Alex Reyes was conflicted.

The game of tug-of-war between his heart and his head started late in the 2024 football season after an elbow injury. It persisted through the wrestling season and into the longer days of spring.

Yanking from one side was football and loyalty to teammates, some of whom he had played with since they were five years old. Years earlier, as youth players, Reyes and others, including star quarterback Jack Cannon, shunned wooing non-publics, pledging to stay at Holmdel and build something special.

Wrenching from the other side was wrestling and his future. As a freshman in 2022-23, Reyes went 2-3 in the state championships in Atlantic City. A year later he placed seventh. Last March, he took fifth at 190 pounds.

It was more than a jump, it was an upsurge. He showed

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