Pete Cimoroni being hired to replace Dugan Bentley as Beachwood’s varsity wrestling coach was only part of the master plan District Director of Athletics Ryan Peters had in mind. Peters, a former Beachwood wrestler and coach, hoped to add another key component to the coaching staff.
That happened on Monday night when the school board approved Alan Fried as an assistant coach.
Fried, a former three-time Ohio high school state champion and NCAA champion, will serve as a varsity assistant coach as well as the head coach of the Bison youth program and head technician at all levels of the program.
“He will be working with wrestlers of all ages,” Peters said. “I am very confident that Alan will be able to help us grow the program, attract wrestlers, and help them reach their maximum potential, while making it fun for them.”
Wrestlers of all ages can register for Fried’s off-season wrestling academy by visiting his web site.
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Fried finished his high school wrestling career at Lakewood St. Edward with a 139-3 record. He finished third in the state as a freshman in 1986 and won state titles in 1987, 1988 and 1989. He continued his education and wrestling career at Oklahoma State, where he finished 129-6 with five losses to future Olympic gold medalist and three-time NCAA champion Tom Brands of Iowa.
While at Oklahoma State, Fried placed at the NCAA tournament three times. He was second at 134 pounds in 1991 and 1992 and won the national title at 142 pounds in 1994.
In 1991, he won a gold medal for Team USA in the 20-Under World Championships in Previdz, Czechoslovakia and was fourth in the U18 World Championships in Wolfort, Austria in 1988.
Peters jumped on the opportunity to add Fried to the Beachwood coaching staff.
“I have known Alan almost my entire life,” he said. “We grew up together and wrestled together at the Longwood YMCA. Alan was one of my wrestling idols growing up. Over the years he has done a few clinics for the Beachwood wrestlers and helped coach a few of our kids reach their maximum potential. When Alan moved back to Cleveland a few months ago, it seemed like the timing was perfect. I reached out to Alan to gain his interest level and he was very excited about this opportunity.”
Fried has ties to the Beachwood program.
He has run clinics at the school in the past and is close to the Peters family and Cimoroni.
“Obviously, we have added a genius technician,” Cimoroni said. “You can’t get a better genius than Alan Fried. I think he’ll have a tremendous impact on the program with his technique and also his work ethic and mentality. He brings a championship mentality to the program.”
While Cimoroni’s role will be to oversee the day-to-day activities of the wrestling program and to attract new students to the sport, as well as to mentor his assistant coaches, Fried will be more hands on in practice.
“I am confident that with Pete, Alan, Antonio Nicholson and Michael Blackwell we have the perfect staff for the Beachwood kids,” Peters said. “Each coach on our wrestling coaching staff brings a major talent to the room and they all complement each other. Now, we just need to get kids out for the team and grow the program.”
Fried’s presence in the wrestling room certainly should help the Bison to attract new wrestlers.
“I am super excited to have Alan on our coaching staff,” Peters said. “He is the biggest name in Ohio wrestling history and has an unbelievable personality. He is an amazing guy. His high school and college accolades speak for themselves. His is regarded as the best wrestler ever to attend St. Ed's and Oklahoma State. He currently ranks third on Oklahoma State wrestling's all-time win list. He was a World Champion. Heck, his all of losses in college were to three-time national champ and Olympic Gold medalist Tom Brands, who is now the head coach at Iowa. He has also coached some of the best wrestlers in the world at all levels.”
Beachwood’s off-season program began on Monday and the Bison will continue to work hard when the season officially begins in November.
