Alex Mossing selected to World Class Athlete Program for the U.S. Air Force
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by Daniel Whitaker, U.S. Air Force Academy
Alex Mossing with USAFA head coach Sam Barber during his undergraduate college wrestling career. Photo courtesy of U.S. Air Force Academy.
USAFA, Colo.- Recent Air Force Academy wrestling graduate 2nd Lt. Alex Mossing was accepted to the U.S. Air Force World Class Athlete Program (WCAP), which gives high-caliber athletes the opportunity to continuing training in their sport after graduation from the Academy, while preparing for a berth in the Olympic Games. Mossing is attempting to make the Greco-Roman squad for Team USA at the 2020 Olympics.
"2nd Lt. Alex Mossing was an outstanding leader in our wrestling room, and we are excited that he will start his career as an officer and Air Force World Class Athlete in Colorado Springs mentoring and leading our Cadet-Athletes," Head Coach Sam Barber expressed. "His experience as a graduate of our Academy, a three time Big 12 Medalist, and now as a Final X runner up and USA Greco-Roman National Team member will offer a unique and missing perspective in our program."
Mossing wrapped up his prestigious AF wrestling career this past spring when he placed third at 157 lbs. at the 2019 Big 12 Wrestling Championships. Mossing found his way onto the Big 12 podium for the third consecutive season, after taking fourth in 2017, and sixth in 2018, making him the first Falcon grappler to place three times at Big 12s. He concluded the season with a team-high 24 wins, wich included eight pins. For his career, Mossing went 61-40.
"It's a great opportunity to be able to continue to grow in wrestling and build the Air Force WCAP program," Mossing said "Hopefully this helps encourage other Academy wrestlers to continue their careers with WCAP and make Air Force WCAP the premier military program. I am thankful for all the coaches at the Academy who have helped me to achieve this goal and look forward to representing the Air Force for years to come."
The Toledo, Ohio native has also found much success after concluding his Air Force folkstyle wrestling career, as he won the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament in Greco-Roman at 72 kg to punch his ticket to Final X. He entered the tournament as the No. 9 seed, and went 3-0, including defeating the No. 1 seed, RaVaughn Perkins, via pin.
"When you are creating a positive and productive program culture one of the best things you can do is to surround your athletes with people pursuing excellence at the highest level," Barber continued. "Alex brings that as an Officer in our Air Force who is striving to represent our county at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Lt. Mossing will be another great addition to our growing program!"
ABOUT THE WORLD CLASS ATHLETE PROGRAM: Every Olympic cycle, the Air Force sponsors select athletes to train for a berth in the next Olympic Games. Athletes for this program must be of Olympic caliber: that is, the National Governing Body (NGB) must recognize the athletes chosen for the World Class Athlete Program (WCAP) as having a legitimate chance at attaining an Olympic berth.
Athletes who meet the criteria are then placed in a special duty assignment preceding the Olympic Games. The initiation of this program was in 1995, modeled after the Army's existing program. It was developed after seeing a decline in the amount of Armed Forces members achieving International athletic prowess; specifically, the number of Olympic medals awarded to these members.
Simply put, high caliber athletes graduating from the Academy have a unique opportunity to continue training in their sport. Not only do these individuals get the time to train the way an elite athlete needs to train, but they also get all of the support. A section of Air Force services called AF Sports selects these athletes and takes care of all the equipment, training supplies and travel for the athletes. The athletes choose where they would like to train to get the best benefit from coaching and training partners.
USAFA, Colo.- Recent Air Force Academy wrestling graduate 2nd Lt. Alex Mossing was accepted to the U.S. Air Force World Class Athlete Program (WCAP), which gives high-caliber athletes the opportunity to continuing training in their sport after graduation from the Academy, while preparing for a berth in the Olympic Games. Mossing is attempting to make the Greco-Roman squad for Team USA at the 2020 Olympics.
"2nd Lt. Alex Mossing was an outstanding leader in our wrestling room, and we are excited that he will start his career as an officer and Air Force World Class Athlete in Colorado Springs mentoring and leading our Cadet-Athletes," Head Coach Sam Barber expressed. "His experience as a graduate of our Academy, a three time Big 12 Medalist, and now as a Final X runner up and USA Greco-Roman National Team member will offer a unique and missing perspective in our program."
Mossing wrapped up his prestigious AF wrestling career this past spring when he placed third at 157 lbs. at the 2019 Big 12 Wrestling Championships. Mossing found his way onto the Big 12 podium for the third consecutive season, after taking fourth in 2017, and sixth in 2018, making him the first Falcon grappler to place three times at Big 12s. He concluded the season with a team-high 24 wins, wich included eight pins. For his career, Mossing went 61-40.
"It's a great opportunity to be able to continue to grow in wrestling and build the Air Force WCAP program," Mossing said "Hopefully this helps encourage other Academy wrestlers to continue their careers with WCAP and make Air Force WCAP the premier military program. I am thankful for all the coaches at the Academy who have helped me to achieve this goal and look forward to representing the Air Force for years to come."
The Toledo, Ohio native has also found much success after concluding his Air Force folkstyle wrestling career, as he won the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament in Greco-Roman at 72 kg to punch his ticket to Final X. He entered the tournament as the No. 9 seed, and went 3-0, including defeating the No. 1 seed, RaVaughn Perkins, via pin.
"When you are creating a positive and productive program culture one of the best things you can do is to surround your athletes with people pursuing excellence at the highest level," Barber continued. "Alex brings that as an Officer in our Air Force who is striving to represent our county at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Lt. Mossing will be another great addition to our growing program!"
ABOUT THE WORLD CLASS ATHLETE PROGRAM: Every Olympic cycle, the Air Force sponsors select athletes to train for a berth in the next Olympic Games. Athletes for this program must be of Olympic caliber: that is, the National Governing Body (NGB) must recognize the athletes chosen for the World Class Athlete Program (WCAP) as having a legitimate chance at attaining an Olympic berth.
Athletes who meet the criteria are then placed in a special duty assignment preceding the Olympic Games. The initiation of this program was in 1995, modeled after the Army's existing program. It was developed after seeing a decline in the amount of Armed Forces members achieving International athletic prowess; specifically, the number of Olympic medals awarded to these members.
Simply put, high caliber athletes graduating from the Academy have a unique opportunity to continue training in their sport. Not only do these individuals get the time to train the way an elite athlete needs to train, but they also get all of the support. A section of Air Force services called AF Sports selects these athletes and takes care of all the equipment, training supplies and travel for the athletes. The athletes choose where they would like to train to get the best benefit from coaching and training partners.
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