Nishant Thangada ’19
Photo courtesy of Alex Bendinelli ’19
Alex Bendinelli ‘19 is Episcopal Academy’s Boys Athlete of the Month. Bendinelli is a four-time varsity athlete and currently serves as the captain of the Wrestling Team. Bendinelli says, “My dad wrestled in high school and he was a small, skinny kid, kind of like me.” His father serving as an inspiration, Bendinelli started in 5th grade, but became serious in 8th grade where he wrestled at Drexel Hill and Upper Darby. Bendinelli explains, “After coming to Episcopal in 9th grade, I continued to wrestle at Upper Darby, Lower Merion, and now here. Freshman year I was 113 pounds, Sophomore year I was 120 pounds, Junior year I was 126 pounds, but I tore my meniscus and was out. This year I am 138 pounds.”
Bendinelli is confident about the upcoming year in terms of both current and potential success: “As of right now, most of the kids have the right mentality, and we just need the whole team to buy into it. We can be the best team in the Inter-Ac as long as we work hard and stay focused.” Episcopal Academy won their first match of the year against Friends’ Central School led by Bendinelli, who was their first winner of that match. With this win, Bendinelli states, “We have a whole new attitude coming out this year. Everyone is doubting us, but we’re going out there and taking what’s ours, so it was a good start to the year.”
While Bendinelli has many fond memories of his four years on the wrestling team, one that stands out was in sophomore year: “We were at Penn Charter, and it came down to my match. The whole team was cheering me and I won the match, so we ended up winning the whole thing.” Also on the wrestling team, Evan Zanolli ‘19 recalls one of his favorite moments of Bendinelli, “One time, Alex came into the movie theater where I work and ordered a large bucket of popcorn when he was supposed to be cutting weight. I asked if he was sure he was going to be able to cut that off, but come Tuesday he was down below the weight he needed to be and somehow had worked off six pounds in three days.”
Co-captain of the wrestling team, Kevin Li ‘19 states, “Alex Bendinelli is by far the hardest working person in the wrestling room. He always stays after practice. He’ll be the first one in and last one out. Alex is dedicated to pursue it outside of school, showing his passion for the sport.” One of Li’s recalls his first tournament alongside Bendinelli, in his junior year at Alexandria, Virginia. Li describes, “We were both overweight, because we ate the salad and pizza before we left, so we had to go to this tiny hotel gym that only had an elliptical, treadmill, and jump rope with full sweat gear on, and exercise nonstop to lose enough weight.”
Varsity Coach, Damon Kuzemka, characterizes Bendinelli as a “great leader. He leads by example. He’s the hardest worker in the room. He loves the sport and is enthusiastic about it, which gets to everybody. Bendinelli is a big contribution to the team and has been for years.” Under his leadership, the wrestling team is optimistic about their chances this year.