Utah Tech psychology major leads small but successful Trailblazers wrestling club

Written by E. George Goold
December 15, 2022

ST. GEORGE — Zeke Alleman believes that wrestling is all about mind over matter.

Utah Tech wrestlers in a practice on campus, St. George, Utah, Dec. 8, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

“All roads lead back to a strong mental attitude,” Alleman told St. George News after a recent practice session with the Utah Tech wrestling club.

Indeed it may come as a surprise to fans in St. George that Utah Tech University has a wrestling squad.

“It’s a club sport, so it’s all student-run and student-led,” Alleman said. “That means we have to take care of our own expenses and fundraising.”

Alleman is the wrestling club president, a volunteer coach and also a potential national champion for the Trailblazers this winter. He came to St. George from Irvine, California, where he was a standout high school wrestler.

In the wrestling room in the Student Activities Center on the Utah Tech campus, eight men and four women worked out in early December as Alleman and volunteer coach Corey Anderson put the Trailblazers through their paces.

“There’s no one there that hasn’t wrestled before,” Alleman said about the student-athletes who make up the group. “Some of them are coming back to it, some of them never left it.”

Some of the wrestlers are fresh off their high school teams. Others are multi-sport athletes who like the workout. And there’s a handful who just want to participate, understand the sport and be around their teammates.

“It’s an opportunity to learn, an opportunity for leadership,” Alleman said. “We’re not here to force them into anything, we want to have the sport be fun.”

As a senior majoring in psychology, Alleman said he is amazed at all of the connections he sees between his chosen expertise and coaching his favorite sport.

“All the time,” Alleman said. “I love psychology just in general. I see those techniques that turn that into awareness and engagement through wrestling. Viewing it as an opportunity and a challenge to be overcome, that’s the kind of perspective you can apply to anything.”

The level of commitment, dedication and practice quadruple once you start talking about collegiate wrestling, Alleman said.

“The first thing they learn is it’s a major jump to the college level,” Alleman said. “College wrestling is all about how you use your head, mentally and physically.”

He added that he tries to teach the wrestlers “not to have tunnel vision. It’s about framing your perspective, about seeing wrestling not so much as rigid and tense but seeing as much of the whole picture as you can.”

Utah Tech senior Zeke Alleman, right, instructs the Trailblazers in wrestling practice, St. George, Utah, Dec. 8, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

Utah Tech’s wrestlers grapple in the National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA).

Alleman said that last year the Trailblazers competed in open tournaments at schools like Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, Colorado, and the Wyoming Open in Laramie, Wyoming.

These competitions feature athletes from some of the very best wrestling schools in the country, Alleman said.

And he should know. Last March in Allen, Texas, Alleman reached the semifinals of the NCWA Grand National Tournament before falling in double overtime to three-time national champion Jeffrey Allen of Liberty University.

“My mindset is, he may have won three national championships, but he’s not going to get four,” Alleman said.

According to NCWA rankings released Nov. 28, Alleman has a 5-0 individual record and is No. 4 in the country in the 235-pound class. Ranked first is defending champion Allen, who is 7-1 as a graduate student at Liberty.

Also listed in the NCWA rankings is Utah Tech sophomore Nicolas Guynn, No. 13 in the 165-pound division.

On the women’s team, Utah Tech sophomore Ashley Lavarias is ranked No. 7 in the 136-pound class.

All of the Trailblazers are excited, Alleman said, about the venue for the 2023 NCWA national championships: the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in Puerto Rico.

“We’re going to San Juan,” he said of the national tournament that runs March 9-11.

Utah Tech club sports

Wrestling is one of nine sports/activities that have clubs at Utah Tech.

The others are competitive climbing, competitive table tennis, men’s volleyball, pickleball, esports, lacrosse, water polo and weightlifting.

Alleman said anyone interested in supporting these clubs by participating or fundraising can do so at this link. Fans can direct their support to any or all of the clubs by scrolling through the “Make a selection” bar.

Photo Gallery

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Eric George Goold came to St. George News from southwestern Colorado, where he was a radio news reporter. He has been a journalist for over 20 years in five different states. He graduated with a master's degree in English from Kansas State University and writes nonfiction as well. Goold has been published in Sunstone Magazine and has done multiple public readings about local history. When he has free time, he enjoys chess, movies and dogs.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!