Then sophomore wrestler Jesse Mendez waves to the crowd while being honored during the Ohio State-Georgia basketball game at the Schottenstein Center in 2024. Credit: Caleb Blake | Lantern File Photo
The first time Jesse Mendez wrote down his wrestling goals, he was a teenager sitting at his kitchen table with a blank sheet of paper.
His private coach, Alex Tsirtsis, told him to list them. Mendez wrote four things: four-time state champion, four-time national champion and win as many world and Olympic titles as he could.
Tsirtsis looked at the paper and thought, “No way.”
Years later, after winning his second NCAA title, the two laughed about that moment over the phone. They realized he wasn’t crazy, he was right.
Now a senior with two national titles, Mendez enters his final season at Ohio State chasing a place among the program’s all-time greats. The Buckeye lightweight has built his legacy on discipline, loyalty and relentless effort.
Mendez grew up in Crown Point, Indiana, a smaller kid who first made his mark on the football field. When a youth coach suggested wrestling, his path forever changed.
“I went out to wrestle, and I quit every other sport after that,” Mendez said.
Soon after, he was training in the basement of the Region Wrestling Academy, coached by Tsirtsis, where he learned fundamentals, toughness and accountability.
Mendez would show up once or twice a week and wrestle with a partner while Tsirtsis pushed him through gritty workouts that valued effort over comfort.
“That’s where I saw he the most growth,” Mendez said. “Hard-nosed wrestling and he passed those traits on to me.”
Even before he was a four-time Indiana state champion, Mendez earned the nickname “Blood Round King” in the eighth grade, after he reached the placement match at three major tournaments, including the Super 32 Challenge.
“It wasn’t always just winning,” Mendez said. “There were years where things didn’t go my way, and I think that taught me how to reach that next peak.”
By high school, Mendez was stacking trophies and becoming the nation’s top lightweight recruit. Colleges across the Big Ten lined up, but Ohio State saw more than results.
“He was the No. 1 kid in the country, very aggressive, extremely coachable, super fit and very technical,” head coach Tom Ryan said. “He blindly believes in his coaches. Tell him to do and he’s going to do it.”
For Mendez, that belief was mutual.
“For me to really work hard for somebody, I have to love them,” Mendez said. “There’s not that authoritarian feeling between the athlete and the coach. My coaches, I consider them friends.”
That trust led to one of the defining choices of his career. Rather than redshirting his freshman year, Mendez stepped in immediately to help Ohio State chase a podium finish.
“It was big, but it was easy,” Ryan said. “He said, ‘Put me in.’”
As Mendez has earned All-American honors in the past three seasons, Ryan said what impressed him most was unwavering hope.
“What I’m most proud of is his faith,” Ryan said. “He’s quieted the world and made a decision to follow God. Winning national titles is nice, but this will end at some point. The bigger answer is what happens when it’s over.”
