Sammy Alvarez may have been taken down, but he managed to escape and is thriving in his new role at Bridgewater-Raritan High School.
Sammy Alvarez was defeated in his bid to wrestle collegiately for one more year, so instead, he remained in the sport and is now an assistant coach on the Bridgewater-Raritan High School wrestling team.
Alvarez serves on Coach Kyle Murphy’s staff as the Bridgewater-Raritan wrestling team bids to repeat as the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 5 state sectional champion and Group 5 state finalist.
His full-time position as an Instructional Assistant at Bridgewater-Raritan High School opened up the opportunity to coach the sport in which he has thrived during his terrific career.
Alvarez turned to the field of education when his attempt to wrestle one more year collegiately was denied by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
He submitted an appeal to the NCAA to gain an extra year of eligibility and was hoping to transfer from Rider University, where he earned All-America honors, and compete at the legendary University of Iowa wrestling program. But he was rejected over the summer.
“It did not work out, so I looked for a job,” Alvarez said.
His search ended before the start of the school year when he was hired as an Instructional Assistant at Bridgewater-Raritan High School.
This fall, Alvarez served as the high school’s JV boys’ soccer coach, assisted by his friend, Allison Lynch, who is also an Instructional Assistant at Bridgewater-Raritan High School, her alma mater.
They connected at Rutgers University, where Alvarez wrestled from the start of 2019 until early 2023, and Lynch was a standout player on the college’s women’s soccer team.
Alvarez had enrolled at Rutgers after he won the New Jersey state tournament championship at 126 pounds while wrestling at St. Joseph Regional High School in Montvale in 2019.
He transferred from Rutgers to wrestle at a national power, Oklahoma State University, for the 2023-2024 season. But Alvarez, a native of Garfield in Bergen County, returned home to New Jersey and wrestled last season at Rider, where he flourished.
Alvarez placed seventh in the 2025 NCAA Championship Tournament at 149 pounds to receive All-America honors. A wrestler is named All-America with a top-eight finish in his weight class.
His one season at Rider also featured him being named the Mid-American Conference Wrestler of the Year and the conference's tournament champion at 149 pounds.
With such a gifted wrestler present on campus, Coach Murphy did not hesitate to invite Alvarez to join the team’s coaching staff.
“The addition of one of the toughest wrestlers in the country has only elevated our program even more. He brings with him knowledge from some of the nation's strongest coaches like John Smith (Oklahoma State) and Scott Goodale (Rutgers),” Coach Murphy said. “He has immediately impacted the athletes with his knowledge of the sport. We are excited to have him on staff and can't wait to see his continued success as a coach here at Bridgewater-Raritan.”
The coaches are preparing for another memorable season, following Bridgewater-Raritan's school record for victories with its 21-8 record en route to the Group 5 state final last winter.
Bridgewater-Raritan will open the season when it competes in the Dessino Invitational at Middlesex High School on Saturday, December 13.
“I enjoy coaching wrestling,” Alvarez said. “It is back to the basics, and I like to serve others and help as much as I can.”