RENO— Finishing second at the NHSCA National Wrestling Championship in Virgina Beach last month was one of the toughest moments in Alexander Felix’s young career. He was dominate for most of the match, but one slip-up led a crushing defeat—but added fuel to his fire to work harder.
Felix took that motivation and turned it into a first place finish at the 2014 Reno Worlds wrestling tournament held April 11-13 in Reno, Nev. The Gilroy Hawks wrestler outlasted 117 other competitors in the 15 and under 115 lb. bracket from all over the country. Second place wasn’t an option in Felix’s mind and he was determined never to fell the way he did after Nationals again.
“I think I should I have won (at Nationals),” he said. “I was winning and towards the end that’s when he got his points on me. I just trained harder and went out there and I knew I wasn’t going to lose again.”
Felix handled his Day 1 opponents with ease, pinning the first two and tech falling the third. Day 2 kicked off with Felix wrestling the No. 1 seed out of Oregon, who he beat 4-2. But the toughest competition came in the semifinals against Devin Turner, a wrestler out of Dixon. The match went into overtime with Felix winning 5-1. Compared to the semis, the finals match was small potatoes. Felix easily handled Kurt Mode, the Oregon High School state champion in a dominate 6-0 performance.
“It was really interesting because I’ve been to the tournament before and I just knew this year was my year,” Felix said. “When I found out I had a bigger bracket, I just wanted to go hard and prove to myself that I was the best in the tournament and I guess that’s what I did.”
Felix has been wrestling since he was 4 years old and joined the Gilroy Hawks four years ago when his family moved from Hollister. He has wrestled in the Reno Worlds Tournament every year since he was 6.
Felix is following in the footsteps of his dad, Alexander Sr., who wrestled for El Centro from 1986-1990—though his son is leaps and bounds better than he was during his wrestling career, he said.
“He’s come a long ways,” Alexander Sr., said. “He’s matured a lot. His confidence level is there and just being with Gilroy, period, have been key figures in his success coming through.”
Alexander Jr., will continue training with coaches Greg Varela and Jason Villarreal when he joins the Gilroy Mustangs team next season. All this competition, he said, is helping him prepare for the next level.
“It’s getting me ready (for high school),” he said. “I have great coaches and great partners that push me.”
