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ST. GEORGE — The convention center in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is a long way from the sunny infield of Bruce Hurst Stadium on the campus of Utah Tech University, but four Trailblazers brought both of those worlds together Tuesday afternoon.
Four grapplers from Utah Tech’s wrestling team were honored by staff and faculty members in a ceremony before a university softball game.
Zeke Alleman, Matthu Martinez, Ruben Zarate and Nic Guynn were recognized after their historic seasons concluded in mid-March at the National Collegiate Wrestling Association national championships in San Juan.
Alleman, as previously reported in St. George News, is the team captain and co-coach. The senior from Orange County, California, finished runner-up to four-time National Champion Jeff Allen from Liberty University.
Alleman fell to Allen 5-4 in a thrilling championship match in the 235-pound class.
“To be the first national finalist that Utah Tech has ever had, the first one our conference has seen in seven years, it’s a pretty humbling thing to be able to represent us in that way,” Alleman told St. George News in an interview shortly after he returned from San Juan.
Others might view it as a heartbreaker that Alleman fell for the second year in a row at nationals against Allen, but Alleman doesn’t see it that way.
“I brought him to the wire again. I made him work for it,” Alleman said, noting that he beat Allen’s Liberty teammate 7-0 in the semifinals.
“My main goal was to have no regrets. I knew that I had worked as hard as I could leading up to that,” Alleman added. “I knew very well it could be my last event I ever competed in. I wanted to go after him and I did.”
He said that he worked as hard as he could in the final match to make sure that if Allen was going to get the win, he was going to earn it.
“I’m at peace with that,” Alleman said. “Not to say I’m happy that I lost, but I know I did everything I could do.”
The NCWA national championships came a couple of weeks after the West Coast Conference Championships at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. At that event, Utah Tech finished with a program record of three individual conference champions.
Alleman was WCC champion at 235 pounds, while freshman Nic Guynn (165 pounds) and senior Ruben Zarate (heavyweight) also picked up individual conference crowns.
The Utah Tech trio earned berths at nationals via their conference titles while sophomore Matthu Martinez earned a spot in San Juan via a wildcard invitation, competing in the 174-pound class.
“It was very memorable for me because of how hard both the coaches (Allman and head coach Corey Anderson) were working for me to get in there,” Martinez told St. George News at the ceremony on Tuesday.
“Awesome to have that moment, not just with the team but with myself, knowing that next year I’ll have a chance to get there again,” Martinez added. “It was amazing, honestly, watching all three of my teammates winning conference and being champions, showing how much Utah Tech has grown.”
Big man Ruben Zarate worked his whole career at Utah Tech to get to nationals, battling through the COVID-19 pandemic and coming up short a couple of times before this triumphant season.
“I’m very, very proud. I tried to wrestle there for three years,” Zarate said. “To be able to be such a small team, so I know them very personally and we hang out a lot. It was very exciting.”
Zarate said he will cherish his memories of winning the conference individual title.
“While I was preparing to go into the match, this guy had been wrestling maybe a total of 30 seconds so he was just pinning everyone,” Zarate described, adding that his unfamiliarity with his final opponent led him to consult his coaches about strategy.
“This was completely different to what I wrestled, but I trusted the process and I was able to come out a champion,” Zarate said. “It was pretty cool to see my teammates and my wife there to support me.”
Nic Guynn’s individual WCC title represented a shocking improvement after he went from seventh place in the conference standings last year to first this year.
“Just hard work, dedication and a lot of self-control when it comes to off-season workouts,” Guynn said when asked to account for his dramatic improvement. “Having to sit down and tell yourself, ‘I need to keep going, I’m not done yet,’ is a huge part of it.”
Guynn, from Fresno, California, had a strong support system from his parents, Jeff and Anne. His father, a wrestling coach himself, makes the nine-hour drive to St. George several times throughout the season to be there for his son.
“Just making it to the (WCC) finals and qualifying for nationals was a huge honor,” Nic Guynn said. “Having a chance to come away with that victory was more than I could ever ask for.”
Guynn and Martinez both said they’ll be back wrestling for Utah Tech next year. Alleman, who could potentially have two more years of eligibility if he comes back as a graduate student, is considering a job offer in law enforcement and isn’t certain if he’ll return.
Alleman and the rest of the wrestlers all had high praise for coach Corey Anderson, and Alleman said the team received unwavering administrative support from Utah Tech Director of Campus Recreation David Howell.
“Without David Howell, there wouldn’t be a wrestling team,” Alleman said.
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