Alan Fried

Alan Fried
Weight 142 lbs.
Born (1971-08-11) August 11, 1971
Poughkeepsie, New York, U.S.
High school St. Edward High School (Lakewood, Ohio)
State championships 3 (Ohio)
College Oklahoma State University
NCAA championships 1

Alan M. Fried (born August 11, 1971) is an American amateur wrestler. He was an NCAA National Champion, Espoir World Champion (20 years and under), three-time Ohio State Champion, and the first wrestler to win four Junior National Freestyle titles. He is also an author.

Early life and wrestling

Fried was born in Poughkeepsie, New York to Kenneth (1942–2003) and Elaine Fried (1945–2004, née Agin). The couple also had another son, Adam.

Fried began wrestling in the 5th grade at the Longwood YMCA in Macedonia, Ohio, where a trio of coaches had a major impact on him: head coach Dave Mariola and assistants Bernie Weiskopf and Tim Rutherford. A year later, he traveled to neighboring Pennsylvania to win the Pennsylvania Junior state championship; he repeated as champion the following two years prior to entering high school.[1]

Despite being Jewish and living on Cleveland's east side, Fried attended St. Edward High School, an all-boys catholic high school on the city's west side. The school was a wrestling powerhouse before Fried arrived, having won 8 Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) "big school" state titles under legendary coach Howard E. Ferguson as well as several national titles. Fried helped add two more state titles to St. Edward's streak of 10 consecutive state championships (1978–1987). The streak was broken in 1988, Fried's junior year. Fried's nemisis during High School was Patrick Berdysz from Mentor, he had faced him often.

Fried flourished under the disciplined Ferguson. He had a tremendous high school wrestling career, amassing 139-3 record. He was a three-time Ohio State Champion (1987, 1988, 1989), and finished third (1986). He graduated from St. Edward in 1989.[2]

He would also compete in the USA Junior Freestyle Championships, where he would become the first wrestler to win four Junior National Freestyle titles.[3]

Collegiate and international wrestling career

Fried attended Oklahoma State University. The Cowboys had a wrestling program steeped in tradition. He became a three-time All-American, reaching the NCAA finals in 1991 (second place finish, 134 lbs.), 1992 (second place finish, 134 lbs.), and 1994 (National Champion, 142 lbs.).[3] His high placements helped the Cowboys become team NCAA National Champions in 1990 and 1994.[4]

His career record at Oklahoma State was 129-6, which ranks as the second most wins all-time for the Cowboys. Five of his six collegiate losses came at the hands of 1996 Olympic gold medalist and three-time NCAA champion Tom Brands from the University of Iowa. He also ranks third in career winning percentage (.956), fourth in most consecutive matches without a defeat (65), and seventh in career falls (44).[5] He graduated in 1994 with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Psychology.

In international competition, Alan represented the USA on two age level World teams and in numerous Olympic age level international competitions. In the 20 years old and under World Championships in 1991, held in Previdza, Czechoslovakia, Alan won the Gold Medal, beating the wrestler from the former Soviet Union in the finals and was awarded the "Best Technical Wrestler" for the championships. In the 18 years old and under category, Fried placed 4th at World Championships in 1988, held in Wolfurt, Austria.

He finished 6th in the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Trials, both at 152 lbs., and missed the U.S. Olympic Team. Injuries to his back and shoulder as well as a broken elbow had taken a toll and required two back surgeries in 1996 and two shoulder surgeries.[6] These issues factored into his retirement from wrestling in 2000.

After wrestling

Fried later earned a Juris Doctorate from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 2002 and passed the Illinois State Bar Examination in 2003. After the passing of both his parents from inoperable and aggressive glioblastoma brain cancer, Fried moved back to Cleveland. He briefly took a position as law clerk at Reminger & Reminger, Co. L.P.A., where his brother Adam is a partner and practices probate law. Alan passed the Ohio Bar Examination in 2005 and practiced law in Cleveland until mid-2007, when he relocated back in Chicago, Illinois to become a Futures Trader.

In 2005, he wrote a book with contributor Nicholas Rizzo M.D., The Arsenal: The Wrestler's Training Log ISBN 0-9748220-2-7.

In 2014, he became an assistant coach for the Beachwood High School Wrestling Team in Beachwood, OH

Later, Fried moved to Medina, Ohio, where he found the Highland Local School District Wrestling team and worked as an assistant coach.

Mixed martial arts record

Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Loss 0–1 Rumina Sato Submission (armbar) Shooto – Reconquista 3 August 27, 1997 1 0:59 Tokyo, Japan

References

  1. ↑ http://www.intermatwrestle.com/articles/1555
  2. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Retrieved August 22, 2010.
  3. 1 2 http://www.wrestlinghalloffame.org/wrestlers.php?wrestler=1458
  4. ↑ http://www.cowboywrestling.com/tradition.php
  5. ↑ http://www.okstate.com/sports/m-wrestl/archive/individual-records.html
  6. ↑ http://www.ohiowrestlingsite.com/articles/article44.php
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