Alan M. Fried (born August 11, 1971) is an American
amateur wrestler
Amateur wrestling is a variant of wrestling practiced in collegiate, school, or other amateur level competitions. There are two international wrestling styles performed in the Olympic Games: freestyle and Greco-Roman. Both styles are under the ...
. 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
Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...
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
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...
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 High state championship; he repeated as champion the following two years prior to entering high school.
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
The Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) is the governing body of athletic programs for junior and senior high schools in the state of Ohio. The OHSAA governs eligibility of student athletes, resolves disputes, organizes levels of compe ...
(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).
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, and is a Member of the St. Edward Hall of Fame.
He would also compete in the USA Junior Freestyle Championships, where he would become the first wrestler to win four Junior National Freestyle titles,
[http://www.wrestlinghalloffame.org/wrestlers.php?wrestler=1458] winning the Outstanding Wrestler Award in 1989.
Fried finished his high school career as a 1988 and 1989 Asics Tiger 1st Team All-American, 1988 Asics Tiger National High School Wrestler of the Year, and 1989 Lee Kemp Award Winner.
Collegiate and International wrestling career
Fried attended
Oklahoma State University
Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
. The
Cowboys had a wrestling program steeped in tradition. He became a three-time
All-America
The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...
n, reaching the NCAA finals in 1991 (second-place finish, 134 lbs.), 1992 (second-place finish, 134 lbs.), and 1994 (National Champion, 142 lbs.).
He was also a three-time 1st Team Academic All-American in 1991, 1992, and 1994. *Fried's NCAA title was instrumental in helping John Smith secure his first NCAA team championship as the head coach of Oklahoma State in 1994.
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
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...
. He also ranks third in career winning percentage (.956), fourth in most consecutive matches without a defeat (65), and seventh in career falls (44). He graduated in 1994 with a
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
(B.S.) in
Psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...
. Fried's combined high school and college record was 268-9 (97% win percentage).
On the National freestyle scene, Fried was the 1989 and 1991 Espoir (20 yrs & under) National Champion, winning the Outstanding Wrestler Award for both tournaments. He also won a pair of freestyle University National Championships in 1992 and 1993. At the USA Wrestling Senior level, Fried took third place at the 1993 and 1994 U.S. Open, and was the National Runner-up at the 1995 U.S. Open.
At the International level, 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
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
. Alan won the Gold Medal, beating the wrestler from the former
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
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
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
.
In 1993 Fried represented Team USA at the Senior level, winning the Gold Medal at the 1993 Pan American Championships. He also won a Gold Medal at the 15th Maccabiah Games in 1997 in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Fried finished 6th in the
1996
File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...
and
2000 Olympic Trials, both at (68 kg), and missed the
U.S. Olympic Team
United States of America (USA) has sent athletes to every celebration of the modern era Olympic Games, except for the 1980 Summer Olympics, during which it led a boycott to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
American athletes have w ...
. 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.
These issues factored into his retirement from wrestling in 2000.
After wrestling
Fried later earned a
Juris Doctor
The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law
and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
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
Glioblastoma, previously known as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), is one of the most aggressive types of cancer that begin within the brain. Initially, signs and symptoms of glioblastoma are nonspecific. They may include headaches, personality ch ...
brain cancer
A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and secondar ...
, Fried moved back to Cleveland. He briefly took a position as
law clerk
A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...
at Reminger & Reminger, Co. L.P.A., where his brother Adam is a partner and practices
probate law
Probate is the judicial process whereby a will is "proved" in a court of law and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased, or whereby the estate is settled according to the laws of intestacy in the sta ...
. 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'' .
In 2014, he became an assistant coach for the
Beachwood High School
Beachwood High School is a four-year college preparatory public high school located in Beachwood, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. It is part of the Beachwood City School District.
Recognition
Beachwood has earned three U.S. Department of Education Bl ...
Wrestling Team in Beachwood, OH
Later, Fried moved to
Medina, Ohio
Medina ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Medina County, Ohio, United States. The population was 26,094 at the 2020 Census. It lies about 33 miles (53 km) south of Cleveland and 23 miles (37 km) west of Akron within the Clevelan ...
, where he found the
Highland Local School District Wrestling team and worked as an assistant coach, before being promoted to head coach.
Fried also runs the Alan Fried Wrestling Academy , Wrestling School, Wrestling Camps ...
https://www.friedwrestling.com/
Mixed martial arts record
, -
, Loss
, align=center , 0–1
,
Rumina Sato
, Submission (armbar)
,
Shooto – Reconquista 3
,
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, align=center , 0:59
,
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
, Japan
,
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fried, Alan
Living people
American male sport wrestlers
St. Edward High School (Lakewood, Ohio) alumni
1971 births
Oklahoma State Cowboys wrestlers
People from Medina, Ohio