Charlie Alexander openly admits he’s not the prototypical heavyweight wrestler.
Listed at just 5’10, Alexander is quite smaller than what Oregon head coach Chuck Kearney says is the prototype for a wrestler: 6’3 and around 250 pounds. You’d imagine such a size difference in the heavyweight division should be a hindrance, especially for somebody in their first year of Division I collegiate wrestling.
“I do admit I don’t look like I’m really that tough, but if you haven’t wrestled me before you’ll be surprised,” Alexander said, catching his breath after a practice punctuated by extra conditioning.
What’s the secret, then? The old maxim holds true for the barrel-chested Alexander: It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog – or, in this case, the Duck.
“He competes with the expectation that he’s going to be successful, and that rubs off,” Kearney said.
“Charlie’s got a lot of heart, and every match ever since I’ve watched him he’s gone out and competed hard,” redshirt sophomore teammate Ron Lee said.
Heart can take you a long way on the mat, it would seem. Alexander, in his first full season wrestling for Oregon after redshirting last year, currently leads Oregon with 17 wins out of 22 matches in his weight class this year. Only Lee, who is 16-5 at 174 pounds and 2-0 at 184, has a better record so far this season. Considering that Lee made the NCAA Championships last year, that’s pretty good company.
Not quite good enough for Alexander, though. He says that though his success isn’t entirely surprising – the best Division I wrestlers all have seen each other many times before even reaching college, Alexander explains – he’s still not satisfied with his season so far.
“No. I lost five matches,” Alexander said. “I can always do better.”
What he is satisfied about, though, is returning the favor from one of his losses. He singled out last Friday’s match against Northern Colorado’s Reece Hopkin. Alexander is pleased to vindicate one of those five losses.
“Last match (against Hopkin), it did stand out the most. That guy was nationally ranked and I lost to him already this year,” Alexander said. “There’s really not a better feeling than to beat someone that you lost to earlier.
“It feels a lot better to beat somebody after you lost to them than to just beat them for the first time.”

Gentle giant

Though serious when it comes to his progression this season, and already taking on the pressure of team leadership, Alexander has garnered a reputation for keeping the mood relaxed in the Oregon locker room.
“He keeps it loose, and it carries over to his leadership and it gets everyone together,” Lee said. Kearney focused on him as a key to the team both in the locker room and on the mat during meets for those same reasons.
A reason Alexander might be the happiest guy on the team is because he doesn’t have to partake in one of wrestling’s toughest activities: cutting weight for matches.
“I just like to make everyone smile, because everyone’s always down because they have to cut weight,” Alexander said with a smile of his own.
The redshirt freshman is living up to Kearney’s stated goal of recruiting athletes not only for their wrestling ability, but for their citizenship as well. Alexander is currently undeclared, but plans on studying political science and following that with a post-graduate master’s degree in education to teach high school government classes. Alexander and Lee worked at a local golf club this past summer, mowing and driving around.
The two have known each other through wrestling for a long time. Both came to Oregon from Crater High School, and wrestled together in youth clubs before that.
“I’ve known Ron since I was five. We’ve actually wrestled at least five actual matches in tournaments,” Alexander said. When asked who got the upper hand in those matches, Alexander quickly offers up the answer of “Ron!”, remembering losing a state final in elementary school to Lee. “I beat him in overtime one time though,” Alexander adds, smiling.
Alexander also recalls getting beaten up every day after practice by Shane Webster, a former Duck who won an NCAA Championship in the 184 pound weight class in 2006, Webster’s senior year; Lee, however, remembers how much he wanted Alexander to follow him to Oregon after high school.
“I was really happy, that was one of the main guys that I wanted to come to Oregon,” Lee said. “I was really talking up the program for him.”
Alexander’s been solid for the program so far, to be sure, but has even higher aims.
“I’d like to be an All-American this year,” Alexander said. “Last year my goal was going to nationals. It’s what I’d like to achieve.”
His coach is looking even higher. “I think that Charlie is one of those guys that’s capable of placing at a national tournament, and he can be the exception that proves the rule when it comes to what heavyweights are supposed to be.”
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