Alan Fried Perseveres through Post-Career Adversity and Gains New Strength and Wisdom (part III of the Alan Fried Interview Series)

From the Bible comes the parable of "The Prodigal Son."  It's a story about a son who ventures off to a far-away land seeking adventure, but through his reckless tendencies, squanders everything he values and returns home in despair.  The Prodigal Son anticipates he will be scorned and rebuked upon his return- but instead, he is welcomed with open arms.

Such it has been with Ohio's greatest wrestler, Alan Fried. The mistakes Fried made simply could not offset the goodwill toward him, as the Ohio wrestling community stood behind Fried, believed in him, and has welcomed him back just the same.  But there would be another chapter to the return of the Ohio wrestling community's "prodigal son."  A stronger and wiser man emerged from his darkest hour. Fried figuratively and perhaps literally picked himself up by the bootstraps- just as he did in the rare instances he was taken down on the mat- and got his life back on track.

OHIO WRESTLING SITE: During your international career you switched between 138.7 and 152, always seemingly between weights.  Immediately after you retired they changed the weights- so 145.5 was a new weight.  Do you ever wonder how you might have done at that seemingly perfect weight?

ALAN FRIED: Once again, I have to commend you, you know everything.  Yeah, I competed at the U.S. Open/Olympic level (aside from 1988) for 8 years, between 1993 and 2000.  I was at 136/138 four times and 149/152 four times.  I was the epitome of “stuck between weights”, no doubt.  I’d cut for 36/38 and about die, then go up to 49/52 and feel great, but wrestle bigger guys, you know like Demaray or McIlravy.  I could get hyped up enough for a few rounds, but over the course of a tournament, somebody would always get me.  I talk sort of a big game about being technical, but I never had such great skills that I could give up obvious size differences and still win all the time, like Satiev from Russia.  That level of skill is what I was going for, but in my mind, I never even got close. 
The 145.5 lb. weight class was started like right after I finished competing.  I know that weight would have been perfect.  It wouldn’t be fair to say I would have done any better, but that number, 145 lbs, is my perfect competing weight.  When they announced the change, I was so paranoid at the time I thought, “did they wait for me to quit before they added this weight class”.

OHIO WRESTLING SITE:  Al, you are working as an attorney now, what kind of law are you currently practicing?  What impact do you think your wrestling background has had on your legal career thus far?

ALAN FRIED:  I do primarily Criminal Defense as one of two associate attorneys for Michael J. Goldberg.  Brett Murner has been Goldberg’s other associate for about  six years.  Murner runs our Lorain County office also.  My case load is probably 75% criminal and 25% civil…focusing mostly on personal injury, contract disputes, mortgage issues, workmen’s compensation. 
You may even know Goldberg’s name because he was the feature article in scene magazine about a month ago for his work with a local teacher that was falsely accused of abusing his students.  Goldberg, was also a wrestler (State Runner-up for Beachwood in 1981) and still is active in coaching with Beachwood and Fuchs Mizrahi, which is a wrestling team Goldberg started at a local religious centered school.  We live right near each other and I use his wrestling barn to train the kids I work with.  
I see a lot of crossover between wrestling and law.  In law, though, as anybody who has dealt with the system knows, things move quite slower.  There is much more to consider when making any single move, so you need time to formulate plans.  If I would have used the inside of my head in wrestling like I do at work now, I would have been dangerous.  Studying for school and the bar exam has given me confidence for life that I can learn anything I put my mind to. 

OHIO WRESTLING SITE: Do you ever see yourself getting back into coaching or are your energies solely focused on your legal career now?
ALAN FRIED: I have never been out of it.  Just not in it in the traditional sense.  I coached the Ohio All-Star team this Summer for a couple weeks.  I was on that team like 24 years ago.  I do clinics and camps pretty consistently.  I coached Adam Kriwinsky, Dennis Roche- who were both State Champions for University School- and Jake Weinberg, privately for a whole Spring/Summer in 2003.  And, I had previously coached at Marist High School while I was in Chicago.  Beyond that, I’ve been working with a wrestler or two privately since midway through 2005.
I even applied for the Ohio State position also, but I didn’t even get an interview.  That one hurt, but the staff that was hired will be great.  I might get involved in youth coaching this year, too, I don’t know.

OHIO WRESTLING SITE: Alan, many young wrestlers grew up idolizing you…..what wrestler(s) did you idolize growing up?
ALAN FRIED:  Locally, the guys that were really big in my world were Eric Burnett, Dave Mariolas’s son, Dave Jr., and Scott Peters, who was Runner-up for Beachwood in 1983 or 4.  He was like my big brother in wrestling.  He tried to tell me what was what about a million times, and well, it almost worked! 
But, you know the older guys on my team at Ed’s like Mike Carpenter, Guy Palker and Kevin Biggs had the biggest impact on me.  They were the first guys I ever saw that would make their opponents just quit outright and hardly get winded doing it.  I didn’t even know that was possible until I saw them do it over and over again.  That’s what made me so curious about wrestling for Gable. 

OHIO WRESTLING SITE: Outside of yourself of course do you have any thoughts on who the best Ohio wrestler that you have seen is?
ALAN FRIED: Well, you know, according to Pat Galbincea at the Plain Dealer, I’m not even in the top 10 (in the Plain Dealer’s coverage area), so what do I know? (Ohio Wrestling Site note: Galbincea’s omission of Fried from the top ten is, without question, the worst rankings decision of all-time)
But, the fact is that Lee Kemp was more successful than anyone else to come out of Ohio.  He won the world championships three times, NCAA’s three times and lost the fourth on a referee’s decision.  As for younger guys, the only time I ever saw Schlatter wrestle was in the NCAA finals.  He didn’t even look challenged, really, so that’s pretty amazing.  Also, I worked out briefly with Lance Palmer last year.  He was one of the strongest wrestlers I can remember, and his power-half is real dangerous.  I haven’t had that much exposure to Ohio wrestlers for a while, so that’s about all I know.  

OHIO WRESTLING SITE:  What advice do you have for young wrestlers who want to achieve what you have?
ALAN FRIED: My advice is to focus on the skills of wrestling, get away from the hype, get away from the idea of what its going to be like to win, how everyone is going to love and admire you IF you win…and just focus on the techniques.  Whatever is working, also, go and study/practice it further on your own. 
When I teach camps the analogy I use is “the dominoes start to fall”: The very first domino is one of those stone-hedge stones, like a million pounds, you have to rock it back and forth for a long time --- months and months.  Eventually though, that first domino starts to go.  Then, the rest of the dominoes weigh about two ounces! 
If you want to study a move, you need to keep doing it until that move feels natural.  The thing that feels uncomfortable is the thing that needs to be made to feel comfortable.  Your success if guaranteed if you are a student of the sport!  Maybe not winning state or nationals- but you’re going to get the tools for learning anything that comes up later in life.

OHIO WRESTLING SITE: Was there one thing that made you decide to go to law school and become an attorney?
ALAN FRIED: Well, I never was well-versed in anything political or even rules oriented, but when my brother became an attorney, I started to notice that he got much smarter than he used to be and it sort of inspired me that you could LEARN to use your head, even if it didn’t come natural.  And, let me tell you, that did not come natural for my brother, whew! No. I’m just kidding!  We’re very close.
So, my mom offered to pay for the entrance exam and prep class while I was training out in Iowa.  She gave me a little insight into the bigger picture of things and I took her up on the offer.
Then, well, I had another shoulder surgery after the U.S. Open in 1998 and moved back to Cleveland with my parents, because it was definitely over for me at Iowa. 
Then, poof! The CSU graduate assistant position opened up.  I called the new coach at the time, Jack Effner, and asked if my graduate school could be law school instead.  In about a month, I went from being directionless and unassociated with anything regular to coaching, studying and competing all at the same time.  I was still in a sling when I started law school. 

OHIO WRESTLING SITE: Where do you see yourself headed in your legal career?
ALAN FRIED: I’m being mentored by a great attorney whose been doing this for 20 years, so I’m taking my time and learning from him and the other people around me.  I take cases I can handle confidently.  With the John Smith match, I learned the lesson of biting off more than I could chew!  I actually enjoy turning down a matter that’s too serious for my experience level….at this time, of course.  At least the client knows I’m not B.S.’ing them just for business/money.  But, to answer the question, I see myself working at it until it feels natural, you know what I mean.

OHIO WRESTLING SITE: Alan, in 2000 your career ended in disappointment by your standards as you failed to reach your goal of making the Olympic Team at 152 lbs., finishing 3rd at the Olympic Trials.  What can you tell us about that experience and what lead you to retire?
ALAN FRIED: Unfortunately, I must correct you for the first time.  I was 6th at the trials in both 1996 and 2000 – both times at the higher weight class. 
I didn’t keep competing first and foremost, because I was starting to feel like a bit of a cripple out there.  I was in denial of it for a few years.  I just didn’t think it could be real…that I was maybe too banged up to be at my best.  I think I was handling the possibility of not reaching my ultimate goal in wrestling pretty well since I was preparing myself with law school.  But I can honestly say that my heart or maybe just my body wasn’t in it like it used to be after those two back surgeries after the 1996 Olympic trials.

OHIO WRESTLING SITE: It’s difficult for me to imagine Alan Fried not having his heart completely into wrestling! Was it just the injuries, or were there other factors?
ALAN FRIED: I don’t know…..I think it was also the training situation.  I didn’t have the great training situation I needed to beat the best guys consistently.  I still won some big tournaments and beat world and olympic medalists here and there, but when things came to a head, as they always do come qualifier time, I just did not have the consistency I used to have.
Like I said, I was doing it mostly alone.  Meanwhile, I see guys I was in college with or that I coached, and they would be moving along with their lives…taking “real” jobs or going to post-graduate school.  I began wondering if there was something bigger I should be doing to get ready for the end of what I was beginning to realize was simply the competitive wrestling “phase” of my life.
The two back surgeries in 1996 on top of the two shoulder surgeries and a badly broken elbow were like five nails in the coffin.  I basically went into a tailspin for the next four years until I finally got myself in trouble….driving in the final nail.  I was doing a lot of going out and drinking, basically living like I had two separate lives.  I was still training hard, mostly twice a day, competing often, making major sacrifices and even going to law school, but I was going out on the weekends or even more often than that and acting like a different person.  That period was like a second childhood almost- or really, for me it was more like a delayed childhood that I never had.  I’m not proud of some things, but it is what it is.

OHIO WRESTLING SITE:  Alan, I understand that after moving to Chicago you suffered an extremely dangerous injury, what can you tell us about that?
ALAN FRIED: So, I moved to Chicago in September, 2002.  I began working on the Arsenal, coaching at Marist h.s. and applying for the Illinois bar exam for a few months when my Mom called me right before Christmas and told me that my father was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. 
My Mom knew it was serious weeks before he went to the doctor.  They were married 38 years and had been together since they were kids, really.  I studied for the exam and traveled back and forth to visit my Dad until the exam was over in February, 2002.  Then I went home to be with him. 
I found out I had passed the exam just two days after he died, which was on March 31, 2003. 
After that, I stayed back home with my Mom, who was obviously devastated.  I had no way to earn money, so I sort of reluctantly took Mark Kriwinsky up on his offer to coach his son privately for the Spring and Summer.  Two days after my Dad’s funeral, I began working with his son Adam, Dennis Roche and Jake Weinberg up at University School. 
It was exactly the assignment that I needed at the time.  I put all my energy into those kids and when Kriwinsky won state the next year, I was amazed.  Then Roche won state a year or two later, once he was big enough for the weight class.  Weinberg was so tough, he didn’t need a State title…I’m winking right now.  It really was an awesome Summer with those three. 
Basically, it was wrestling that came to save me again, you know.  I lost my Dad and instead of training harder myself, I trained them harder and they improved and then started winning all the time.  I was relearning everything I had forgotten or at least temporarily schluffed off.
So, I thought things were going well again, and they were, that is until the winter of 2003, when I decided to try to learn snowboarding for the first time.  I was with Ryan Guciardo, who was a wrestler of mine at CSU and also a ski instructor, so I wasn’t being totally careless, but nevertheless, on only my third hill, I got out of control and caught the front edge of the board.  I landed on my face onto that fake early snow at Brandywine and I hit so hard that I cracked Guciardo’s goggles, which I didn’t even think I needed to wear, and I could not move a muscle anywhere on my body. 

I was lying in the snow totally paralyzed from the neck down. I couldn’t even tell if my body was attached to me anymore, or if my head was facing in front or back.  I tried to move but it was like my hands weighed a million pounds.  There was just no connection happening. 

I’m lying in the snow, accepting life as a quadripalegic, and I mean that.  I had two thoughts running through my head at the time…the first one was that my Mom is gonna be REAL upset….I mean, REEEEAL upset!!! and the second one was, believe it or not, that I had been such an idiot for never learning to play music and now it’s too late.     

I was dragged to the clubhouse on a backboard after the medics showed up. About a half hour later, I started to be able to move my fingers and toes a tiny bit.  I stayed strapped down on that backboard for the next 18 hours.  Luckily, Dr. Columbi, from University Hospital, who had also done my THIRD back surgery in 2002, agreed to do the surgery.  The MRI showed that I had crushed my fifth cervical vertebrae. 

So, I left the hospital six days later with hardware in my neck and a $50,000 hospital bill, because, of course, I had no health insurance at the time,….but I COULD MOVE! 

About a month into my recovery, the Illinois Bar Association o.k.’d me to be sworn in.  So, I went back to Illinois, took an associate position with Vincent A. Luisi & Associates, and went to work as fast as I could trying to pay University Hospital and Dr. Columbi back for literally saving my life.

I was in Chicago about six months and just starting to attract a good amount of business when I got the news about my Mom.  She now was also diagnosed with brain cancer…the exact same kind my Dad had – aggressive and incurable.  I quit my job that day and moved back here to Cleveland to stay with my Mom.  She was sick for barely two months and passed away in my arms, just like my Dad did.  That was on December 28th of 2004.

Now, I couldn’t and didn’t want to go back to Illinois.  Luckily Reminger & Reminger, a law firm where my brother Adam is a partner, gave me a law clerk position.  See, I was kidding earlier, my brother is brilliant.  I re-applied for the Ohio Bar exam.  I was allowed a seat this time…my mistakes were termed as “youthful indiscretions” – you have to love the legal jargon.  I took and passed the exam and was finally admitted in November of last year.  So, now I’m a lawyer in two states.

Since then, I’ve been with Goldberg and have taken on some new private coaching responsibilities.  I’m seeing amazing progress with the kids right now.  Wrestling and coaching has saved my life again. 

OHIO WRESTLING SITE: How difficult was it for you to “let go” of wrestling once your career ended in 2000?
ALAN FRIED: I called Sunkist Kids immediately after I was charged criminally and said to stop the checks.  They paid like a $400 per month stipend.  I gave up the money when I needed it most because I was completely done and wasn’t going to string out my sponsor until the last minute.  I was done!  It wasn’t that hard.  I couldn’t see myself going until I was 33 years old, even if the case hadn’t happened.  God bless the ones who can. 

But, I’ll tell you, I know that feeling now of thinking about a comeback.  I wrestle a little bit here and there and I feel like I’m so much better than I used to be…but, I know that I’m not.  Like, if I hadn’t hurt my neck, I might try to come back.  In a way, thank God I did though, I’m saving myself a lot of embarrassment!

OHIO WRESTLING SITE: I don’t know, as I recall your record against Bill Zadick is 2-1 if we count the fight in the locker room (OWS Note: Zadick has won the world championship at 145.5 lbs.)!  With all the turmoil that you went through in your years that followed your collegiate career, what is your biggest regret?

ALAN FRIED: I just wish my parents were still here to see the success of the kids I coached, the legal work I’ve done and to hear me play music.  It’s excruciating knowing they won’t be back and when they left things were still crazy. I just wish I had never brought them any pain like I did.  I think sometimes that I worried them to death.  I don’t have kids, but just by being in my mid 30’s, I can see now how that whole thing was actually harder on them than me, because they knew the bigger picture.

OHIO WRESTLING SITE:  Do you still think about the trouble you got into?
ALAN FRIED: I work mostly in the Justice Center, where my case was handled, and see people facing similar situations constantly.  I think about it multiple times a day still.  A lot of it is the environment.

A lot of my reputation in the wrestling community is from positive word of mouth and I lost that edge a little when that all happened.  It’s a sickening feeling.  As you get older, what kind of a person or citizen you have been gets to be much more important.

You know, but when I do think about it these days, that thought is followed by thinking about what I’ve done both before and after that night.  How I did not quit on myself and have helped other people more than ever since then.  I compare that to fighting in a bar - and I finally feel like I can say what happened was definitely a big mistake, but it was an aberration.  It doesn’t define me. 
Most of us have had our troubled, angry, mistake-ridden times in life…mine just came up later in life and were spread across the Plain Dealer.  

Through that time, though, the wrestling people, honestly, never even batted an eye, they always made me feel welcome, they were the only group of people that made me feel like that incident was not ever going to define me.  They were the only ones who said, “you’ll get it back together. That was a bad night.  You need to move on”. 

Don’t get me wrong.  I took a fair share of hits during that time from people I’d never expect it from also.  A few people I was pretty close to, turned on me the hardest, but when I sat back and thought about the ones that did that kind of thing specifically, I realized the only reason those specific people were ever around me at all was because of wrestling or something else superficial.  Mostly just “hangers-on” or “users” type people.  They come around when the flame burns hot and piss on it if it looks like it’s going out.  Some even had the nerve to return once I started getting myself back together.  Like I’m still that naïve.
“Falling from grace”, or whatever, is a horrible experience no doubt, but I’ll tell you, it is also a rare opportunity at the same time.  Now, of course, I don’t suggest it at all to anyone, but if you find yourself in it like I was, it will give you a scary amount of insight into people you otherwise would never ever get to see.  Some people come shining through, literally like the angel on your shoulder but others grow horns and claws and are suddenly looking for your blood.   
(Admin Note:  This concluded the original Ohio Wrestling Site interview with Fried, but readers were subsequently permitted to submit questions to Alan Fried, which he answered in the following addendum to the original interview).

OHIO WRESTLING SITE: Like the NY Yankees, your high school, Lakewood St. Edward was considered by many to be an "evil empire”- despised because of their own success.  What was it like to be working so hard in the room and routinely being rooted against in most matches?  

ALAN FRIED: Once you’re on the “winning” team, you never look at another winning team like they are any different.  The “us and them” frame of mind goes away, because you know how stupid and wasteful it is to point and say, “well, they have it easy over there cuz of this or that.”  It’s never easy for anyone, and it’s especially hard to establish a “dynasty”, no matter what you’re into.  And, in my opinion, jealousy will eat you alive.  

OHIO WRESTLING SITE: The North Allegheny dual loss in 1988 snapped a pretty long dual streak for St. Edward. What impact did that loss have?  

ALAN FRIED: Well, they had it so easy at North Allegheny…I’m just kidding.  Well, you know, we lost and we were upset for a few days.  We just came back on Monday and had a good practice.  Champions don’t bask and sulk in the days following a loss.  That’s a crucial time in the process.  Be careful, I think, not to relive your worst or lowest moments too often…because that’s what you might become.  

OHIO WRESTLING SITE: In 1989, St. Edward avenged the loss.  Was winning this dual something the team was extremely focused on?   
ALAN FRIED: Definitely! But if we would have lost again, we would have been upset for a few days and came back on Monday, you know.  That dual was won by our heavyweight Matt Ramser who was diagnosed with cancer a couple weeks later and passed away a year or so later.  So, our whole team thinks about that match as a special one.  It’s o.k. to relive those kinds of moments as often as you like.  

OHIO WRESTLING SITE: In the 1989 dual, you bumped way up to take on 2x Pennsylvania State Champ Rich Catalano at 152 and lost by major decision. What can you tell us about that match and how it affected you?  
ALAN FRIED: He was bigger and he was very good.  In fact, he was Junior National Champion that summer in Greco.  I had beaten him the summer before, so I was pretty confident I could handle the size difference.  And, it was worth putting my winning streak and reputation on the line for the team that day.  It hurt, but it was more of a novelty than anything.  Of course, I could have said no to Ferg, but it was just a dual meet and if I would have won, it would be an awesome story.  I like taking chances, what can I say?   The only thing that shocked me was that soon after that match, Gable called and told me he needed to recruit heavier guys and took my full-ride off the table.  That stung!  Then Catalano, the guy that beat me in the dual, ended up going to Iowa.  So, I guess they got a bigger guy.  Gable, of all people in the wrestling world, didn’t seem to consider how much an unexpected loss could serve as a motivator.    

OHIO WRESTLING SITE: What do you think of the rule changes in freestyle wrestling?  
ALAN FRIED: I can say they are drastic changes.  I definitely think there is some drastic change that needs to happen if we ever want to attract real attention to the sport, but I’m not sure if these rules really hit the mark.  Don’t worry, if you don’t like the rules now, they won’t last long.  

OHIO WRESTLING SITE: What are your thoughts on what should be done to market the sport?  
ALAN FRIED: I think for starters, too much writing about wrestling is nothing more than a box score in full sentence form.  I have almost never been intrigued by a wrestling article even if I was the subject of it.  There’s almost never any technical analysis or human interest elements involved.  I want to know something about the person.  That’s what makes things interesting.  I don’t even like watching wrestling that much.  That is, unless I know something about the person, then it’s great to watch.   I had a lamebrain idea that wrestling might work a little better for marketing purposes if maybe a couple of the more interesting world-team trials final matches were included at one of the “X-Games” events, or maybe on the under-card at a UFC event.  It’s not like wrestling hasn’t provided most of their great champions so far.  I don’t know.  How bad could that be?  It is kind of an extreme sport.  Not in the tricks/moves we do, meaning it’s not often flashy, but in the mentality and training. Globbing on to a setting that already has exposure would be the idea initially, then I guess, you see what happens and take it from there.  But, what do I know about marketing?

OHIO WRESTLING SITE: What is the most important area for a high school wrestler to develop as they transition to college wrestling?  
ALAN FRIED: Good finishes to shots, defense/go-behinds, front headlocks, and escapes.  Learn how to incorporate your hips into your moves!  That’s all I really even know.  

OHIO WRESTLING SITE: Alan, you competed once in a mixed martial arts event…..what can you tell us about that experience?
ALAN FRIED: Well, this is what happened.  I got a call on a Wednesday in August of 1997 from Rico Chiapparelli that a fighter had pulled out of a fight for that Saturday.  If I wanted, I could get on a plane to Japan the next morning and fill-in.  I had never trained for even a day, so I had one question for Rico, “Is he good?”.  To which he said, “They think so.”.  Ha!

I got there Thursday and was nine over the 154 lbs. we had to make.  It was the middle of summer.  I couldn’t really even beat anyone in practice, but they couldn’t beat me either.  They were constantly doing the arm bar on me, but I’d just limp-arm out of it.  Meanwhile, the gym I’m working out at has posters up all over the gym of the guy I’m fighting.  I find out I’m the feature on an eight fight card, there’s going to be a packed house and he is an excellent fighter.  I don’t even own a mouthpiece or a cup.  I’m screwed! 

Well, at the fight, they made me wear gloves.  So, when I took the guy down and he got the arm bar, I tried to limp-arm out, but he had his fingers inside my gloves.  I kind of tried to relax my arm, as a defense to an arm bar, but that didn’t work and my elbow snapped inside out. 

It probably took longer for someone to read this than the fight lasted, but if you really like to see me suffer, go look at the highlight video for “Rumina Sato” on youtube.com.  I’ve checked it out.  And, No! I am not the one he does the flying arm bar on!  Puuhleease. 

OHIO WRESTLING SITE: What is your take on the current high school and college landscape, technique-wise? Do you believe that it has become more diverse or more specialized from a technique standpoint?  
ALAN FRIED: The most interesting new thing in wrestling is the defense to shots where the defensive guy grabs ankles.  A few guys did this when I was in college, but that was it.  Now, it’s everywhere.  It’s excellent defense when it’s done correctly for either scoring or just burning up the clock.  It needs to be examined by coaches as to how you can win this position consistently.  I teach as a defense to that defense to do a basic sprawl when the guy dives, but still hang on to his leg.  But when the ankles are grabbed, it’s a whole new ball game technically.  MMA, I think, brought that to wrestling more than anything.  

OHIO WRESTLING SITE:  Which current college programs do you think is the most well rounded, technique wise?
ALAN FRIED: Well, Oklahoma State still has had that edge for a while now.  They’ve been the most fun team to watch.  It’s going to be great with Brands and Gable at Iowa again.  Sanderson at Iowa State is interesting, too.  Could he be as successful a coach as a wrestler? Or could Brands? Gable was.  Smith could possibly be.  But they are all coaching at the same time now!  As for Ohio State, in my opinion, they should be up near the top almost immediately.  That’s a great staff too.      

OHIO WRESTLING SITE: With the number of off-season folkstyle opportunities growing, should a wrestler whose primary goals lie in folkstyle wrestling still train in all three styles…… folkstyle, freestyle, and Greco?
ALAN FRIED: I say, just go where the competition is, regardless of style.  Until Junior Nationals are folkstyle, your best kids are probably going to be training and competing freestyle in the summer.  What good is another folkstyle match against another wrestler who is avoiding the real competition.  It’s still mostly about who can get the takedown.   But, that’s not good to hear about more folkstyle tournaments in the off-season.  I think all of high school and college should go freestlyle and I always have.  I think, every level of wrestling in the USA should adopt whatever the International rules are each year.  Why is that such an impossible concept to get across to the NCAA or OHSAA, I’ll never know.    I know folk-style would be missed, and I like the crazy scrambles and all, but the same people will still come watch their teams and their kids compete.  Let the veteran’s age group guys wrestle folk-style if they want.   All we really have as wrestlers is the Olympics to look forward to.  I mean, NCAA’s is our big event, but it would still be NCAA’s if it were freestyle.  Why work for years at a style that isn’t even in the Olympics? I don’t think you see that in any other sport.    Wrestling in the USA is so caught up in the USA “tradition” of folkstyle and the rest of the wrestlers around the world are like, “Go ahead.  Waste all your time.  Don’t worry, we’ll show you a few tilts when we wrestle you.”  The USA still does so well and could probably dominate the world if we didn’t WASTE 50% of our training or more on folkstyle.    

OHIO WRESTLING SITE: Have you ever wrestled against either Dan Carcelli or Steve St. John in competition?
ALAN FRIED:  Not St. John.  I beat Carcelli (Admin Note: score of 19-6) at Midlands in the semi’s in 1991 before the Brands match.  So, he made it to the semi’s as a Freshman.  That’s pretty solid. 

OHIO WRESTLING SITE: How do you feel that John Smith, Cary Kolat, and Tom Brands would have matched up against each other?
ALAN FRIED: Well, I know Smith beat Brands the one time they wrestled in 1991 or 92, I think.  Smith was up big, like 12-0 or something, but couldn’t tech-fall him.  The final score was, I think 13-4.  It’s hard to believe Kolat never wrestled either of them, but it never happened.  I was real interested in how that would have gone down with him and Brands.  I can’t even speculate. 
 
OHIO WRESTLING SITE: How does it feel to have been such an icon, and influenced an entire generation of Ohio wrestlers?  Is it something you ever think about?
ALAN FRIED: That’s an interesting question and a huge compliment.  I never looked at myself that way.

But, I think if you actually give people your respect and time, some as fans, others as students or coaches, especially in our sport, you reap benefits a hundred times over.  Truthfully, people who get into wrestling are some of the highest quality people I’ve ever met.  They like work.  They like the idea of work.  They are attracted to character and integrity, not flash bulbs and fireworks and hype.

My parents stayed out of the wrestling/training aspect of my career completely.  They never even expressed an opinion.  They would urge my coaches to work me harder so I’d be more tired around the house and that was more being funny than anything.  Off the mat though, they were in charge and they gave me some pretty serious rules to follow, especially when the attention started picking up. 
You know, I’ll kind of list it, so my folks, that is Ken and Elaine Fried, can be remembered by everyone who reads this.  Basically, they said, and it was always in a lighthearted way, to: 1.  Never let success get to your head – it can be over SO fast and if you’re a jerk to people, and act like you don’t need them, then you’ll have no one around when you are in need.  2. Be courteous with your time – like, let people vent about their entire wrestling career to you over a beer or cup of coffee or something if you can.  3. Answer fan mail or phone calls if you ever get any – but don’t be naïve about it.  4.  Never turn away a serious student, and 5.  When you teach, show exactly how you do the moves until the other person “gets” it.  Basically, it just comes back to being a good person/human being first, then being a good athlete. 

When you enter someone’s life as a person they respect through sports, you immediately have their attention and respect.  I think this is especially true with wrestling.  Most people, even in the general population, who might not cross the street to watch a world championship finals match, still know from their experiences in school and things, that wrestling is probably the hardest sport in the world.

If you give that same attention and respect back, you can inspire that person.  When someone inspires you, it never leaves you and you’re connected to that person forever.  I tried to connect with people that wanted to connect with me and give off the vibe that whatever I did, you can do that and even more.   
So, let me say, it was a pleasure speaking with you, really.  I think we covered every little thing that there is about me.  Sorry if I misused anyone’s name or told a story wrong, of course and a special congratulations to Bill Zadick.  I only told our story to illustrate how passionate wrestlers can be about their goals.  No harm intended.  Just having a little fun.  I said I had an immense amount of respect for him, and I knew how tough he was even then, or else I probably wouldn’t be fighting with him, right?  To his brother Mike, too, congratulations!       

I’ve been grateful to have a chance to speak out a little, especially since I gave the sport a black eye a few years back.  I feel like an open book right now, which is a little scary, but so be it.  People will probably forget it all in 24 hours anyway.   But, if anyone actually makes it through the entire interview, maybe they’ll see that there’s nothing very tricky about becoming successful at wrestling.  Just work on the basics and dust yourself off after every setback…you can’t lose. 

OHIO WRESTLING SITE: Alan, it’s been an honor and a pleasure speaking with you! On behalf of all Ohio wrestling fans- thanks for these interviews and the many great memories you’ve given us!