Two-time state wrestling champion Alex Meade Jr.’s signature move is a “double,” in which he grabs an opponent’s ankles and brings him to the mat. Meade initiates the takedown with his personal touch—a head butt to the sternum—which, take it from me, can knock the wind out of you.

I have Oxford shirts older than Alex Meade, so our brief workout in the Caesar Rodney High School wrestling room was in no way meant to be competitive. I had two simple goals: get a feel for his moves and avoid injury. I accomplished both, although the head butt, even at half-speed, was painful.

I came away with a deep respect for anyone who steps on the mat with the 18-year-old senior. At about 152 lbs., Meade is cat-quick, super strong, tireless, and technically nearly perfect.

“He’s a slick wrestler by nature,” says CR coach Dickie Howell, “but if you want to ‘ball,’ Alex will ball with you. He can do it with the best.”

High school and college wrestlers (as opposed to professional “rasslers”) are a warrior nation, asking no quarter and giving none in a sport that is essentially a controlled one-on-one brawl, a sport that demands near Spartan-like privation and sacrifice. Its vocabulary is filled with testosterone-laden terms like gut wrench, crossface, turks, sucker drags, snap and tuck, and rock and roll. Its fans light up chat boards with insider talk and gossip about who’s the best now and who will be the best in the future. Alex Meade Jr.’s name has been prominent on those boards for more than four years.

Wrestling runs in Meade’s blood. Alex Sr., who is just 16 years older than his oldest son, was also a Caesar Rodney wrestler, graduating in 1992. “I wasn’t nearly as good as Alex,” says the father. But he has mentored Alex Jr. since the boy entered his first tournament at age 6.

By the time he joined the Caesar Rodney team as a freshman, Alex had already won several tournaments, and he promptly won a state championship at 119 lbs. He lost four close matches that year, three to Ross Gitomer, who was a senior at Blair Academy, a wrestling powerhouse in Flemington, N.J. By their third match, Meade nearly had Gitomer figured out, then Gitomer graduated. He’s now the University of Virginia’s 125-pounder. Meade’s other loss was to Tommy Abbott of St. Mark’s (now a 149-pounder at Minnesota State), which Meade avenged last year with a 7-3 victory.

Those are his only losses in more than 100 matches, a record compiled while making a name for himself nationally and internationally. He is a national junior champion, and traveled with a U.S. team to Germany last summer. This year, he was named to the USA All-Star Team for the Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic in Pittsburgh, the most prestigious high school all-star wrestling meet in the country. After losing his sophomore year of eligibility while transferring schools, he returned to Caesar Rodney last year and won his second state title with a 20-5 tech-fall victory in the 145-lb. finals.

Entering the current season, Meade was ranked No. 3 in the nation at the 152-lb. weight class by Amateur Wrestling News and No. 5 by W.I.N. magazine. He was named the No. 9 wrestler in the nation at any weight class by RevWrestling.com.

While Meade works with several coaches in nearby states, including Cary Kolat—considered one of the best amateurs in U.S. history—he credits Howell with much of his development. “Coach Howell is an awesome coach, and so is [assistant coach] Mr. [Paul] Collier,” he says. “He works with me and my brother every day.” Brother Issah is a 14-year-old freshman who has shown plenty of potential as CR’s 140-pounder.

Howell, who was himself a Delaware state champion at 105 lbs. in 1980, returns the compliment. “Alex is a great leader. He’s a pleasure to coach.”

Beginning in his sophomore year, Meade was recruited by all the big-time wrestling powers. He narrowed his choices to Iowa State, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Michigan, and Penn State, and took official visits to the first three before choosing Oklahoma State and Coach John Smith, an Olympic champion and near legend in the mat world.

“It’s more my style of wrestling there,” Meade says. “Coach Smith is a great coach—not just on the mat. He’ll help you out as a person. Great coaches, great workout partners, great school.”
Meade, who made the honor roll last semester, will major in business at the Stillwater school. He will likely wrestle at 165, which means he will build up to about 180 and then cut 15 lbs. by the beginning of his first collegiate season.

After signing Meade, Smith had this comment: “Alex Meade is very explosive. He’s still developing into the wrestler he wants to become and his style will fit in well here. We can progress him rather quickly. I was very excited when I watched him wrestle the first time. He’s a guy who is on the attack and maintains the attack from start to finish.”

Observers generally agree that Meade has the potential to be just the second NCAA wrestling champion to emerge from Delaware. The first was St. Mark’s grad Sheldon Thomas, who won the 118-lb. title while representing Clarion (Pa.) University in 1996.

“Alex is the best I’ve seen since Sheldon,” says Jason Bastianelli, head coach at St. Mark’s. “He’s amazing. He’s incredibly fast and explosive, and his technique is precise. He has the possibility to become an NCAA champion because he’s the type of athlete that it takes, and he’s going to a great coach with great workout partners, and the facilities there are amazing.”

Jack Holloway, athletic director and coach at Tower Hill, has been a leader in Delaware wrestling circles for more than a quarter century. He too believes Oklahoma State will give Meade his best shot at a national title. “He’ll have the right workout partners and facilities, and John Smith is a great coach and a great person in terms of taking care of his wrestlers.”

But, adds Holloway, “It will take incredible dedication. At that level, it’s year-round training.”

Smith recruited Damien Craighton, a four-time state champ when he wrestled for Holloway’s William Penn teams from 1993-1996. “Coach Smith told him he would get just two weeks off in the summer and a couple of days around Christmas, and that was it,” says Holloway.

Craighton chose Drexel University, where he went on to record more than 100 wins. While Drexel is a second-tier wrestling program, Meade is going to a dynasty that has notched 34 NCAA team championships over eight decades. Time will tell whether he made the right choice.

In the meantime, here’s a piece of advice for his opponents: Watch out for the double.