Vito Arujau
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Full name | Vitali Arujau | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
National team | ![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Syosset, New York | June 1, 1999||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 57 kg (126 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country | ![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Wrestling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event(s) | Freestyle and folkstyle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
College team | Cornell Big Red | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Club | New York RTC Titan Mercury Wrestling Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coached by | Rob Koll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Vitali Arujau (Russian: Виталий Аруджау; born June 1, 1999 in Syosset, New York) is an American freestyle and folkstyle wrestler who competes at 57 kilograms. In freestyle, he is the reigning Pan American Continental champion and was the 2020 US National Champion and the 2020 US Olympic Team Trials runner–up, as well as a two–time age–group World Championship silver medalist. As a folkstyle wrestler, Arujau is an NCAA Division I All-American and EIWA conference runner-up out of the Cornell University.[1]
Folkstyle career[]
High school[]
Arujau attended Syosset High School in Syosset, New York. He started wrestling in the varsity team as an eight grader ('13–'14) and placed second in the state tournament that year, after losing to eventual teammate Yianni Diakomihalis in the 99-pounds finals.[2] After his setback in the state finals, he never lost a single match in his high school career and ended up with a 216–1 record and four NYSPHSAA titles.[3] When he was a two-time state champion ('14-'15), Arujau committed to Cornell University and entered the school as a four–time state champion.[4]
College[]
2018-19[]
As a freshman, Arujau started off competing at 133 pounds and went 5–1 before moving down to 125 pounds.[5] After moving down, he compiled 26 wins (17 with bonus points) and 3 more losses.[1] In the post-season, he made his way to the finals of the EIWA Conference Championships, where he lost to Pat Glory in a tight 8–10.[6] As the eight seed at the NCAA's, he defeated his first two opponents via major decision before falling to Northwestern's Sebastian Rivera, the top–seed. He rebounded in the consolation bracket, earning victories over the fourteenth, fourth and second seeds (the latter being Nick Piccininni) before losing once again to Rivera to place fourth and earn All-American honors.[7][8]
2019-21[]
After taking an Olympic redshirt for '19-'20 as a sophomore, Arujau was expected to return to the NCAA in this season and was likely to compete at 133 pounds.[9] However, it was announced on November 13, 2020 that the Ivy League had cancelled all winter sports that season.[10]
Freestyle[]
Cadet and Junior[]
As an age-group level wrestler, Arujau was a two-time World Silver medalist and a UWW and USAW National Champion.[11][12]
Senior and U23[]
2018[]
Arujau made his senior freestyle debut at the U23 Nationals & World Team Trials in early June. He won all of his eight matches and outscored the opposition 90 points to 5, including technical fall victories over the accomplished wrestlers Roman Bravo-Young and Nick Piccininni.[13] He was then expected to compete at the U23 World Championships,[14] but was forced to pull out.[15]
2019[]
He made his return at the US Open in late April. He reached the quarterfinals with a series of victories but was defeated by that year's Pan American Games champion Daton Fix. He reached the bronze medal match with wins over the eight and third seeds but was finally defeated by Zane Richards.[16]
At the end of the year, he competed at the US Nationals of December. He reached the semifinals with three wins (one of them over Nick Suriano) before losing to the heavily decorated and winner of the championship Spencer Lee. In the consolation bracket, he defeated one more opponent and earned the third place finish after Suriano forfeited the final match.[17]
2020[]
Arujau was scheduled to compete at the 20' US Olympic Team Trials on April 4 at State College, Pennsylvania.[18] However, the event was postponed for 2021 along with the Summer Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving all the qualifiers unable to compete.[19] After months of not being able to compete due to the outbreak, Arujau defeated Rutgers' Sammy Alvarez via technical fall in July 25, at the FloWrestling: Dake vs. Chamizo card.[20] He was then slated to wrestle Jack Mueller at the annual Beat The Streets event on September 17.[21] However, he pulled out of the bout 5 days prior and was replaced by Rustam Ampar.[22]
Arujau competed at the US National Championships on October 9–11 as the top–seed.[23] He ran through the 57 kilograms bracket, with notable victories over 2020 ACC champion Jakob Camacho, two–time NCAA Division I All–American Jack Mueller and two–time US age–group Greco-Roman World Team Member Dylan Ragusin.[24]
Arujau represented the Spartan Combat RTC at 57 kilograms in the FloWrestling: RTC Cup on December 4–5.[25] He compiled wins over Jack Mueller, two–time US Open National runner-up and '16 NCAA champion Nahshon Garrett (twice) and '17 NCAA champion Darian Cruz to help the team reach the third–place.[26]
2021[]
To start off the year, Arujau defeated Michael Colaiocco by technical fall on January 8, at the SCRTC I.[27] Shortly after, he competed at the Henri Deglane Grand Prix of France on January 17.[28] Arujau suffered his first loss in almost a year when he was downed by 2017 World Championship runner–up Thomas Gilman in the quarterfinals, and then defeated Anvar Suviniitty and Razvan Kovacs in the consolation bracket, before suffering his second loss in the bronze–medal match, to '13 Junior World Championship bronze medalist from Georgia Beka Bujiashvili, placing fifth.[29]
On February, he competed at the America's Cup, where after three technical fall wins, he helped Team Bobby Douglas reach third place.[30] Afterwards, he wrestled two matches at the NLWC V, getting the two victories over '17 NCAA DI All–American Sean Russell and four–time All–American Zach Sanders.[31] On March 5, he got a win in a dual meet against the NJRTC.
Arujau then competed rescheduled US Olympic Team Trials from April 2–3 as the third seed, in an attempt to represent the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[32][33] To make the best–of–three, Arujau had to pass through a loaded bracket, defeating 2019 US National runner–up and 2015 NCAA champion Nathan Tomasello and Pan American Games gold medalist, Junior World Champion and US Open National champion Daton Fix.[34] In the finals, Arujau was defeated twice by Thomas Gilman, earning hard–fought runner–up honors.[35]
As the US Olympic Trials runner–up, Arujau competed at the Pan American Continental Championships on May 30, replacing an injured Thomas Gilman.[36] He racked up three technical falls without getting scored on to become the continental champion and help Team USA reach all 10 medals in freestyle.[37]
Arujau has registered to compete at the 2021 US World Team Trials on September 11–12, intending to represent the country at the World Championships at 61 kilograms.[38]
Personal life[]
Vitali is one of the three sons of the accomplished Russian wrestler Vugar Orujov.[39]
Freestyle record[]
NCAA record[]
Stats[]
Collegiate awards and records[]
- Freshman (18-19)
- NCAA Division I All-American (125 lbs)
EIWA Conference (125 lbs)
- Ivy League Rookie of the Year
Freestyle awards and honors[]
- 2019
US Nationals (57 kg)
- 2018
US U23 World Team Trials (61 kg)
US U23 Nationals (61 kg)
References[]
- ^ a b "Vito Arujau - 2020-21 - Wrestling". Cornell University Athletics. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
- ^ BV (2016-03-03). "#4 & #1: Yianni & Greg Diakomihalis Both Win NYS Titles for State Champion Hilton". New York Wrestling News. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
- ^ "Sarra: Vito Arujau in a league of his own". Newsday. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
- ^ BV (2015-03-29). "A Great Weekend: Vito Arujau Commits to Cornell & Wins National Title (and MOW)". Associated Wrestling Press. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
- ^ LLC, ACS. "Vitali Arujau (Cornell) Profile". www.wrestlestat.com. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
- ^ "2019 EIWA Wrestling Championship – Finals Results – Tech-Fall". Retrieved 2020-07-21.
- ^ "Meet the 80 All-Americans at the 2019 NCAA wrestling tournament | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
- ^ Falk, Steven. "NCAA wrestling championships 2019: Sebastian Rivera comes back to finish third". Asbury Park Press. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
- ^ "Way Too Early Lineup Look: 2020-21 Cornell Big Red". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
- ^ Mirna Alsharif. "Ivy League sports competitions canceled for fall and winter". CNN. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
- ^ "Arujau finishes with silver at Junior Worlds, 3 more Americans reach finals". InterMat. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
- ^ BV (2015-07-23). "Arujau Wins Cadet Freestyle National Championship With Tech Fall in the Finals". New York Wrestling News. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
- ^ NYWN (2018-06-07). "U23 New York Recap". New York Wrestling News. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
- ^ Willis, Michael (2018-06-05). "Meet Your Men's Freestyle U23 World Team". Support USA Wrestling. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
- ^ "Three lineup changes made to U23 Freestyle World Team". Team USA. October 3, 2018.
- ^ Smith, Earl (2019-04-27). "2019 US Open Senior Men's Freestyle Final Results and Placewinners". The Open Mat. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
- ^ "2019 Senior Nationals Men's Freestyle – Final Results". iawrestle.com. 2019-12-23. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
- ^ Goodwin, Cody. "Wrestling: Iowa's Spencer Lee wins Senior Nationals, qualifies for 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials". Hawk Central. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
- ^ Goodwin, Cody. "USA Wrestling announces that 2020 Olympic Trials are postponed". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
- ^ "Dake edges Chamizo to highlight FloWrestling show". InterMat. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
- ^ "Vito Arujau vs Jack Mueller Set For Beat The Streets On September 17th". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved 2020-09-04.
- ^ "Russia's Ampar replaces Arujau and will face Mueller at Beat the Streets live matches in its September 17 fundraiser". Team USA. September 12, 2020.
- ^ "Who's Registered So Far For 2020 Senior Nationals?". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
- ^ "Making Sense Of Men's Freestyle Senior Nationals Chaos". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
- ^ "RTC Cup Lineups | Virginia Tech Wrestling Board". Virginia Tech Wrestling Board. November 18, 2020.
- ^ "See the results for the FloWrestling: 2020 RTC Cup Presented by Titan Mercury Wrestling Club wrestling event on FloWrestling.org". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved 2020-12-24.
- ^ "Dake, Diakomihalis, Dean, Arujau win Main Card bouts on Spartan Combat Wrestling I". Team USA. January 8, 2021.
- ^ Eric. "Henri Deglane Grand Prix of France Preliminary Entries". United World Wrestling. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
- ^ "Snyder, Dake, Diakomihalis and Suriano win gold, four others earn medals at the Henri Deglane Grand Prix". Team USA. January 16, 2021.
- ^ "See the results for the 2021 America's Cup wrestling event on FloWrestling.org". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
- ^ "Snyder wins 3 bouts; Dake, Arujau take two wins each in loaded NLWC 5 card". InterMat. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
- ^ "Wrestling's Diakomihalis and Arujau Qualify for Olympic Team Trials". Cornell University Athletics. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
- ^ Miller, Zach. "Wrestling: Men's freestyle seeds announced for U.S. Olympic Trials". North Jersey Media Group. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
- ^ PennLive, Jim Carlson | Special to (2021-04-04). "David Taylor 1 of 4 Nittany Lion Wrestling Club athletes to qualify for Olympic Games in Tokyo". pennlive. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
- ^ "Nittany Lion Wrestling Club Sends 4 to US Olympic Team | State College, PA". StateCollege.com. 2021-04-04. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
- ^ "12 Olympic highlight U.S. Senior Pan American Championships roster". teamusa.org. May 17, 2021.
- ^ Eric. "USA Claims Eight Gold Medals for Team Title on Last Day of #WrestleGuatemala". United World Wrestling. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
- ^ "Who's Registered For World Team Trials So Far? - FloWrestling". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
- ^ Hamilton, Andy. "Meet the USA men's freestyle Junior World Team members". Trackwrestling. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
External links[]
- Living people
- American male sport wrestlers
- 1999 births
- Cornell Big Red wrestlers
- People from New York (state)
- Sportspeople from New York (state)
- People from Syosset, New York
- Amateur wrestlers
- American sport wrestlers
- American sportsmen
- Pan American Wrestling Championships medalists