Vito Arujau

Vitali Arujau (; ; born June 1, 1999) is an American freestyle and former folkstyle wrestler who competes at 65 kilograms and formerly at 61 kilograms. In freestyle, he became the World Champion in 2023 and a two-time World medalist in 2024, among other feats.

In folkstyle, 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.

Background 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. His father, Vugar Orujov, was a two-time World champion in freestyle wrestling. His mother, Zhanna Sarnauskaya, was a USSR National champion in solo kayaking.

After a short stay in California, the Arujau family moved to Long Island, New York, where he would start wrestling at the age of ten, under his father's guidance.

Career

High school Arujau attended Syosset High School in Syosset, New York. He 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. After his setback in the state finals, he did not lose another match during high-school career and graduated with a 216–1 record and four NYSPHSAA Division I state titles to his name.

In freestyle, Arujau was a U17 World silver medalist and a multiple-time U17 US National champion while in high school. In 2015, fresh off his second state title, Arujau committed to Cornell University.

Cornell University

2017–2018 Arujau chose to grayshirt during his first year at Cornell, racking up a 9–1 record and a Cleveland State Open title while wrestling unattached during 2017.

Focusing in freestyle during 2018, Arujau recorded a fourth-place finish at the U20 US Open and a runner-up finish at the U20 US World Team Trials before claiming the U23 US World Team Trials title at 61 kilograms. However, he was forced to pull out from the U23 World Championships.

2018–2019 As a freshman, Arujau went 5–1 at 133 pounds before moving down to 125, improving to 23–1 during regular season. At the EIWA Conference Championships, Arujau placed second, losing a close match to eventual NCAA champion Pat Glory in the finals. At the NCAA championships, Arujau placed fourth to become an All-American, earning upset victories over the second and fourth seeds as the eight seed himself. He closed out the season with a 31–4 record.

Fresh off All-American honors, Arujau switched back to freestyle, cut down to 57 kilograms and placed fourth at the US Open National championships in April. In May, he decided to compete at the US World Team Trials in the U20 level, sweeping the field with six victories to earn the spot. Arujau then claimed a silver medal at the U20 World Championships in August, notably defeating returning champion Akhmed Idrisov in the semifinals.

In December, Arujau went back up to the senior level and placed third at the US National Championships, notably defeating reigning NCAA champion Nick Suriano before falling to three-time age-group world champion Spencer Lee. This result had him qualify for the US Olympic Team Trials in 2020.

2020 Arujau chose to take an Olympic redshirt for the 2019–2020 folkstyle season and focused in freestyle instead. In January, Arujau competed at the prestigious Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin, and was eliminated after a close opening match.

He was then set to compete at the US Olympic Team Trials in April, however, the event was postponed for 2021 along with the Summer Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In July, he defeated Sammy Alvarez at FloWrestling: Dake vs. Chamizo, and was set to wrestle NCAA finalist Jack Mueller at Beat The Streets in September, but was forced to pull out. He ended up defeating Mueller a month later at the US National Championships, along with four others to claim his first national title.

Arujau was expected to compete in folkstyle during the 2020–2021 season. However, it was announced on November 13, 2020, that the Ivy League had canceled all winter sports for the season.

Arujau then took part at the FloWrestling: RTC Cup in December, notably defeating NCAA champions Darian Cruz in one match and Nahshon Garrett twice, as well as Jack Mueller once again.

2021 A few days after a quick victory over Michael Colaiocco at SCRTC I in January, Arujau secured a fifth-place finish at the Henri Deglane Grand Prix of France, defeating two foreign opponents yet losing to World silver medalist and fellow American Thomas Gilman and U20 World medalist Beka Bujiashvili.

He followed that up in February with three wins at the America's Cup and two wins at the NLWC V, all over All-Americans. In March he got a victory in a dual meet against the NJRTC.

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. He cruised to the best-of-three finals by defeating NCAA champion Nathan Tomasello and U20 World Champion Daton Fix. In the finals, Arujau fell twice to eventual Olympic bronze medalist Thomas Gilman, earning runner–up honors.

As the US Olympic alternate, Arujau competed at the Pan American Continental Championships in May, replacing an injured Thomas Gilman. He racked up three quick victories to claim the championship.

2021–2022 After two seasons off, Arujau returned to the Cornell lineup competing at 125 pounds after a season-opener match at 133 pounds, and finished the regular season with a 10–1 record. He avenged his lone loss with a major decision and claimed his first EIWA title against Pat Glory in the post-season. The second-seed at the NCAA tournament, Arujau made the semifinals to set up a rubber-match with Glory, where he was in the losing-end of a major decision. He then recovered with a pair of wins in the consolation side of the bracket to claim third place, become a two-time All-American and close out the season at 19–2.

In May, he swept the field at the US World Team Trials Challenge tournament to qualify for Final X, where he fell twice to returning World champion Thomas Gilman in June. In July, he claimed a bronze medal from the Poland Open, and accepted an offer for the U23 US World Team spot as a Final X contestant. At the U23 World Championships, Arujau was eliminated in the opening round.

2022–2023 Back to folkstyle, Arujau compiled a 16–1 record and a Cliff Keen Invitational title during regular season, before claiming his second EIWA title at 133 pounds. At the NCAA tournament, 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. After the tournament, Arujau was named the Outstanding Wrestler.

Fresh off an NCAA title, 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. In May, he claimed his second Pan American title with four technical fall victories.

In June, Arujau defeated Nahshon Garrett in two straight high-action matches at Final X to make the US World Team. In July, he took third at the Polyák Imre & Varga János Memorial Tournament, with a lone close loss to reigning World champion Zelimkhan Abakarov.

In September, Arujau competed at the World Championships, where after four dominant victories to make the finals, he defeated former World champion Abasgadzhi Magomedov in a tight-scored match to become the second World champion in the Arujau family, after his father Vugar.

2023–2024 Back to folkstyle off of his World Championship performance in Belgrade, Arujau returned for his senior year at Cornell. After a 10–1 regular season, Arujau fell to freshman phenom Ryan Crookham in the EIWA Championship finals, who also handed him his lone regular season loss. At the NCAA tournament, Arujau, the sixth-seed, cruised to the finals by avenging his losses to Crookham with a major decision, and became a two-time NCAA Division I National champion with a win over four-time NCAA finalist Daton Fix in the finals. He closed out the year with a 18–2 record and finished his collegiate career with back-to-back titles. While at Cornell he was a member of Quill and Dagger.

Post-collegiate career

2024 Arujau was then expected to trim down to 57 kilograms in order to compete at the US Olympic Team Trials in April, with a bid directly to the semifinals as a World champion in a non-Olympic weight class. However, he decided to stay at 61 kilograms and focus in the US World Team Trials.

In September, Arujau competed at the US World Team Trials, sitting in the best-of-three finals as the returning World champion. He defeated U17 World champion Marcus Blaze twice in a row in order to book his second-straight trip to the World Championships, set to take place in October.

By the end of October, Arujau competed at the World Championships, attempting to defend his title. Opening up with wins over India and European champion Azamat Tuskaev from Serbia, he was then knocked off by reigning U20 World champion Masanosuke Ono from Japan in the semifinals, falling into the bronze medal match. Arujau became a two-time World medalist, clinging to a victory over Olympic champion Zaur Uguev from Russia in order to earn the bronze.

2025 In April, Arujau accepted his berth to Final X as a returning World medalist, and will compete against US National champion Jax Forrest for the US World Team spot in June.

Freestyle record

Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event Location

Win

Las Vegas, Nevada Loss 76–20

Win 76–19

Loss 75–19

Win 75–18

Win 74–18

Win 73–18

Tirana, Albania Loss 72-18

Win 72–17

Win

Win 71–17

Loss 70-17

Warsaw, Poland Win 70-16

Win 69-16

Loss 68–16

Fargo, North Dakota Loss 68–15

Win 68–14

Loss 67–14

Win 67–13

Win 66–13

Win 65–13

Win 64–13

Win 63–13

Win 62–13

Win 61–13

Win 60–13

Win 59–13

Win

Win 58-13

Loss 57–13

Win 57–12

Win 56–12

Win 55–12

Win 54–12

Win 53–12

Win 52–12

Win 51–12

Las Vegas, Nevada Win 50–12

Win 49–12

Win 48–12

Win 47–12

Loss 46–12

Pontevedra, Spain

Win 46–11

Warsaw, Poland Win 45–11

Loss 44–11

Win 44–10

Loss 43–10

Loss 43–9

Win 43–8

Coralville, Iowa Win 42–8

Win 41–8

Win

Win 40–8

Win 39–8

Win 38–8

Loss 37–8

Loss 37–7

Win 37–6

Win 36–6

Win 35–6

Allentown, Pennsylvania Win 34–6

State College, Pennsylvania Win 33–6

Win 32–6

Concord, North Carolina Win 31–6

Win 30–6

Loss 29–6

Nice, France Win 29–5

Win 28–5

Loss 27–5

Win 27–4

Austin, Texas

Win 26–4

Win 25–4

Win 24–4

Win 23–4

Win 22–4

Coralville, Iowa Win 21–4

Win 20–4

Win 19–4

Win 18–4

Win 17–4

Austin, Texas

Loss 16–4

Krasnoyarsk, Russia

Win

Fort Worth, Texas Win 16–3

Loss 15–3

Win 15–2

Win 14–2

Win 13–2

Loss 12–2

Las Vegas, Nevada Win 12–1

Win 11–1

Loss 10–1

Win 10–0

Win 9–0

Win 8–0

Akron, Ohio Win 7–0

Win 6–0

Win 5–0

Win 4–0

Win 3–0

Win 2–0

Win 1–0

NCAA record Stats Season Year School NCAA Weight Class Record Win 2024 Senior

1st

18–2 90.00% 2023 Junior 1st 25–1 96.15% 2022 Sophomore 3rd 125 19–2 90.48% 2021 Olympic RS 2020 Olympic RS 2019 Freshman 4th 125 31–3 91.18% 2018 Grayshirt Unattached UR 133 9–1 90.00%

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