Anthony Echemendia

Anthony Luis Echemendía Orduña (born September 10, 1999) is a Cuban freestyle and folkstyle wrestler. In his native Cuba, Echemendia was a two-time Senior National medalist, a U23 National champion and a five-time Age-Group National champion (two titles as a junior and three as a cadet).[2][3] Since his arrival to the US, he has won the Fargo Junior Nationals in both, freestyle and Greco-Roman and an AIA state title in folkstyle.[4] He is currently a freshman at 141 pounds for the Ohio State Buckeyes.[5]

Anthony Echemendía
Personal information
Full nameAnthony Luis Echemendía Orduña
National team Cuban
Born (1999-09-10) September 10, 1999[1]
Cabaiguán, Cuba
Height1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Weight141 lb (64 kg)
Sport
CountryCuba
SportWrestling
Event(s)Freestyle
Folkstyle
College teamOhio State Buckeyes
Coached byTom Ryan
Medal record
Men's freestyle wrestling
Representing  Cuba
Cuban National Championships
2017 Santiago de Cuba 65 kg
2018 Camagüey 65 kg

Early life and career in Cuba

Echemendía was born in Cabaigúan in Cuba. He started training gymnastics when he was 4 years old but ended up leaving the sport at the age of 8, following his father and brother’s steps to start wrestling instead.[6] He attended and won his first Cadet National Tournament at the age of 12 in 2012 and won two more titles (13' and 14') before bumping up to the junior division. Despite a runner-up finish at the 15' Junior Nationals, Echemendia racked up the 16' title and in 2017 he placed at the Senior Nationals, won a U23 National title and also claimed his last age-group National championship.[7] In 2018, he reached the finals of the Senior National Tournament and then while preparing for the Junior Nationals and Pan-Ams with the Cuban Junior Pan American team in Guatemala, Echemendía defected from Cuba, sneaking away from his coaches and teammates to cross Guatemala, Belize and Mexico and finally get to the United States late in the year.[8]

Folkstyle

High school

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]

College

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]

2020-21

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]

Freestyle career

2019

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]

2020

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]

Freestyle record
Freestyle matches (doesn't include matches he had while in Cuba)
Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event Location
FloWrestling RTC Cup 5th as Ohio RTC
Loss 0-2 James Green TF 4-14 December 4-5, 2020 FloWrestling RTC Cup Austin, Texas
Loss 0-1 Evan Henderson 3-8 November 14, 2020 FloWrestling: Burroughs vs. Valencia

Austin, Texas

Junior freestyle record
Junior Freestyle results (doesn't include matches he had while in Cuba)
Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event Location
Win 14-0 Josh Saunders TF 10-0 October 5, 2019 2019 Who's Number One

Iowa City, Iowa

2019 USAW Nationals at 145 lbs
Win 13-0 Victor Voinovich 10-4 July 13–19, 2019 2019 USMC Fargo Junior National Championships

Fargo, North Dakota

Win 12-0 Chance Mclane 10-2
Win 11-0 Chris Warden TF 11-0
Win 10-0 Luke Odom TF 15-4
Win 9-0 Isaiah H. Gonzalez TF 10-0
Win 8-0 Derek Fields TF 11-0
Win 7-0 Preston Fettig TF 10-0
2019 AZUSAW Championships at 145 lbs
Win 6-0 Sebastian Robles 2-0 May 18, 2019 2019 Arizona State USA Wrestling Freestyle Tournament

Phoenix, Arizona

Win 5-0 Hugh Sterns TF 10-0
Win 4-0 Ivan Matherson TF 10-0
Win 3-0 Jaden Lemos TF 10-0
2019 US Open at 65 kg
Win 2-0 Peter Ogunsanya 4-4 April 25, 2019 2019 Junior US Open Wrestling Championships

Las Vegas, Nevada

Win 1-0 Jake Ryan 10-7

NCAA record
NCAA Division I Record
Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event
Win 1-0 Trey Escobar 11-7 January 17, 2021 Ohio State - Wisconsin Dual
Start of 2020-2021 Season (freshman year)

Stats
Season Year School Rank Weigh Class Record Win Bonus
2021 Freshman Ohio State University 141 1-0 100.00% .00%
Career 1-0 100.00% .00%

[25]

References
  1. "Anthony Echemendía - EcuRed". www.ecured.cu. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  2. "He won six gold medals for Cuba. Now he wants one for the United States". Miami Herald. July 25, 2019. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  3. "Anthony Echemendia". Ohio State Buckeyes. 2020-08-13. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  4. "A Full Timeline Of Anthony Echemendia's Wrestling & Recruitment In America". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  5. "Ohio State Lands Top Wrestling Recruit Anthony Echemendia - Buckeye Sports Bulletin". www.buckeyesports.com. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  6. Cubano, Periódico (2019-07-25). "Luchador cubano quiere ganar medalla olímpica para EE.UU". PERIÓDICO CUBANO (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  7. "Anthony Echemendia". Ohio State Buckeyes. 2020-08-13. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  8. "#FreestyleFriday: Echemendia defects from Cuba to chase American Dream". Team USA. November 15, 2019. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  9. "Wrestling: Anthony Echemendia, national champ from Arizona, signs with Iowa State". www.msn.com. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  10. "Cyclones Add Fargo Champion Anthony Echemendia". iawrestle.com. 2019-09-20. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  11. Mayhorn, Patrick. "Cuban Connection Drove Anthony Echemendia To Ohio State". Buckeye Sports Bulletin. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  12. "Wrestling Adds Anthony Echemendia". Ohio State Buckeyes. 2019-11-14. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  13. "Ohio State's 2020-21 Depth Chart And Long-Term Lineup Projection". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  14. "Ohio State Wrestling on Twitter: "Dylan D'Emilio edges out Anthony Echemendia 6-4. WOW. What a scramble". Twitter. January 9, 2021.
  15. "24 Illinois notches a pair of wins in tri-meet over No. 7 Ohio State, No. 21 Wisconsin". Team USA. January 17, 2021.
  16. "'To Be Honest, I Was Mad': Echemendía Sets The Record Straight On His Age". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  17. Morales, Javier (2019-07-16). "Former Sunnyside Wrestler Anthony Echemendia Wins 145-Pound National Championship". ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  18. "Josh Saunders Will Face Anthony Echemendía In A 65kg Bout At Who's #1". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  19. "Wrestling: Sunnyside's Jesse Ybarra claims Who's Number 1 championship". www.azpreps365.com. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  20. "Full Burroughs vs Zahid Card Set For Nov. 14". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved 2020-11-01.
  21. "Burroughs rallies to defeat Valencia in FloWrestling Main event". Team USA. November 14, 2020.
  22. "RTC Cup Lineups | Virginia Tech Wrestling Board". Virginia Tech Wrestling Board. November 18, 2020.
  23. "Spartan Combat RTC and Cliff Keen WC advance to semifinals on FloWrestling's RTC Cup". Team USA. December 4, 2020.
  24. "Cliff Keen WC, Spartan Combat RTC finish unbeaten on Day 1 of RTC Cup". InterMat. Retrieved 2020-12-24.
  25. "Anthony Echemendia (Ohio State) Profile | WrestleStat". www.wrestlestat.com. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
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