Oklahoma State University Athletics
"Z" Back From Injury, Ready to Go
October 21, 2011 | Cowboy Wrestling
Oct. 21, 2011
Senior heavyweight Alan Gelogaev returns to the mat for the Cowboys this season after sustaining a season-ending pectoral muscle injury in November, 2010.
“They didn't tell me it was season-ending, but I thought I was going to come back and wrestle.” Gelogaev said.
Growing up in Moscow, Gelogaev was involved with sports at a young age. He was a boxer for two years before his father exposed him to the world of wrestling at the age of 13, when he began training in Siberia under nine-time gold medalist Buvaisar Saitiev.
Under Saitiev, Gelogaev won an international tournament in France in 2006 and also recorded third-place finishes at the Russian National Championships and the International Youth Wrestling Tournament.
His most impressive win came at the New York Athletic Club Open in 2008 when he pinned Andy Hrovat, former three-time All-American and Olympic wrestler, in the semi-finals. Gelogaev finished second overall.
His stats made him a sought after recruit.
Oklahoma State wrestling coach John Smith was impressed with Gelogaev and said he's, “A powerful Russian.”
For Gelogaev, choosing to wrestle at Oklahoma State was an easy task and he knew the coach as well as the program's history.
Once at OSU, he received the nickname Z from former Olympian and Cowboy wrestler Daniel Cormier.
“It's actually my middle name. It's Zelimhan,” Gelogaev said. “Not everybody can pronounce Zelimhan. Daniel Cormier first called me Z and it stuck.”
Gelogaev attended Oklahoma State in 2008 but did not compete. Before he began his wrestling career at OSU, he had to drop 30 pounds to wrestle in the 197 weight class.
“Cutting weight was horrible. I'm not going to lie,” Gelogaev said. “That was the first time in my life I was cutting weight. It was quite miserable”.
In the fall of 2009 he began wrestling and, after just a year of collegiate wrestling, he was named an All-American. He finished the 2009-10 season 30-9 overall and 13-5 in duals.
Gelogaev had an explosive start, recording four falls in his first four open tournament matches. He achieved an undefeated status and first place finishes at the Oklahoma City Open, the University of Central Missouri Open, and the Reno Tournament of Champions.
He finished the season with eight falls, two major decisions and one tech fall. His quickest fall was over John Harrison from Southern Oregon in just 19 seconds.
He placed fifth in the Big 12 Championships before heading to the NCAA Championships, where he finished seventh with four victories over ranked opponents.
Finally, after wrestling a year at an uncomfortable weight, Gelogaev received news he would wrestle the 2010-11 season at heavyweight.
The Cowboys opened the 2010 season at the Oklahoma City Open, but Gelogaev recalls not feeling 100 percent.
“I felt like at the beginning of the year, there was a little pain in my chest,” Gelogaev said. “I thought I just stretched my muscle or just had some little injury. I think I tore it partially from a lift or something.”
Powering through the discomfort, he breezed through his first four matches and headed to the finals to face Joe Bach of Oklahoma.
That's when it happened.
In an attempt to throw Bach onto the mat, Gelogaev rolled his shoulder and severely worsened his injury.
Smith said he remembers his heavyweight's determination to finish the match.
“He felt like he could go but when he went back out, about three seconds into the match, he realized that something was wrong so he had to stop and I pulled him off the mat,” Smith said. “When we got back we found out the news. It was a torn pec.”
Neither Gelogaev nor Smith knew the extent of the injury. It was a shock for many, including the Russian, when he was forced to miss the rest of the season.
“I was looking up the dates and I thought I was going to make it to the Big 12 and NCAA, but it didn't work that way. I was too weak,” Gelogaev said. “It sucked so bad, especially because I was motivated and doing everything to come back. At the end they said, 'You have sit this year out so you can get better for the next year.'”
Gelogaev said the support of his team, coaches and roommates helped him recover quickly. He gave most the credit to Smith, who knew handling adversity well was critical in the rehab process.
“Anytime you have to deal with this adversity with an injury like this, you're either going to do it or go home. There's no in the middle,” Smith said. “Do it properly or it's likely that you're going to be done.”
It took not only the commitment of Gelogaev, but also the commitment of the staff. Smith praised the medical staff and athletic trainers for their diligence in getting Gelogaev back to health.
After a year of rehab, Gelogaev is ready to be back at full force, Smith said.
“It's a real commitment when you have an injury with that magnitude. There's no promise that it's ever going to feel right again,” Smith said. “But fortunately with him doing his rehab properly and the trainers all putting a lot of work into him, we've got him back a hundred percent.”
As for Gelogaev, he said he's a lot more confident to wrestle this year after the rehab and the weight class change.
“I feel completely different,” Gelogaev said. “At 197, I didn't have my pop. I didn't have anything. Now I'm stronger.”
With the Cowboys opening the season against Rutgers on Nov. 18, Gelogaev said he wants the wrestling world to know one thing: “I'm back.”
