Alex Sancho fired up to make U23 World Team and win Greco-Roman World medal for Team USA
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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
Alex Sancho locks up Ellis Coleman in the finals of the 2017 Senior World Team Trials. Sancho is looking for a big breakthrough at the U23 Trials and Worlds this fall. Photo by Tony Rotundo, Wrestlers Are Warriors.
When United World Wrestling announced that there would be a new World Championships in the U23 age-group, one of the top Greco-Roman wrestlers in the United States decided that he wanted to be one of first U23 World champions in history.
Alejandro Sancho, often called Alex, is a senior studying criminal justice at the U.S. Olympic Training Site at Northern Michigan University, a leader in the Greco-Roman program there. He competes for the powerful New York Athletic Club. At 23, he is among the oldest in this new weight division which features those who are 18-23 years old.
He has made three straight U.S. Senior National Teams by placing in the top three at his weight class at the Trials events. Sancho is always right there near the top, year after year after year. He sees this new age group as a big opportunity for him to push through and win his first World medal for Team USA. He will first have to win the U23 World Team Trials in Rochester, Minn., Oct. 6-8.
“It is a great opportunity for the U.S. and for our younger guys. U23, which is 23 and under, is a World Championships. It is the highest of the highest. You have to make the World Team and win that medal for the United States. I take it as any other World Team Trials,” said Sancho.
Nobody in the tournament in Rochester will have more experience competing in the finals of a World Team Trials than Sancho. Since he started wrestling at a high level at the UWW Junior level, Sancho has been in the finals of five World Team Trials events, competing in the best-of-three finals series.
You might say Sancho has been snake bit. He has lost four of those series, winning one of the three matches but dropping the series, two matches to one. Although he was right there in the battle, he had to watch somebody else get the chance to compete at the World Championships.
In 2017, he lost in the finals of the Senior World Team Trials to Ellis Coleman, two matches to one at 66 kg. In late 2016, he moved up to 71 kg for the Non-Olympic Weight World Team Trials, losing to Chris Gonzalez, two bouts to one. In the 2015 Senior World Team Trials finals, he lost two matches to one to Bryce Saddoris at 66 kg. Back in 2013, he won the first match, then lost two straight in the 66 kg finals series of the UWW Junior World Team Trials to Sahid Kargbo.
Nobody is more aware of this than Sancho, who plans to make a statement at the U23 World Team Trials.
“Usually, what happens is the guy I have in the finals studies me, and they aren’t going to want to wrestle me. I have been trying to work on that. I have been trying not to give up positions, and work on my positioning, my technique and improve on all of that. I love scoring. That is what I do. I like getting in body lock position, I like headlocks, I like doing arm throws. I love all of that stuff. I have been working hard on pushing the pace also. I am going to win this tournament no matter what. This is my tournament. I am going to go in, wrestle how I wrestle and make the World Team,” he said.
At the 2014 Junior World Team Trials, Sancho won his finals series at 66 kg over Renaldo Rodriguez-Spencer in two straight bouts. He was able to represent the USA at the 2014 Junior World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, where he went 1-1 and placed 12th. That experience will also help him in his goal of being a U23 World champion.
“That was my second international tournament. I was 19 years old. I wrestled really well against the Austrian in the first round. In the second round, I had Turkey. That was mostly a stalemate match and I ended up losing. He ended up taking third. It was an eye-opener for me. I kept on pushing myself internationally, and ended up getting better and better, competing with these international guys. I liked it and started winning,” he said.
By making so many World Team Trials finals, Sancho goes into the U23 World Team Trials with a well-deserved level of self-confidence. Except for the 2016 Olympic Team Trials, where he was third, the road to the Senior World Championships or the Junior World Championships in his weight had to go through him.
“If they want a medal, they are going to have to definitely beat me. I am an international guy. I perform my best at international tournaments. I love wrestling foreign wrestlers. I just go in there and try to score as much as possible and win the match as quick as possible. I am 100% committed to winning the World championship for the U.S. and making this team,” said Sancho.
Do you hear a consistent theme here? Winning the U23 Trials and claiming a World medal is very, very important to Alex Sancho.
He had this to say about his many years training at Northern Michigan, where the coaches took a kid from Miami, Fla. and brought him to the highest levels of U.S. Greco-Roman wrestling.
“It’s working great. We now have (Andy) Bisek in the program and he’s a great coach. We used to have Agassi (Manukyan), who brought me up when I was 18 years old and taught me everything I know about Greco. He was a great coach. I have improved every year. We are working on many things right now, our technique, our conditioning, our muscle endurance. I feel like I have improved a lot and I am ready to go for U23s, make that World Team and bring home a medal for the USA,” said Sancho.
NMU-OTS head coach Rob Hermann and assistant Coach Andy Bisek have been working with Sancho for the last two months getting ready for the U23 Trials. Former Northern Michigan head coach Ivan Ivanov also came up to Marquette to train Sancho and his NMU teammates with his Suples training system, something that Sancho believes has helped his preparation.
“I have been working on pushing to pace a lot, breaking the guy. I have been sharpening my technique, getting better with my arm throws, headlocks and bodylocks. I am ready to launch guys and just break them to win the match,” said Sancho.
Bisek, a two-time Senior World bronze medalist and 2016 Olympian, is entering his second year as the assistant coach. Bisek also graduated from NMU, which also served as a launching pad for his successful Senior-level career. There are a number of ways that he has helped Sancho in his development.
“Bisek is a master with position. He is very good with positioning under hooks, attacking those angles. He has been pushing me, telling me that I can do it, that I can make a World Team, making me believe in myself. I am ready for this tournament. I am amped,” said Sancho.
Sancho is fully committed to the 2020 Olympic quadrennium, focused on earning a spot on the Olympic Team that will compete in Tokyo, Japan. Although Northern Michigan has been where he has made his mark, he knows that his Olympic quest may go down a different path after he graduates.
“Usually when guys graduate from Northern they move on. I can’t thank people enough about Northern Michigan, how much they taught me and how much I have grown as an athlete. There is such a great program there. When I graduate, I will probably move down to Colorado, train with Momir (Petkovic) and Matt Lindland and the guys down there,” said Sancho.
But first things first. Job one is winning those U23 World Team Trials in a few days. Sancho already has pictured what a strong performance would look like for him in Rochester.
“Winning all my matches, my quarters, semis and finals and making the World Team as quick as possible. The young guys are gunning for me. I know they are training hard. But I am a veteran, and I have been training hard as well, even harder. I am training two times a day, every day. I am ready to go,” said Sancho.
And if he earns the right to compete at the U23 World Championships in Poland in late November?
“I am going in to win a World medal for the USA. It is all or nothing. Once I go there, it is all business. We are going there to win a World medal, bottom line,” he said.
Editor's Note: Fans who can't get to Rochester can watch Alex Sancho and all of the top U23 wrestlers in the nation live on TrackWrestling.
When United World Wrestling announced that there would be a new World Championships in the U23 age-group, one of the top Greco-Roman wrestlers in the United States decided that he wanted to be one of first U23 World champions in history.
Alejandro Sancho, often called Alex, is a senior studying criminal justice at the U.S. Olympic Training Site at Northern Michigan University, a leader in the Greco-Roman program there. He competes for the powerful New York Athletic Club. At 23, he is among the oldest in this new weight division which features those who are 18-23 years old.
He has made three straight U.S. Senior National Teams by placing in the top three at his weight class at the Trials events. Sancho is always right there near the top, year after year after year. He sees this new age group as a big opportunity for him to push through and win his first World medal for Team USA. He will first have to win the U23 World Team Trials in Rochester, Minn., Oct. 6-8.
“It is a great opportunity for the U.S. and for our younger guys. U23, which is 23 and under, is a World Championships. It is the highest of the highest. You have to make the World Team and win that medal for the United States. I take it as any other World Team Trials,” said Sancho.
Nobody in the tournament in Rochester will have more experience competing in the finals of a World Team Trials than Sancho. Since he started wrestling at a high level at the UWW Junior level, Sancho has been in the finals of five World Team Trials events, competing in the best-of-three finals series.
You might say Sancho has been snake bit. He has lost four of those series, winning one of the three matches but dropping the series, two matches to one. Although he was right there in the battle, he had to watch somebody else get the chance to compete at the World Championships.
In 2017, he lost in the finals of the Senior World Team Trials to Ellis Coleman, two matches to one at 66 kg. In late 2016, he moved up to 71 kg for the Non-Olympic Weight World Team Trials, losing to Chris Gonzalez, two bouts to one. In the 2015 Senior World Team Trials finals, he lost two matches to one to Bryce Saddoris at 66 kg. Back in 2013, he won the first match, then lost two straight in the 66 kg finals series of the UWW Junior World Team Trials to Sahid Kargbo.
Nobody is more aware of this than Sancho, who plans to make a statement at the U23 World Team Trials.
“Usually, what happens is the guy I have in the finals studies me, and they aren’t going to want to wrestle me. I have been trying to work on that. I have been trying not to give up positions, and work on my positioning, my technique and improve on all of that. I love scoring. That is what I do. I like getting in body lock position, I like headlocks, I like doing arm throws. I love all of that stuff. I have been working hard on pushing the pace also. I am going to win this tournament no matter what. This is my tournament. I am going to go in, wrestle how I wrestle and make the World Team,” he said.
At the 2014 Junior World Team Trials, Sancho won his finals series at 66 kg over Renaldo Rodriguez-Spencer in two straight bouts. He was able to represent the USA at the 2014 Junior World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, where he went 1-1 and placed 12th. That experience will also help him in his goal of being a U23 World champion.
“That was my second international tournament. I was 19 years old. I wrestled really well against the Austrian in the first round. In the second round, I had Turkey. That was mostly a stalemate match and I ended up losing. He ended up taking third. It was an eye-opener for me. I kept on pushing myself internationally, and ended up getting better and better, competing with these international guys. I liked it and started winning,” he said.
By making so many World Team Trials finals, Sancho goes into the U23 World Team Trials with a well-deserved level of self-confidence. Except for the 2016 Olympic Team Trials, where he was third, the road to the Senior World Championships or the Junior World Championships in his weight had to go through him.
“If they want a medal, they are going to have to definitely beat me. I am an international guy. I perform my best at international tournaments. I love wrestling foreign wrestlers. I just go in there and try to score as much as possible and win the match as quick as possible. I am 100% committed to winning the World championship for the U.S. and making this team,” said Sancho.
Do you hear a consistent theme here? Winning the U23 Trials and claiming a World medal is very, very important to Alex Sancho.
He had this to say about his many years training at Northern Michigan, where the coaches took a kid from Miami, Fla. and brought him to the highest levels of U.S. Greco-Roman wrestling.
“It’s working great. We now have (Andy) Bisek in the program and he’s a great coach. We used to have Agassi (Manukyan), who brought me up when I was 18 years old and taught me everything I know about Greco. He was a great coach. I have improved every year. We are working on many things right now, our technique, our conditioning, our muscle endurance. I feel like I have improved a lot and I am ready to go for U23s, make that World Team and bring home a medal for the USA,” said Sancho.
NMU-OTS head coach Rob Hermann and assistant Coach Andy Bisek have been working with Sancho for the last two months getting ready for the U23 Trials. Former Northern Michigan head coach Ivan Ivanov also came up to Marquette to train Sancho and his NMU teammates with his Suples training system, something that Sancho believes has helped his preparation.
“I have been working on pushing to pace a lot, breaking the guy. I have been sharpening my technique, getting better with my arm throws, headlocks and bodylocks. I am ready to launch guys and just break them to win the match,” said Sancho.
Bisek, a two-time Senior World bronze medalist and 2016 Olympian, is entering his second year as the assistant coach. Bisek also graduated from NMU, which also served as a launching pad for his successful Senior-level career. There are a number of ways that he has helped Sancho in his development.
“Bisek is a master with position. He is very good with positioning under hooks, attacking those angles. He has been pushing me, telling me that I can do it, that I can make a World Team, making me believe in myself. I am ready for this tournament. I am amped,” said Sancho.
Sancho is fully committed to the 2020 Olympic quadrennium, focused on earning a spot on the Olympic Team that will compete in Tokyo, Japan. Although Northern Michigan has been where he has made his mark, he knows that his Olympic quest may go down a different path after he graduates.
“Usually when guys graduate from Northern they move on. I can’t thank people enough about Northern Michigan, how much they taught me and how much I have grown as an athlete. There is such a great program there. When I graduate, I will probably move down to Colorado, train with Momir (Petkovic) and Matt Lindland and the guys down there,” said Sancho.
But first things first. Job one is winning those U23 World Team Trials in a few days. Sancho already has pictured what a strong performance would look like for him in Rochester.
“Winning all my matches, my quarters, semis and finals and making the World Team as quick as possible. The young guys are gunning for me. I know they are training hard. But I am a veteran, and I have been training hard as well, even harder. I am training two times a day, every day. I am ready to go,” said Sancho.
And if he earns the right to compete at the U23 World Championships in Poland in late November?
“I am going in to win a World medal for the USA. It is all or nothing. Once I go there, it is all business. We are going there to win a World medal, bottom line,” he said.
Editor's Note: Fans who can't get to Rochester can watch Alex Sancho and all of the top U23 wrestlers in the nation live on TrackWrestling.
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