Vitali Arujau is an American freestyle and former folkstyle wrestler who competes at 61 kilograms.
22 Facts About Vito Arujau
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In folkstyle, Vito Arujau was a two-time NCAA Division I national champion, a four-time All American and a two-time EIWA Conference champion out of Cornell University.
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Vito Arujau was born Azerbaijani descent family in Gomel, Belarus, and moved to the United States at the age of two, after his mother won the green card lottery.
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Vito Arujau's father, Vugar Orujov, was a two-time World champion in freestyle wrestling.
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Vito Arujau's mother, Zhanna Sarnauskaya, was a USSR National champion in solo kayaking.
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Vito Arujau started wrestling on the varsity team as an eighth grader and placed second at the state tournament that year, losing to eventual teammate Yianni Diakomihalis in the 99-pound final.
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In freestyle, Vito Arujau was a U17 World silver medalist and a multiple-time U17 US National champion while in high school.
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In 2015, fresh off his second state title, Vito Arujau committed to Cornell University.
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At the EIWA Conference Championships, Vito Arujau placed second, losing a close match to eventual NCAA champion Pat Glory in the finals.
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At the NCAA championships, Vito Arujau placed fourth to become an All-American, earning upset victories over the second and fourth seeds as the eight seed himself.
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Vito Arujau was then set to compete at the US Olympic Team Trials in April the event was postponed for 2021 along with the Summer Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Vito Arujau ended up defeating Mueller a month later at the US National Championships, along with four others to claim his first national title.
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Vito Arujau then competed at the rescheduled US Olympic Team Trials in April, in an attempt to represent the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
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Vito Arujau cruised to the best-of-three finals by defeating NCAA champion Nathan Tomasello and U20 World Champion Daton Fix.
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Vito Arujau racked up three quick victories to claim the championship.
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Vito Arujau avenged his lone loss with a major decision and claimed his first EIWA title against Pat Glory in the post-season.
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The second-seed at the NCAA tournament, Vito Arujau made the semifinals to set up a rubber-match with Glory, where he was in the losing-end of a major decision.
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At the U23 World Championships, Vito Arujau was eliminated in the opening round.
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At the NCAA tournament, Vito Arujau avenged his lone loss to Sam Latona before upsetting three-time NCAA finalist Daton Fix to cruise to the finals and pull off another upset, now over two-time and reigning NCAA champion Roman Bravo-Young, becoming a national champion.
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Fresh off an NCAA title, Vito Arujau moved up to 61 kilograms and became the US Open champion with wins over NCAA champions Nahshon Garrett and Nathan Tomasello and multiple-time All-American Austin DeSanto.
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Back to folkstyle off of his World Championship performance in Belgrade, Vito Arujau returned for his senior year at Cornell.
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Vito Arujau became a two-time World medalist, clinging a victory over Olympic champion Zaur Uguev from Russia in order to earn the bronze.