Wrestling
Favorite athlete: Takeru Kobayashi
Favorite team: Philadelphia Phillies
Favorite memory competing in sports: Winning the New Hope-Solebury Tournament
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Last year, my teammates and I made a royal-rumble themed senior night promo video. (hint: YouTube search "wrestling senior night." It's the roughly 12th response, and the account is called "Zach Levy")
Music on iPod: Led Zeppelin to the Temptations to Blink 182 to Old Crow Medicine Show and every crevasse in between.
Future plans: Keep livin' the dream
Words to live by: "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may."
One goal before turning 30: Take advantage of as many opportunities that life hurls at me as possible.
One thing people don't know about me: I was the #1 baseball trivia player in the world on "QuuizUp". I also enjoy poetry.
By GORDON GLANTZ
Cement mixer? Cow catcher?
In the alternate universe that is the wrestling world, these moves equate to flea-flicker or a double-reverse in football, and they can leave an opponent as deflated as a New England Patriots’ football.
Early last season, when Abington’s Alex Winshel successfully deployed one of the moves – which are similar, but with subtle differences – it was the seminal moment in his wrestling career.
The stage was the New Hope-Solebury Tournament, and his pin of Westtown’s Jared Marshall propelled him to a new level.
“It has been great watching him grow from a scrawny 106-pound freshman kid into a solid 132-pound young man,” said Abington coach John Gillespie. “I guess the moment that I am proudest of so far is his performance in the finals at the New Hope Tournament last year when he pinned his opponent from Westtown in the finals with a cement job. The Westtown wrestler was fighting for all he was worth, but Alex just refused to let go and forced him from his feet right to his back for the stick.”
Winshel, who began wrestling at age five, has been on the Abington varsity since his freshman year, but it was the first time his confidence exceeded his adrenalin.
“Looking back, the move I used to pin him is called a cow catcher, rather than a cement mixer,” said Winshel, correcting his earlier claim, and that of Gillespie, that it was a cement mixer. “The two moves are similar, but in my case it was a cow catcher.
“The reason it was such a turning point was because of the confidence it gave me. Yes, I had improved technically, too. However, the win boosted my confidence in my own stuff. My sophomore year didn't go as I would have liked having not qualified for districts, and that was partly because the mental aspect of my game wasn't completely seasoned.
“Wrestling, being a one-on-one sport, the importance of mental preparation cannot be understated. So, my win at New Hope helped me move past any mental blocks I had and allowed me to believe that I have the ability to compete.”
The win was anything but a fluke. He was anything but the blind squirrel catching that acorn.
It was the result of an offseason, between his sophomore and freshman campaigns, when he focused on a best-or-bust mission.
“I had wrestled varsity my freshman and sophomore years, and I did alright,” he said. “But I would doubt myself. That offseason, I worked out hard. That was the first tournament of my junior season, and everything just fell into place, and I ended up winning the tournament. It was a pretty quick match. I used (the cow catcher) and threw him to his back and pinned him.
“It reassured me that I was here and able to compete with top-level guys.”
Live Today, Fight Tomorrow
Winshel, the Univest Featured Male Athlete of the Week, was buoyed by his win at New Hope and went on to qualify for districts after overcoming an ankle injury in the league tournament to earn the mandatory medal that serves as a passport to the postseason’s primetime.
“When I sprained my ankle, I thought my season was over,” said Winshel, who said he took ice treatments and went to bed that night, the one in between the first and second days of the league meet, hoping for the best but prepared for the worst.
Then a 126-pounder, he reached districts but was unable to make much of a dent on his bad ankle, but he sees himself as a true contender in this his final year on the mat.
This year, at 132, he is focusing on going one step beyond, by mixing it up – with or without cement – against the best wrestlers in the state tournament.
“Generally, it’s going pretty well,” he said, explaining that another nagging injury is keeping him in and out of lineup.
“I just want to live today so that I can fight tomorrow,” he continued. “I want to be as healthy as I can heading into districts. Ultimately, I want to get to states. I think I can wrestle (at the state level). I know it’s an ambitious goal, but I’m not going to go down without a fight.”
Win or lose, that has never been Winshel’s style, or outlook on life.
He keeps on fighting.
Living Proof
Fabled wrestler Dan Gable has a saying: “Once you’ve wrestled, everything else in life is easy.”
For those who would be tempted to give a derisive yawn and roll their eyes, they might want to try walking a mile in Winshel’s shoes.
He is living proof.
While he was an active lad, wrestling in Neshaminy’s youth program – despite living in Abington – as soon as he was eligible, he was diagnosed with Chrone’s disease, an inflammatory bowel condition, in fourth grade.
“I was a happy-go-lucky kid,” he said. “Then, I was down to 50 pounds in fourth grade. I was just emaciated.”
It took several years and multiple opinions before surgery helped to stabilize the condition that he has since kept under control with proper diet.
“I know what foods will upset my stomach,” he said. “I know my body pretty well. It helped me mature, too.
“It really wasn’t the end of the world.”
The potential for that was yet to come.
Hard Stuff to Overcome
In 2008, the same year as the surgery put his Chrone’s under control, his father, Harold, was diagnosed with a lethal form of brain cancer. Despite a valiant 25-month battle, he succumbed when Alex was in eighth grade.
“It was a hard experience,” said Winshel. “It forced me to mature. My parents were flying all over the country, seeking experimental treatments. I had to be independent. The whole family’s focus turned to him. I was not thinking about myself a whole lot.”
Despite the setbacks, it is simply not in his wiring to let the adversity get the best of him. That would be like forfeiting a match without trying.
“Adversity can inspire you to reach your goals,” said Winshel. “I have undergone some stuff, but it helped me to mature. Sometimes, I have to remind myself where I came from. I had some hard stuff to overcome, but the best policy is to move forward.”
Moving forward will likely involve a career in biology or medicine, although he is not ruling out majoring in something other than pre-med as an undergraduate at either Penn State or Rutgers, where his father worked in IT.
It is not by chance that his experiences have pointed him toward a career in medicine.
“My dad's illness obviously influenced me greatly and would make me want to help others in similar situations,” said Winshel, whose older sister, Emily, attends Temple. “However, my interest in medicine largely stems from my curiosity in the way things work. That being said, my own illness definitely caused an increased awareness in my own body and motivated me to become knowledgeable about my condition. Ultimately, both factors may have played roles in influencing me.”
The Comeback
Between his own health, and that of his father, wrestling was not a high priority.
“When I got Crohn’s disease in fourth grade, I took a few years off,” he said. “I planned to come back in sixth or seventh grade.”
As it was, he did not come back to the mat until eighth grade, making the climb back to prominence all the more inspiring.
“When Alex returned to the sport, he was immediately thrust into the position of being a varsity starter as a freshman and he had to work very hard to develop and hone his skills after the time spent away from the sport,” said Gillespie. “In addition to trying to over-coming his father’s passing and trying to catch up with missed mat time, Alex also has had to deal with Crohn’s disease. Alex struggled at times, but he has never quit and he has continued to work hard both during the season and in the off-season. He is an unquestioned team leader who leads by example and effort.
“Every year of his career Alex has improved, and it has been my honor and pleasure to help and watch him develop as a wrestler and as a young man.”
While it was his late father who got him into wrestling, Winshel says his dad was never “that parent” at meets.
“I don’t even think he intended for me to start wrestling that young,” said Winshel. “I took it seriously, but my dad never pushed me. He supported me, but never pushed me.”
Still, wrestling again without his father in the bleachers was not easy.
If the void has been filled, Winshel points to three assistant coaches – Rich Delgado and Mark and Matt Mandel – for being there for him.
“Any success I have, I owe to them,” he said. “Those three taught me how to wrestle.”
And Gillespie’s presence at the top of the hierarchy of his second family, Winshel says, has been irreplaceable.
“He has been key in helping me be successful,” he said. “We have a very close relationship, and he has been crucial to any success I have had.”
Defining the Label
Google student-athlete, and Alex Winshel just might be the first hit.
It is pretty simple for Winshel, who just so happens to be president of his senior class.
“There is a reason they call it a student-athlete,” he said. “I always went to school with the intent to learn.”
It does not go unnoticed.
“He has distinguished himself as a capable and conscientious student, and he is very respected by his teachers for his efforts,” said Gillespie. “Alex’s teachers have had nothing but positive comments to give me about his academic efforts and general classroom presence.”
In addition to his involvement in student government and his standing in the top 10 percent of his class, Winshel is in the Key Club and is one of the primary organizers of Mini THON, which is modeled after the Penn State event that raises money for the fight against pediatric cancer.
For those who would scoff at becoming immersed in school-related activities or who would feel peer-pressured out of it, Winshel has a strong message to send in response.
“First of all, it’s a great experience,” he said. “Getting involved, it’s the best decision you can make. You should be as well-rounded as you can be.”
Winshel is most proud of the Mini THON event and is enthused about its possibilities, even though the planning and actual event more or less coincide with the wrestling postseason and states.
“Our goal is $20,000 this year,” he said. “Last year was the first year for it at Abington, and we raised $18,000. It was really a great effort. I was honored to take the position this year as a head organizer.”
As for the timing, with February planning and a mid-March target date, he is taking it in stride.
“It keeps me busy, that’s for sure,” he said.
The boundless energy is in Winshel’s genes, as he sees his mother, Elinore, a student advisor at Montgomery Country Community College, as “one of the busiest women I’ve ever met.” He refers to her as “super woman” and is still in awe about how she managed her time while flying coast to coast with her husband in search of a cure.
As for his successful run for class president, Winshel just feels his ability to “relate to a lot of people” helped put him over the top.
“I connect with the student body,” said Winshel, who plays guitar and piano. “I’m pretty social, and I know a lot of the people in my grade.
“I liked the idea (of running). I naturally want to lead things. I tend to drift toward wanting to be in a leadership role. The biggest part of the job is letting them know I have their best interests at heart.
“But, it’s not like being the president of the United States or anything.”
Maybe not, but his is the type of true student-athlete that represents the best of his school and generation.
“Alex is a great young man who has had to overcome a lot of obstacles in his life to succeed,” said Gillespie. “His efforts have not gone unnoticed by his teachers, coaches, teammates, and fellow students and as a result he has a well-earned reputation as a student, athlete, and leader.
“When I think of Alex Winshel, the words that come to mind are hard-working, dedication, and perseverance. Life has thrown Alex a lot of curves and obstacles, but he has kept working, kept pushing, and kept leading.”
