Alyxzander Marchese '22 Recruiting Profile

It's been one heck of a ride... 4 years of wrestling has taught me so much and I am so grateful for my coaches and parents for their unwaivering support. This season has been the best, worst and hardest for me. Earlier on in the season, I posted at practice, fracturing multiple bones in my wrist and hand without knowing it. My coaches evaluated me and due to the lack of swelling taped up my hand. I continued wrestling through it causing more damage and requiring surgery.   By the grace of God I managed to make it to regionals where sadly I was eliminated. I'm not sure what the future has in store for me, but I'm looking to find out. 

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLw8MdU4IuQv0e_3alUMF7WnbHAgr5VlrP

My name is Alyxzander Marchese, but I usually go by Alyx.  I started wrestling as a freshman in high school... It was a new offering at my extremely small K-12 Christian school, and a total of 5 of us were on the team. At the time, we were wrestling on a garage mat in our math classroom. I was pretty much a couch potato at 145lbs. I hadn't done anything athletic since I was maybe 8. I remember I was completely unprepared and had unrealistic expectations when I walked onto the mat for my first match, getting pinned in less than a minute.  It was the first time I had wrestled anyone my size with any experience.  I got up from that match and went on to the next one with a similar outcome.  I didn't quit despite getting the snot knocked out of me time and time again that first season. I continued to work on my technique and getting more fit, eating right and exercising a lot.  I ended up getting down to the 126 weight class that season and have sat there ever since.  

Over the summer into my sophomore year,  my coach suggested I join the XC team to work on stamina.  Despite not being a natural runner, I ran that XC season and made a PR of just over 27 minutes, cutting near 10 minutes off my initial 5K time.  That wrestling season I ended up getting my first pin.   When districts came around that year my entire team unknowingly ended up contracting COVID, and it effectively ended my season. 

After that, everything began to shut down, and my mom lost her job.  My parents had to withdraw me from the Christian school I had attended.  When I told my coach I was not going to be there the following year he wished me good luck and shared he was also not going to be back.  As luck would have it, we both landed at the same school and again he started a new wrestling program there my Junior year!  This time we started with about 10 wrestlers, still I was the only one with any experience and no real competition to push me to do better. Even then, I started off that year strong winning my matches and being a good team captain despite being an e-learner.   I strongly feel I could have placed at districts and done very well at regionals had the rules allowed newly established teams to compete at those levels. 

Over the 2021 summer, I have worked tirelessly on my mobility and flexibility along with strength and endurance with the guidance of Train RSP.  I helped to establish  a club team, Meyhem, and I have placed in a majority of the tournaments I have wrestled this summer at a sofa weight of 138lbs.  I trained with a trainer and on my own at the gym almost daily, and with my club team on the weekends.

Now that season is here I am doing everything I can to make it count and am already sitting at my goal weight of 126.  I know I am not one of those kids that started wrestling at 5, but I know I am a very good wrestler, am great at taking direction, and know that my best years wrestling are ahead of me.