Alec Pantaleo

Alec William Pantaleo (born July 9, 1996) is an American freestyle wrestler and graduated folkstyle wrestler who competes at 70 kilograms. In freestyle, he is the defending U.S. Open champion, was the 2021 Pan American Continental champion, claimed the 2021 Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series and the 2021 Poland Open titles, earned silver and bronze medals (2021 and 2018, respectively) at the U.S. Open, and was a 2019 U23 U.S. team member. As a folkstyle wrestler, Pantaleo was a three-time NCAA DI All-American and a Big Ten Conference champion out of the University of Michigan.

Folkstyle career

High school Born and raised in Michigan, Pantaleo attended Canton High School. While a high schooler, he became a MHSAA state champion as a sophomore and, after losing his junior season to injury, claimed runner-up honors at the state tournament as a senior, graduating with a 177–9 record and a 51–1 record in his last year.

College After his high school career, Pantaleo was recruited by the University of Michigan.

2014-15 In his freshman year, Pantaleo made his collegiate debut at the Michigan State Open, claiming the title. An unseeded wrestler, he then went on to place second at the prestigious Cliff Keen Memorial Invitational and racked up an 8–4 dual record during regular season. At the Big Ten Conference Championships, he reached the consolation semifinals before being eliminated. At the NCAA tournament, he went 2–2.

2015-16 As a sophomore, Alec achieved All-American honors by placing sixth at the NCAA Division I national championships at 149 lbs. He pinned Drexel's fourth-seeded Matthew Cimato in 3:48 in the quarterfinal to secure his first All-American honor.

A few weeks prior, Alec took third at the B1G conference championship with a 4–1 record, avenging an earlier season loss to former NCAA national champion Jason Tsirtsis with an 8–4 decision in the third-place bout. He also earned third place at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (Dec 4–5) with a 7–1 record.

2016-17 Alec redshirted and did not compete in collegiate wrestling.

2016 Alec won the Junior National Championships at 66 kg, beating Princeton's Matthew Kolodzik in the first place-bout. In the weeks following he made the United States Junior World team at 66 kg by beating Kolodzik two more times in a best-of-three final bout. Pantaleo went on to represent the United States at the Junior World Championships in Macon, France later that summer. While overseas he posted a 1–1 record, defeating Georgi Sulava from Georgia in the opening round, but eventually falling to Viaks Vikas from India in the following preliminary match. Pantaleo finished with a 10th-place finish at the 2016 Junior World Championships.

2017 Pantaleo placed 5th at the USA Senior National Men's Freestyle Championships at 70 kg in Las Vegas, Nevada

2018 Pantaleo placed 3rd at 70 kg at the 2018 Senior National Men's Freestyle National Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada. He also placed 3rd at the 2018 Senior World Team Trials at 70 kg in Rochester, Minnesota

2019 Alec won the 70 kg U23 National Championships in Akron, Ohio, and was bestowed the Outstanding Wrestler Award by USA wrestling following a remarkably dominant performance. Pantaleo posted a perfect 7–0 record and outscored his opponents by a margin of 69–2. Additionally, he secured his spot as a 2019 U23 World Team Member. Later that year, Pantaleo finished 8th in the world at the U23 World championships in Budapest, Hungary. In the opening round Pantaleo defeated Stefan Tonu of Moldova by a score of 8–0. He then fell to Daud Ibragimov of Azerbaijan by a score of 9–8. Pantaleo finished with a record of 1-1.

Domestically, Pantaleo also placed 4th at the 70 kg 2019 Senior National Men's Freestyle championships in Las Vegas, Nevada at and 8th at 74 kg in Fort Worth, Texas

2020 Pantaleo won gold at the Cerro Pelado International in Havana, Cuba with a perfect 5–0 record while representing the United States at 70 kg. In the finals Pantaleo beat former United States national champion/ world team member Reece Humphrey by a score of 7–2.

2021 Pantaleo earned a 3rd-place finish at the inaugural Flowrestling 150 lb 8-man bracket challenge in Austin, Texas. Pantaleo went 2–1 en route to a bronze medal, beating former NCAA national champions Jordan Oliver and Anthony Ashnault. Pantaleo fell to James Green by a score of 4–2 in the semi-finals.

Pantaleo claimed the 70 kg title at the Matteo Pellicone International in Rome, Italy in April 2021. Pantaleo beat 2019 world-finalist Daulet Niyazbekov of Kazakhstan in the opening round and gold medal match with respective scores of 6-2 and 4–0.

Domestically, Alec took 2nd at the 2021 U.S. Senior National Championships while competing at 70 kg. Pantaleo fell to James Green in the gold medal bout by a score of 2–7.

In June 2021, Alec Pantaleo won gold at the 2021 Pan American Wrestling Championships in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Pantaleo won all three of his matches by technical superiority, beating Carlos Romero Millaqueo from Chile with a score of 12–0 in the gold medal bout.

Pantaleo also claimed the 2021 Poland Open championship in Warsaw, Poland. Pantaleo defeated James Green in the final bout by a score of 5–3. In his semi-final bout, Pantaleo defeated three-time world champion and Olympic Bronze Medalist Haji Aliyev of Azerbaijan with a score of 6-6.

Pantaleo closed out his 2021 campaign with a medical withdrawal from the 2021 United States World Team Trials (wrestling). In his semi finals bout it is recorded that he sustained a rib related injury, causing for a medical forfeit. At that time of injury, Pantaleo was the top ranked wrestler in the world at 70 kg, according to United World Wrestling.

Freestyle record

Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event Location

Win 97-37

Win 96-37

Win 96-36

Loss 95-36

Loss 95-35

Win 95-34

Win 94-34

Loss 93-34

Loss 93-33

Loss 93-32

Win 93-31

Win 92-31

Win 91-31

Loss

Loss 90-31

Win 90-30

Win

Win 89-30

Win 88-30

Win 87-30

Loss 86-30

Loss 86-29

Loss 86-28

Win 86-27

Win 85-27

Loss 84-27

Win 84-26

Win 83-26

Win

Win 82-26

Win 81-26

Win 80-26

Win 79-26

Win 78-26

Loss 77-26

Win 77-25

Win 76-25

Win 75-25

Win 74-25

Win 73-25

Win 72-25

Win 71-25

Win 70-25

Win 69-25

Loss 68-25

Win 68-24

Win 67-24

Loss 66–24

Coralville, Iowa Loss 66–23

Win 66–22

Win 65–22

Las Vegas, Nevada Win 64–22

Win 63–22

Win 62–22

Win 61–22

Win 60–22

Detroit, Michigan

Loss 59–22

Krasnoyarsk, Russia

Loss 59–21

Win 59–20

Win 58–20

Warsaw, Poland Win 57–20

Loss 56–20

Win 56–19

Win 55–19

Win 54–19

Win 53–19

Loss 52–19

Win 52–18

Win 51–18

Win 50–18

Win 49–18

Loss 48–18

Fort Worth, Texas Loss 48–17

Win 48–16

Win 47–16

Win 46–16

Win 45–16

Win 44–16

Rome, Italy Win 43–16

Win 42–16

Win 41–16

Win 40–16

Austin, Texas Loss 39–16

Win 39–15

Win 38–15

Win 37–15

Win 36–15

Win 35–15

Loss 34–15

State College, Pennsylvania

Win 34–14

Havana, Cuba Win 33–14

Win 32–14

Win 31–14

Win 30–14

Loss 29–14

Las Vegas, Nevada Loss 29–13

Win 29–12

Loss 28–12

Win 28–11

Win 27–11

Loss 26–11

Budapest, Hungary Win 26–10

Win 25–10

Akron, Ohio Win 24–10

Win 23–10

Win 22–10

Win 21–10

Win 20–10

Win 19–10

Loss 18–10

Rochester, Minnesota Win 18–9

Loss 17–9

Loss 17–8

Las Vegas, Nevada Win 17–7

Loss 16–7

Win 16–6

Win 15–6

Win 14–6

Win 13–6

Win 12–6

Rochester, Minnesota Win 11–6

Loss 10–6

Win 10–5

Win 9–5

Las Vegas, Nevada Win 8–5

Loss 7–5

Win 7–4

Win 6–4

Win 5–4

Loss 4–4

Lincoln, Nebraska Loss 4–3

Win 4–2

Las Vegas, Nevada Loss 3–2

Loss 3–1

Win 3–0

Win 2–0

Win 1–0