We caught up with Alex after he has trained for a few days. One of his recent training partners was 2008 Olympic Silver Medalist Mirko Englich. Alex will give us some insight in the extension of his stay at the OTC.
York College Wrestling: Alex, tell us the deal, you have decided to extend your stay at the OTC?
Alex Martocello: I decided to extend the trip. I was talking to my mom and my dad and they said it’s a really unique opportunity. I told them how I was really getting a lot out of it. Originally I was only going to stay until this Sunday, then I talked to my mom and she said, “Will you stay longer?” and I said yeah, so she said, “Stay as long as you want.” I’ll be leaving the 23rd of July.
YCPW: So how did things go with the German yesterday?
AM: A little rough, I got fived (hit with the biggest scoring move in international wrestling) twice. I think he was being nice, he could have fived me a lot more. He hit me with two belly to belly throws. He just stepped in and hit the throw from an over and under hook situation. He took me down one time and I banged my knee up and he was like, “Alex, Alex, you okay?” And I was like yeah, just give me a second. He took Silver at Beijing at 96 Kgs. He’s a big boy. My group of three was him, the 96 Kg Junior World Team Member and me.
Video below is of Mirko Englich from the 2010 World Championships in Moscow, Russia
Here is video of a German commercial by Adidas featuring Mirko
YCPW: Are you starting to talk in Metric terms now?
AM: Yeah, the weight room is really confusing. I have no idea how much weight I am doing, I just try to throw stuff on there and see what I can do. They have these boxes on the racks we never do our lifts from the floor. Things are done from the box, box high-pulls, box cleans.
YCPW: What other kind of cool things are you doing?
AM: We had today completely off. In the morning session yesterday we had three man groups with 30 live shots that were a minute and a half each. That was pretty rough. We also had a live session from our feet and par terre, but it was a scaled back version. This wasn’t live where if someone starts to slow down you don’t get on them and say, “Let’s go, let’ go,” it was more like 50%. I was hanging out with Kendrick Sanders the other day and we were watching a match of his when he wrestled in the Junior National finals and I asked how he did in Fargo and he goes, “I won it three times.” I did beat him in basketball in Around the World, I was on fire today. I was feelin’ it man.
YCPW: How are they splitting your training?
AM: Monday we had a lift in the morning and wrestled in the afternoon. I don’t know if they are feeling it out by the way guys are looking or how tough the first session was, but the split the groups in the afternoon, heavy guys went earlier and the light guys went later yesterday. Today they gave us completely off, but they said we can practice if we want to. Even Mirko Englich, the 2008 Silver medalist said, “That won’t be necessary.”
YCPW: What’s the buzz around the OTC about Cael Sanderson’s comeback?
AM: You know it’s weird no one really talks about it. Greco guys are pretty much Greco guys. I asked one of the guys about a nutrition meeting we were supposed to have and he said he didn’t know anything about the Greco schedule. It’s like two different sports. I was drilling with one of the University of Minnesota wrestlers that is on the Junior World Team and I asked a freestyle/folkstyle question and the coach just said, “No freestyle, no freestyle, no freestyle,” and just walked away.
YCPW: Have you been down into town at all?
AM: Yeah, we’ve seen a couple movies so far at a dollar movie theater. The town itself is cool, it’s a Midwest town. We’re taking cabs everywhere, so basically we go to Wal-Mart, the mall. I never saw a mountain lion before from a real perspective. I saw one in a hunting store, those things are huge. It’s like a lion. I saw it the day before we went to the Cog and I thought, “I hope one of these doesn’t swipe me off the trail.”
YCPW: What do you have going on for training in the coming days?
AM: We got a handout with the format of our training and it ends tomorrow, so we’ll probably play it by ear.
YCPW: You’ve been there for eight days, do you feel a difference in your lungs, have you acclimatized at all?
AM: Definitely, absolutely. From the first day I feel 100% better. I am hoping that this benefit can carry on for however long. I’m looking forward to coming home and training.
YCPW: What is the most valuable thing you have gained in terms of training since you have been there?
AM: I think mostly that these guys aren’t doing things that much differently than us. The confidence that I have built is pretty huge.
YCPW: Can you leave us with one last thing before we end the interview?
AM: Sure, before the first session yesterday Coach Fraser said, “All-American guys over here. Listen guys, I have seen some of you guys wrestle live, you’re wrestling like Europeans. Never forget the spirit we have, you’ve got to go out and score. It doesn’t matter if you’re winning or losing, we just have to score. Come at those guys. You got the conditioning; our best chance to win a medal in this upcoming World’s Championship is to take it to them on their feet and not waiting for par terre with their chess games. Come at them for the full match.” It was cool, I was really pumped up after that. He talked about the American spirit and the American style that we have to stick to. It’s been very cool.
