Andrew Alirez CO: Love What You Don't Want to Do
Love What You Don’t Want to Do
My Secret to Success – by Andrew Alirez
(in his own words as related to Bill X. Barron)
Foreword: For Andrew “Boo” Alirez, his hometown of Greeley, Colorado is not just where he lives; it is a matter of fierce pride. His state title quest began in 6th grade, as one of only four wrestlers to win three middle school titles in the state championships sponsored by RMN Events. He added four more state titles, going 160-1 while competing for Greeley Central High and earning the Jr. Dan Hodge Award as the nation’s best 152-pounder. In 2020, he won the U.S. Senior Open at 65 kilos, where he was named the Outstanding Wrestler but missed out on the Olympics due to the Covid cancellation.
This March, while wrestling for his home University of Northern Colorado Bears, he completed an unbeaten 28-0 collegiate season with an NCAA title at 141 pounds, becoming his school’s first Division I national champion and first champ in 61 years. Greeley honored him with a key to the city. Now, the Big 12 Wrestler of the Year begins an Olympic redshirt year with his sights set on Paris Gold in 2024. Herein, Andrew speaks about his journey which centers around his commitment to stay in Colorado. – bxb
Throughout my life, wrestling has taught me to respect what I don’t want to do – and learn to love it.
This foundation of discipline, the ability to grind it out, and the will to apply myself … these principles have proven to me that 99 percent of the time, the rewards go to the person who works the hardest.
While I always have had the self-discipline to push through, this past year I sacrificed a lot of life’s simple joys to remain focused on earning a national college championship.
Ultimately, my goal is to live a perfect life and to be the best person I can be. This is attained through living humbly, eating healthily, working as hard as I can, and learning all there is to know.
When I was 8 or 9, I went to school with a singlet under my clothes. My objective in wrestling has always been to accomplish something great at each and every level.
Growing up, RMN Events were a staple in my development as a young wrestler. Always great competition, and it’s close to home!
Rocky Mountain National tournaments definitely helped me grow as a wrestler and prepare for the future. One year, the RMN gym brought in Cuban Coach Manolo Rubio, who trained me in freestyle.
As long as I can remember, I have been fully confident in my ability to ascend to the top. Thus, I set out to win three middle school state titles, then follow that with four high school championships, a college national title, and an Olympic Gold.
Indeed, I reversed the normal ascent by winning the U.S. Open before capturing the NCAA crown. That is because the international, attack-oriented style suits me best.
Freestyle demands a high pace and relentless attack. You take hold of the match and blow it out of the water. In neutral, I constantly move my hands and feet, looking to finish a leg attack with a leg lace direct to a fall.
Being the Number One wrestler in high school, I confidently approached college wrestling. But after several injuries and a six-month hiatus due to surgery, I knew I had to ramp up my conditioning and endurance.
To win at the collegiate level, I had to adapt to its physical nature and adjust to seven minutes of grind. It requires more patience to pick and choose the right spot to seize an advantage.
This persistent pressure bore fruit in the 2nd period in this year’s NCCA Finals against Real Woods, an opponent I had never beaten in folkstyle but had teched in freestyle at the 2022 Sr. Open semis.
I always had that leg wrap throw in my back pocket, ready for the moment an opponent made a mistake. In this situation, I absorbed Real’s momentum and channeled it into my own direction.
Of course, freestyle officials would not have had to debate for ten minutes before deciding that it was a 4-point move (it might have been a five).
Coming from a small town in Colorado and gaining the championship over a large program Iowa opponent means the world to me. I set out to be not just another name on the wall but to bring honor to my home city and state.
It took a leap of faith for me to remain at home, but doing this for my hometown has been my purpose – as well as my destiny – all along. Now, I hope my success will be a recruitment pitch for kids to stay in-state.
Having reached another pinnacle, I will take a redshirt Olympic year to focus on winning the Trials. As I have beaten everyone on the U.S. ladder, making the 2024 Olympics is well within my grasp if I train hard and focus all my attention on the next platform.
With but 500 days to train, the journey began yesterday. Yet my family support system is another source of discipline. They keep me motivated to achieve this goal for something bigger than myself.
From an early age, I’ve laid out a step-buy-step plan for the rest of my life. As an amateur boxer I am undefeated, and my family runs a gym for boxing, MMA, and wrestling. Thus, following the Olympics, I plan to become an MMA fighter.
Principles that I learned through wrestling have molded me into the person I am today. The sport teaches you to do the hard work necessary to push through and succeed in life. It also helps you to take instructions without asking questions.
One of the biggest gifts wrestling has given me is the ability to handle difficult situations and the character to see my way through. I’ve gained the wisdom that I can only control that which is within my power to control.
When things do not work out the way I had planned, wrestling has taught me to self-reflect: to answer the why’s truthfully, so I know what I need to improve.
Some people like to point fingers at others. But when you are honest with yourself, you alone are accountable for your actions.
On the mat, that’s why I seize the initiative with a never-ceasing attack – and why I don’t get scored upon very often.
If you train hard, live life the right way, then day in and day out make the necessary sacrifices, like I have had to do, there’s every reason why you, too, can be destined to accomplish great things.
In life as well as wrestling, I have learned that there is no one to blame but yourself.
Afterword by father and lifetime coach Andrew Alirez:
From the outset, Boo has always been a gifted athlete. Before he had learned to walk, I strapped him face-forward on my chest while I was drilling level changes and taking shots. Through boxing, he has mastered the fast footwork, balance, level changes, and eye coordination that allow him to get into the attack mode from the outset.
Our family prides ourselves on loyalty and in giving respect to everyone. When Coach Troy Nickerson, an NCAA champion for Cornell and 5-time New York state champion, took over the UNC program and started a Regional Olympic Training Center, I knew we had the reason we needed to stay in Greeley. As soon as Boo earned All-American status at Fargo in 8th grade, we began additional training at the RTC. Troy is in large part responsible for ensuring Boo’s rise to excellence.
For the past seventeen years, we’ve run the Top Notch Sports Academy for boxing, MMA, and wrestling. Boo comes from long ancestry steeped in boxing and martial arts. His grandmother owned a Taekwondo and Tangsudo studio and was a 2nd-degree black belt. Grandpa, as well as all his sons and grandsons, have boxed and fought. In fact, in USA amateur boxing Boo is undefeated and owns a Ringside World championship.
Watching Boo wrestle over the years has rarely made me nervous, but I was concerned about his NCAA Finals opponent Real Woods from New Mexico. As a youth, we faced him and lost in Tulsa and at the Panhandle Nationals. Boo did tech him in the semis of last year’s Sr. Open, but he’s another animal when he wrestles freestyle. In the finals, there were a lot of close scrambles where he used his freestyle training to his advantage. I am so proud to be his father and very thankful for all who have helped Boo come as far as he has.