Three Case Western Reserve University student-athletes received Athlete of the Week honors from the University Athletic Association based on their accomplishments over the previous seven days.
Graduate student Hannah Kassaie of the women's tennis team, senior Art Martinez of the wrestling team, and graduate student Bryce Ware of the men's tennis team were all honored by the conference this week.
Kassaie won all four of her matches for the 18th-ranked Spartans in a pair of home wins last weekend. On Saturday in a 7-0 sweep of Rochester, Kassaie paired with senior Katalina Wang at first doubles, defeating the Yellowjacket partnership 6-1. At first singles, Kassaie won 6-1, 6-0 over Lilly Caldwell. In a 5-2 victory over 32nd-ranked Denison on Sunday, she teamed up with senior Ellior Rose at second doubles, winning 6-2 over the Big Red, and won 6-2, 6-0 over Peyton Oda at first singles.
Kassaie made her season debut over the weekend, starting the year with a 2-0 record in singles and doubles play. She earned her seventh career UAA Athlete of the Week honor.
CWRU, which improved to 3-0 in dual matches this season, will head to Lexington, Virginia, next weekend for the Groundhog Palooza hosted by 19th-ranked Washington & Lee. The Spartans will face the host Generals on Saturday, February 21 at 3 p.m. followed by a match with 22nd-ranked Swarthmore on Sunday at 9 a.m.
Martinez was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the 2026 UAA Championship hosted by New York University in New York on Saturday evening. Martinez went 2-0 for the Spartans at 133 pounds in their dual meets against conference foes, earning 11 team points with a pin and a technical fall. He took down Chicago's Matteo Littman by tech fall, 19-2, in the opening match. Martinez pinned New York's Jacob Venezia in just 65 seconds in the second match of the day. Martinez, who also earned his first career All-UAA honor, became the eighth Spartan to receive UAA Most Outstanding Wrestler honors and the first since Isaac Dukes in 2011.
He improved to 29-3 this season with 10 pins and 10 technical falls and 133-35 with 42 pins and 34 technical falls in his career. Martinez received his fourth UAA Athlete of the Week honor this season and the ninth of his career.
The Spartans, who lost both duals, ended the dual season with a record of 11-4, tying the program mark for most wins in a season. CWRU will send a contingent of wrestlers to the Regional Futures Invitational, hosted by Adrian College on Saturday, February 21. The NCAA Region V Tournament begins the following Friday in University Heights, Ohio.
Ware went 3-0 in doubles matches and 2-0 in singles contests last weekend, helping the fifth-ranked Spartans win all four of their team duals. On Friday, Ware teamed with Trey Lambright to claim a 6-4 win over Alex Fleming and Cameron Crosby at no. 1 doubles during the Spartans' 7-0 win over Kalamazoo, and picked up a 6-2, 6-1 win at no. 5 singles against Javier Bejarano Jimenez later in the day in a 7-0 win against Allegheny. The following day, he and Lambright claimed a 6-1 win over Bernardo Aguiar and George Ciuca at no. 2 doubles, before he won 6-0, 6-1 over Tim Pasea at no. 5 singles, in a 7-0 win against Lake Forest College. Ware capped off the week with a 6-0 victory at no. 1 doubles with Lambright over Rochester's Ethan Samora and Tony Xu in another 7-0 win for the Spartans.
Ware improved to 6-3 in singles matches and to 13-2 in doubles play this season. This is his first career UAA Athlete of the Week honor.
The Spartans, who have opened the campaign with an 8-0 record, will now turn their attention to the ITA Indoor National Championship, which will be hosted by Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, next weekend. CWRU, the third-seeded team at the event, will open play on Friday, February 20, against 11th-ranked and sixth-seeded Johns Hopkins University at 10 a.m. ET.
The following CWRU Athletes have been named the UAA Athlete of the Week during the 2025-26 academic year:
Feb. 16: Hannah Kassaie (Women's Tennis), Art Martinez (Wrestling), Bryce Ware (Men's Tennis)
Feb. 9: Maura Schorr (Women's Basketball), Thomas Wagner (Wrestling)
Feb. 2: Hunter Keane (Wrestling), Jack Rudofsky (Men's Diving)
Jan. 26: Ryan Wells (Men's Diving)
Jan. 20: Thomas Wagner (Wrestling)
Jan. 5: Art Martinez (Wrestling)
Dec. 15: Matthew Ellis (Men's Basketball)
Dec. 8: Art Martinez (Wrestling)
Nov. 24: Art Martinez (Wrestling)
Nov. 3: Ryan Wells (Men's Diving)
Oct. 27: Ellie Palaian (Women's Soccer - Defense), Bradley Winter (Men's Soccer - Defense)
Oct. 13: Kalli Wall (Volleyball), Claire Kozma (Women's Swimming)
Sep. 22: Ellie Palaian (Women's Soccer - Defense), Jacob Slater (Men's Cross Country)
Sep. 8: Maggie Farra (Women's Soccer - Offense), Phillip Washington (Men's Soccer - Defense), Katie Wong (Women's Tennis)
Sep. 2: Jamie Goldfarb (Women's Soccer - Offense), Jacob Slater (Men's Cross Country)
