On November 14, Anthony Echemendia will wrestle his first senior level match since immigrating to the United States, but stories of his practice room intensity have already become commonplace in the wrestling world. Listen to a number of wrestling personalities describe times Echemendia threw caution to the wind in a workout.

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Saturday, November 14, 2020

Earlier this summer, Roman Bravo-Young sat down with us before his match on the Dake vs Chamizo card. Since he and Echemendia are both Sunnyside High School alum, they've had the chance to workout together. RBY explained that you won't see Echemendia play wrestling because he always keeps his intensity ramped up. 

Coming from an All-American like Roman who has rolled with some of the best partners in the world, that's telling.

"He's a beast. He's a killer...Every time he puts on his shoes, it's kill or be killed."

-Roman Bravo-Young

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Echemendia and RBY's high school coach, Anthony Leon, had similar things to say about Anthony. We asked him to compare three Sunnyside legends: RBY, Echemendia, and Jesse Ybarra.

While Leon explained that all three are excellent, he said that Echemendia's power and willingness to let it fly in the practice room separate him from almost anyone. Near the end of the following clip, Leon got pretty fired up describing Echemendia's style.

"There's no play wrestling. There's no drilling. Those two things don't exist to Anthony...Anthony just hunts. He's an animal. He just hunts."

-Anthony Leon

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If you're wondering whether Echemendia's high output in a high school wrestling room translates to college, let Tom Ryan answer that question for you.

At around the three-minute mark in this video, Coach Ryan described an RTC workout with Echemendia this offseason. He said that even though Anthony took it easy on him, his double leg was so powerful that Coach Ryan felt like he might have sustained an injury to his sternum or spine.

"He hit me with a double leg, and all I'm thinking is, 'I'm afraid to look down because his head might have hit my spine.'"

-Tom Ryan

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Even one of the strongest and most dynamic middleweights in the United States, Alec Pantaleo, was impressed by Echemendia's ferocity in the workouts they shared at the Cliff Keen Wrestling Club this summer.

Like RBY and Coaches Leon and Ryan, Pantaleo echoed the idea that Echemendia takes an "all gas, no brakes," philosophy into the practice room. That intensity is now widely known, but it was fascinating to hear Pantaleo say that Echemendia is even more explosive than him. Pantaleo's power is highly esteemed on the senior level at both 70kg or 74kg. If Echemendia brings that power, or even more, to 65kg, he could prove to be a force.

"I hardly wrestle people that are as explosive as me. He's more explosive...He just straight bombed me right away."

-Alec Pantaleo

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One of the big questions surrounding Echemendia's approach to practice is how much of his intensity comes from having grown up in a Cuban wrestling system. While Anthony didn't answer that question directly, he did echo Frank Chamizo's sentiment that the Cuban wrestling system is more centered around bringing the best parts of individual athletes out of them rather than putting a specific wrestling approach into them.

Echemendia's enlightening perspective on the Cuban system suggests that he goes all out in practice largely because he's a go-for-broke kind of guy. Whether this approach will translate immediately on the senior level remains to be seen, but a lot of people can't wait to find out. We'll have a chance on November 14.

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