Cesar Alvan captured the hearts of wrestling fans at the 2026 NCAA Wrestling championships when he was relatively unknown and came into the NCAA tournament as the #12 seed. He ended up fourth and attributes a lot of his success to Columbia head coach Donny Pritzlaff and his staff.
0:30 - Who the hell is Cesar Alvan?
3:00 - Loved wrestling and combat sports
5:00 - When Alvan went all-in on wrestling & college opportunities
7:30 - Eyeing the UFC in his future
8:00 - Why Columbia University?
11:30 - Out with the old coaching staff, in with the new
12:40 - Alvan recruited Pritzlaff (you read that right)
17:15 - First practice with Pritzlaff as coach
20:00 - Jumping levels under Pritzlaff
23:00 - Cesar & coaching staff LOVED his draw in the bracket
24:00 - Alvan pins Locket in OT, he was ready
26:40 - Being the Man in the Arena
29:30- Mitchell Mesenbrink
31:30 - Day 3 at NCAAs is NOT about who’s a better wrestler
34:00 - When it all sunk it, balling for an hour
36:00 - Mohammad Ali quote
37:55 - Alvan wants to continue to wrestle for Brazil, maybe RAF
41:00 - Wrestling wizard Jeff Buxton
42:10 - Artificial Intelligence
43:00 - Honey the night before a weigh in
44:00 - Who is Alvan’s all-time favorite wrestler?
45:00 - Wins and whoopins
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