At the Air Force Academy, Alex Mossing found a renewed passion for Greco while training folkstyle

When Alex Mossing enrolled for the Air Force Academy three years ago, he had no idea the ride it would take him on.

Mossing, a product of Toledo, Ohio, is a junior at the Air Force Academy, somewhere he never thought he’d end up. Coming out of high school, Mossing was recruited to wrestle at Rutgers, Central Michigan, Virginia and several local colleges, but he narrowed it down to two: powerhouse Ohio State and up-and-coming Air Force Academy.

He ended up at the United States Air Force Academy. It was almost too good of a deal to pass up.

“I really didn’t know I wanted to be military at all until I started being recruited,” Mossing said. “There is so much opportunity with coming to school here. You have a guaranteed job when you graduate, you don’t have a financial burden for school because it’s all paid for and the wrestling team is on the rise. All those things pulled me in this direction.”

What he found there was so much more.

AFA is located in Colorado Springs, Colo., also home to the U.S. Olympic Training Center. Because of the Academy’s relationship with USA Wrestling, Mossing and his teammates were afforded several opportunities to train at the OTC with some of the world’s best wrestlers.

“Air Force Academy has a rich tradition of partnership with us here at USA Wrestling and the OTC,” USA Wrestling Manager of Greco-Roman Programs Gary Mayabb said. “Right now with Coach (Sam) Barber there at the Academy, it’s great because he wants to give his Cadets the opportunity to wrestle at the next level. He doesn’t just look at today, he looks at their futures as Air Force officers and their potential futures in wrestling.”

One day, Mossing went to the OTC to be a freestyle training partner for one of the resident athletes. When he got there, he found out there was an uneven number of freestyle partners, so Mossing was directed to work with one of the Greco athletes.

“I practiced with a Greco guy and they were impressed because I was able to hold my own,” Mossing said. “I had told them that I’ve done this a time or two. Coach (Matt) Lindland invited me back and that was the start of it.”

The Ohio native had a history of Greco and freestyle wrestling in his younger days, placing at the 2011 Cadet Greco-Roman National Championships in Fargo, N.D. He phased out the international styles during high school when he took up golf during the folkstyle wrestling offseason.

With his training opportunities at the OTC, Mossing decided to give Greco another try during the summer. Turns out he’s pretty good at it.

He ended up claiming gold at the University Nationals in June and followed it up by winning a spot on the U23 Greco-Roman World Team in October. He went on to represent the United States at 70 kg/154 lbs. at the U23 World Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, in November.

“Before U23 Trials, I never really thought about wrestling internationally as a goal. I just thought it would be cool. Once I made the team, it was surreal because I realized that I would get to represent Team USA,” Mossing said.

At the U23 World Championships, Mossing drew 2017 World Military silver medalist Armen Hakobyan of Armenia. Hakobyan took the win in a quick 10-0 technical fall; however, he lost his very next match, ending Mossing’s run at the 2017 U23 Worlds.

For Mossing, it was all a learning experience and a chance to set international goals.

“One of the biggest takeaways was that it’s a big step to the next level,” Mossing said. “There are a lot of little positions that you don’t realize how important they are when you wrestle Americans that foreigners really take advantage of. I think getting more experience overseas will help with that.”

Having competed against some of the best wrestlers in the world, Mossing took a newfound sense of confidence back to the Air Force wrestling room as he prepared to tackle the college season.

Going from one style to another in a matter of days is something Mossing admits has been helpful for him; however, he dedicates his time to one style at a time, making it less of a balancing act.

“Mixing it up between folkstyle and Greco has been good for me,” Mossing said. “The wear and tear on your body in Greco isn’t as strenuous, but when I’m wrestling folkstyle, that’s what I’m focused on. Sometimes I try to use my Greco to help in folkstyle as much as I can because the upper body positions can be a real threat. Really, the focus is on folkstyle during the college season. I don’t really split my training between the two.”

Fortunately for Mossing, he has a great support system at the AFA, which encourages him to wrestle Greco, as well as a great resource in the OTC and its resident athletes.  

“Here at the Air Force Academy, we believe that wrestling is wrestling,” Air Force head coach Sam Barber said. “Any time a guy wants to wrestle, we want to support that. It makes it even easier to support those guys’ World and Olympic dreams when we have a great partnership, like we do, with USA Wrestling. As long as a guy is on the mat competing, whether it’s freestyle or Greco, it’s going to make him a better athlete.”

Ask any coach that’s been around him and they will tell you that Mossing is one of the hardest workers they know.

“The character and hard work of Alex Mossing makes it to where he’s going to make a difference in whatever room he’s in,” Mayabb said. “We love having him in the program. He’s a very talented Greco-Roman wrestler. He’s been able to transfer skills between the two styles very well.  Any room that he’s in, he’s making others better as well.”

“The biggest thing he brings to our room is a passion for wrestling,” Barber said. “He’s always seeking out other opportunities to improve and seeks out coaching from anyone that can pour knowledge into him. That goes on to make a big impact in the room.”

As the Falcon moves forward with the collegiate season, he’s made it his mission to qualify for the NCAA Championships and seek a spot on the podium.

This year’s NCAA tournament will be held in Cleveland, Ohio, less than two hours away from Mossing’s home town. With notable wins over All-American Paul Fox of Stanford and Hunter Willits of Oregon State, Mossing is ranked in the NCAA Division I Coaches’ Poll, which helps decide who qualifies for NCAAs.

“He’s already had some pretty solid wins. If he continues to grow, there’s no doubt that he’ll reach those goals,” Barber said. “We expect to see him in Cleveland, representing the Air Force Academy along with a few of his teammates. He sees himself there, too. Once he’s in the tournament, I think he’s more than capable of making it to the podium.”

Last weekend, he lost an opportunity for a match against Cal Poly, when the U.S. government shutdown forced Air Force Academy to suspend its athletic events, due to the funding AFA receives from the government.

He’ll look to make that up this weekend at the All Academy Championships in South Carolina, where military academies from all over the country come together to battle it out.

Mossing may not be at a school like Ohio State, which is consistently in the mix for an NCAA team title, but he’s completely OK with that.

“At the time, it was a really hard choice to pick a school, but now looking back on it, it’s amazing how much opportunity I’ve had,” Mossing said. “If I hadn’t come here, I don’t think I would have discovered a passion for Greco or been able to train at the OTC. This path has just set me up for the rest of my life in more ways than I would have thought.”