Kids
2012 – Clarissa Chun, Colorado Springs, Colo., Sunkist Kids
2011 – Ali Bernard, New Ulm, Minn., Gator WC
2010 – Elena Pirozhkova, Colorado Springs, Colo., Gator WC
2009 – Deanna Rix, Colorado Springs, Colo., New York AC
2008 – Randi Miller, Colorado Springs, Colo., Gator WC
2007 – Kristie Marano, Colorado Springs, Colo., New York AC
2006 – Kristie Marano, Colorado Springs, Colo., New York AC
2005 – Iris Smith, Colorado Springs, Colo. U.S. Army
2004 – Sara McMann, Lock Haven, Pa., Sunkist Kids
2003 – Patricia Miranda, Colorado Springs, Colo., Dave Schultz WC
2002 – Kristie Marano, Albany, N.Y., ATWA
2001 – Toccara Montgomery, Cleveland, Ohio, Sunkist Kids
2000 – Kristie Marano, Albany, N.Y., ATWA
1999 – Tricia Saunders, Phoenix, Ariz., Sunkist Kids
1998 – Kristie Stenglein, Albany, N.Y., ATWA
1997 – Sandra Bacher, San Jose, Calif., Dave Schultz WC
1996 – Tricia Saunders, Phoenix, Ariz., Sunkist Kids
1995 – Vickie Zummo, Hamburg, N.J., New York AC
1994 – Shannon Williams, Ontario, Calif., Sunkist Kids
1993 – Tricia Saunders, Phoenix, Ariz., Sunkist Kids
Courtesy of Teamusa.org