Alyssa Rae Nicole Lampe (born March 10, 1988) is an American freestyle wrestler. She won bronze medals in the 48 and 51 kg (106 and 112 lb) weight classes at the 2012 and 2013 Women's World Championships.[2] She competes with the Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club.[3] Lampe has been a member of Team USA from 2009–16 and then returned in 2021–22.[4] She has been a member of the United States's World team a total of five times.
Career
High school
Originally from Tomahawk, Wisconsin, Lampe wrestled for Tomahawk High School. She was the first female wrestler to qualify for the state wrestling meet, and the first girl to wrestle for a Wisconsin state championship. She competed at state three times and placed second at the 2006 State Championships. During her senior year, she won 47 of 53 matches, but lost the Division 2 state title to Thane Antczak of Chetek/Prairie Farm by a score of 2-1.[5] She finished her high school career 133-21 for a .811 winning percentage competing against boys.[6]
Collegiate
After high school, she attended Northern Michigan University, where she was part of the U.S. Olympic Education Program and trained with coaches Shannyn Gillespie and Tony De Anda.[7] In May 2007, Lampe was recognized as the women's freestyle athlete of the semester at the U.S. Olympic Education Center.[8] She eventually decided to move to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to join the U.S. Olympic Training Center resident program. At the training center, she trained with coaches Terry Steiner and Izzy Iboinikov.[7]
Age-group programs (2004–2006)
Lampe's first successes came at national level in 2004. She would eventually earn bronze at the 2007 and 2008 Junior Worlds.[4]
Senior-level career (2007–2016)
Lampe began her Senior career in 2007 and would go on to be a six-time National Team member at the 48 kg (106 lb) weight class. She represented the United States at five World Championships and earned bronze twice. Her first bronze and first international medal win was on at the Junior World Championships in Beijing in 2007.[9] She again won a bronze medal in the 48 kg (106 lb) weight class at the 2008 Junior World Championships in Istanbul.[7]
She came close to making the U.S. Senior World Team in both 2008 and 2009, placing second to 2008 World Champion and Olympian Clarissa Chun.[7] She would eventually beat Chun in 2010 to win the title at the World Team Trials and qualify for her first Senior World Team.[10]
In 2009, after placing third at the U.S. Championships in 51 kg (112 lb) weight class, Lampe won the title in that same weight class at the Pan American Championships in Maracaibo. She won the title against competitors Terri McNutt (Canada) and Romina Gonzalez (Argentina). In 2010, Lampe was the U.S. champion in the 48 kg (106 lb) weight class ahead of Mary Kelly, Sara Fulp-Allen and Victoria Anthony. She also won the World Championship Trials ahead of Clarissa Chun and Sara Fulp-Allen. At the 2010 World Championships in Moscow, she lost her first match against Iwona Matkowska, Poland, on points. Since Matkowska did not reach the final, Lampe was eliminated and came in 20th place.
In 2011, Lampe took second place behind Chun at the World Championship Trials and the U.S. Olympic Trials. She competed in the 51 kg (112 lb) weight class at the 2012 Women's World Championships, beating Angela Dorogan (Azerbaijan) and Roksanan Zasina (Poland), before losing to Sun Yanan (China). She would eventually earn a bronze medal by Elenora Abutalipowa of Kazakhstan.
Lampe won back-to-back bronze medals at the 2012 and 2013 Senior World Championships.[2]
In 2013, Lampe became USA champion for the second time in the 48 kg (106 lb) weight class and also won the World Championship Trials. At the 2013 World Championships in Budapest, she won another bronze medal with a win against Davi Nirmala (India), a loss against Eri Tosaka (Japan) and victories over Madalina Linguraru (Romania) Tatjana Amanschol-Bakatschuk (Kazakhstan) and Melanie LeSaffre (France).
Individual placings and medals
Year
Place
Contest
Weight Class
2004
2nd
USA Wrestling Junior Nationals and Cadet National Championships in Fargo, North Dakota[11]
46 kg (101 lb)
2004
1st
Body Bar
2005
3rd
Junior Nationals
2005
1st
Body Bar Women's FILA Cadet Nationals in El Cajon, California[12]
46 kg (101 lb)
2005
3rd
FILA Junior Body Bar
2006
2nd
Junior Nationals
2007
1st
Missouri Valley Showcase in Marshall, Missouri (senior division)
48 kg (106 lb)
2007
5th
Senior National Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada
48 kg (106 lb)
2007
1st
Body Bar FILA Junior National Championships in Colorado Springs, Colorado
48 kg (106 lb)
2007
3rd
Junior World Championships (U 20) in Beijing, China
48 kg (106 lb)
2007
5th
U.S. World Team Trials
2008
1st
New York Athletic Club International Open
2008
4th
Dave Schultz Memorial in Colorado Springs, Colorado
48 kg (106 lb)
2008
2nd
U.S. World Team Trials
2008
3rd
Junior World Championships (U 20) in Istanbul, Turkey
48 kg (106 lb)
2008
7th
U.S. Nationals
2009
5th
Dave Schultz Memorial in Colorado Springs, Colorado
World Team Trials Challenge Tournament in Coralville, Iowa[21]
50 kg (110 lb)
Retirement (2016–2019)
Lampe took a hiatus from the sport in 2016. In December 2019, she returned to wrestling with a No. 1 finish at the 2019 Senior Nationals.[2]
Return to wrestling (2019–present)
Lampe returned to wrestling in 2019 to train for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, training with fellow Team USA member Erin Clodgo. While training in Vermont, Lampe joined Clodgo as a coach at Norwich University, which began her professional coaching career.[22]
In her first competition back, Lampe won the December 2019 Senior Nationals title at the 50 kg (110 lb) weight class in Fort Worth, Texas.[20] She started training at the Beaver Dam Regional Training Center in December 2020.[9]
During the 2021–22 season, Lampe was ranked No. 3 at the 50 kg (110 lb) weight class.[4] She was named a member of the 2022 U.S. World Cup team for the freestyle event in Coralville, Iowa, (2022-Dec-10) (2022-Dec-11)December 10–11, 2022.[23]
Coaching
Lampe started coaching as a volunteer assistant coach at Norwich University in 2019.[22] She continued there until 2021 when she was hired as a full-time assistant coach at Linfield University.[24]
Awards
Lampe was named the 2013 USA Wrestling Women's Wrestler of the Year and 2013 U.S. Open Outstanding Wrestler.[4] She was the first female athlete inducted into the George Martin Wrestling Hall of Fame in Wisconsin.[6] Other accolades include:
USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week in 2019[20] after winning the Senior Nationals in her first return competition.
TheMat.com Wrestler of the Week in 2014 after winning the U.S. Open on April 19, 2014, earning her a spot at the World Team Trials.[25]
TheMat.com Wrestler of the Week in 2013 after winning the Poland Open championship.[15]
