Canton Wrestler Looks for Gold at World Junior Championship

Canton, MI — Alec Pantaleo has proven his athletic prowess on the mat for the Canton High School and University of Michigan wrestling mats.

Now, the 20-year-old is headed to Macon, France, with Team USA to compete for the gold at the United World Wrestling World Junior Championships, Aug. 30-Sept. 4,.

“The best is yet to come,” Pantaleo told The Canton Observer. “For me, I can do anything I put my mind to. I see no reason why I can’t win gold in France, why I can’t keep pushing forward, keep improving. “Hopefully soon my buddies I’ve been training with can come along with me on the ride. I’ll just be surrounded by successful people. That’s what I’m really excited about.”

• Get Plymouth-Canton Patch headlines from Michigan Patch editor Beth Dalbey
• Like Plymouth-Canton Patch on Facebook

Pantaleo was a two-time state finalist, was a state champion as a sophomore in 2012 (he lost his junior season to an injury) and compiled a career prep record of 177-9, including a near-perfect 51-1 record, according to his bio on the Wolverine wrestling website. His only loss was in the state wrestling finals.

A relative unknown when he arrived in Ann Arbor, he turned heads in his freshman year at Michigan
At Michigan, he finished sixth in NCAA Division I in the 149-pound division, then won both the UWW Junior Nations and Junior World Team Trials this spring to get his ticket to the France.

Wrestling is something of a birthright for Pantaleo.

He comes from a family of wrestlers, including his father, Mike Pantaleo, a two-time All-American at Olivet College (1984-87), and his uncle, Joe Pantaleo, a two-time NCAA finalist at Michigan (1986-89).

“Uncle Joe was a two-time national runner-up,” Pantaleo told The Observer. “But also coming off his sophomore year in college, just like me, he won junior nationals and then went out on the junior world team out to Russia and he won the Junior World Championships.

“We’re big in my family on the idea every generation should be better off than the previous one, right?”
Pantaleo has his sights set on gold at World Junior Championship, but also beyond. After his graduation from Michigan in 2018, he plans to compete in qualifying events for the 2020 U.S. Olympic wrestling team.

» The odds may be in Pantaleo’s favor at the World Junior Championships. To find out why, read the rest of Tim Smith’s story on hometownlife.com.

Also on Patch

2016 Rio Olympics Team USA: Michigan Athletes Named So Far

• The athletes include NBA Golden State Warriors' and former Michigan State All-American Draymond Green, arrested last weekend.

Canton Swimmer Allison Schmitt Headed to 2016 Rio Summer Olympics

• Six-time Olympic medalist is making her third trip to the Summer Olympic Games.

Image credit: University of Michigan