ANN ARBOR, Mich. — University of Michigan senior Alec Pantaleo will remain at his alma mater to continue his international wrestling career with the Cliff Keen Wrestling Club, the club announced Tuesday (April 2). Pantaleo, who completed his collegiate career as a three-time NCAA All-American last month, is a previous junior world team member in freestyle.
“Alec has been a high-character leader and made significant contributions at Michigan,” said head coach Sean Bormet. “He is one of the most explosive wrestlers I have coached and lives a very disciplined lifestyle on and off the mat. Those attributes will serve him well at the senior level. We believe in Alec and are thrilled he has chosen to join the Cliff Keen WC to continue his U.S. freestyle career.”
“I love where I’m at right now, and I love the people I’m around,” said Pantaleo. “I’m excited to make freestyle my career. It’s my favorite style of wrestling, and I’ve been waiting to focus on it exclusively for a little while now. I think given the opportunity to train it full time and around some of the great minds at Michigan, there’s no way that I’m not going to improve and get better. I’m just really excited about where life is going right now. I think it’s only going up from here.”
Pantaleo was a three-time NCAA All-American at 149 and 157 pounds over his collegiate career at Michigan (2015-19), most recently claiming third place — his best NCAA finish — last month in Pittsburgh. He captured a Big Ten title at 157 pounds as a junior and accumulated a 94-22 career record.
A late arriver to freestyle wrestling, Pantaleo has quickly established himself as one of the nation’s top middleweights. He represented the United States at 66kg/145.5 pounds at the 2016 Junior World Championships and, in his second year on the senior level, took third place at both the U.S. Open and World Team Trials Challenge Tournament last summer at 70kg/154 pounds.
He is slated to compete in the U.S. Open later this month (Fri-Sat., April 26-27) in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Watch interview with Pantaleo below:
