All-American Alvarez gets storybook ending

By Benjamin Shinault

Sammy Alvarez, a graduate student on Rider’s wrestling team, has had one of those stories that will forever be remembered in the hearts of Rider fans and wrestling fans all across the country. 

On March 21, Alvarez became Rider’s 10th All-American in the last 11 years and the 21st in program history after winning by decision 5-0 in the blood round against a former teammate in the NCAA Championships held in Philadelphia.

The road Alvarez took to receive the distinguished honor was the one less traveled that made him voyage across the country. 

Raising his arms in victory and ripping off his headgear, Alvarez cross-country soul-search found its final pitstop at Rider University.

‘It’s the people, not the place’

Coming out of high school, Alvarez was the 34th overall prospect in the nation and was third best in his weight class, (134 pounds) according to FloWrestling for the class of 2019. After being a three-time state finalist and winning the state title in his senior year, the Garfield, New Jersey native committed to North Carolina State University to begin his college athletic career.

“I went there for their summer program and within six days, I’m on a flight back home, withdrawn from school before summer classes started,” Alvarez said, “technically I’m a college dropout.”

Alvarez described his North Carolina experience as “not a fit” and explained his younger self didn’t want to mold into what the coaching staff wanted him to be.

“I didn’t take much advice,” Alvarez said. “I was very impressionable, I was young and I thought at the time that I knew what was best for me and turns out, believe it or not, I had no idea what was best for me.”

When Alvarez made his way back to New Jersey, he knew that he wanted to stay home and wrestle local. In July of 2019, Alvarez made his way to Rutgers. The 2019-20 Rutgers wrestling team was ranked second in the country, only behind Pennsylvania State University.

Alvarez reaped success in his freshman year at Rutgers. As a freshman, Alvarez qualified for the NCAA Championships with a record of 26-10 and was an All-Rookie selection and a second team All-American. Alvarez never got the shot to show off what he had in the NCAA Championships due to them being cancelled because of COVID-19.

Alvarez’s 2020-21 season was filled with ups and downs. At his best, Alvarez ranked number five in the country at 133 pounds but did not make the postseason. 

The next year, Alvarez finished with an impressive record of 8-2. 

“Things were awesome, I was back home where I wanted to be.” Alvarez said. 

For Alvarez, Rutgers was going as planned until something changed.

Alvarez, entering his third year at Rutgers, had troubles due to discipline issues with his weight, according to his former coach at Rutgers, Scott Goodale. 

After spending about three years as a Scarlet Knight, Alvarez learned one thing: “If you play with fire long enough, you’re going to get burned.”

Alvarez entered the transfer portal and found himself packing his bags once again and heading to Oklahoma State, a top-ranked wrestling program.

“I had to move to a state where I didn’t know a single human being, and as you could imagine, I don’t know if you’ve ever been near [Oklahoma], but it’s empty roads and fences for hours and miles,” Alvarez said. 

Instead of the red and black of Rutgers, Alvarez now sported orange and black for the Cowboys of Oklahoma State. Alvarez, at his new home, said he needed to do some soul searching and found it on the mat in his first year.

In that first year, Alvarez was a force to be reckoned with, finishing with a record of 15-5 and picking up numerous ranked victories. Alvarez finished first at the Bob Smith Open and runner-up at the Lindenwood Open. Alvarez roomates were a critical piece to Alvarez’s success at Oklahoma State.

“My three roommates at Oklahoma State, one was an NCAA finalist, Dustin Plott, and one was Luke Surber and the other was Konner Doucet,” Alvarez said.

Alvarez was originally going to crash on their couch as he searched for a place of his own, but living with them, Alvarez took a lot from it and applied it to not just the mat, but himself.

“I think living with those dudes and being able to kind’ve find my way and mesh with them was, for me, bigger than the wrestling aspect,” Alvarez said.

With Oklahoma State being ranked 10th in the nation, Alvarez found himself battling for a position in the ultra-talented lineup. Alvarez was tasked to take on his teammate to earn his spot.

“I lost the wrestle-off to Jordan Williams and then, boom, I’m done, so that was that,” Alvarez said.

With that, Alvarez’s stint in Oklahoma came to a close and the Cowboy rode off into the sunset that just so happened to lead him back to New Jersey.

‘Big  Jersey guy’

For his final year of eligibility, Alvarez wanted to once again return home to New Jersey and did just that with a commitment to Rider. 

Having wrestled at Rutgers and Oklahoma State, Alvarez was bringing a ton of talent and experience to a much smaller team in the Broncs, something 

Head Coach John Hangey welcomed with wide open arms.

“It speaks volumes that he has trust in us as coaches and a program to get it done,” Hangey said. “To come to Rider and say, ‘let’s make it happen’ and we did.”

Not only did Alvarez rack in the points for the Broncs on the mat, but he also assisted in being a true leader and role model in the locker room.

“[Alvarez] brought a poise that the kids picked up on. No moment was too big for him and he never wrestled down to his competition and he just had a standard of performance everyday that he brought to practice and it helped our kids grow,” Hangey said.

Alvarez got right to work when he stepped onto Rider’s campus, having a record of 25-7 in his final year of collegiate wrestling.

Alvarez made quick work of his action in the Mid-American Conference tournament, winning two matches by decision and clinching an NCAA berth with a first-round pin. With his authoritative wrestling in the MAC tournament, he was named the conference’s wrestler of the year. 

‘It was poetic’

Day one of the NCAA tournament dawned upon Alvarez, looking to strike and hit big in his final tournament. By the end of day one, Alvarez emerged victorious with a 4-2 decision. The next round, Alvarez wasn’t as lucky, as he lost to the sixth ranked wrestler in the country at 149 pounds, moving him to the consolation bracket.

The next day, Alvarez won his first two consolation matches. To become an All-American, only one person stood in his way: Jordan Williams, his former teammate at Oklahoma State. They met again, this time on the biggest stage in college wrestling.

Williams and Alvarez battled it out with Alvarez striking first with a takedown to give him an early 3-0 edge. Alvarez then went on to add two more points to his total and maintained pressure on Williams the whole match, giving a 5-0 shutout and the last laugh over Williams.

“It was poetic to say the least. It really was,” Alvarez said with a smirk. “Like I said, it was poetic because whoever loses that match doesn’t place and he’s the reason why I left Oklahoma State ultimately.”

Coming off the mat, wiping the sweat from his brow, the emotions came through for Alvarez — at least the ones he can remember.

“I cried. I got very emotional,” Alvarez said. “It was just years, days and months compiled since fourth grade all compiled to that moment.”

Not only was it good for Alvarez to take home the honor, but to do it donning the colors of a New Jersey school and to also assist Rider’s wrestling program.

“It is the epitome of our program,” Hangey said. “The fact that we are doing it as well as we are is a credit to everybody that’s in the program.”

Alvarez says that coaching wrestling could be an option in his future. But now, the All-American can lay in his bed at night and know that all the blood, sweat, tears and mileage were all worth it.