Now healthy, Burrell grad AJ Corrado off to strong start for Brown wrestling

AJ Corrado spent the first few months of his college career at Brown recovering from a torn labrum, so needless to say he was eager to get on the mat.

In total, he spent six months rehabbing with trainers prior to getting back into the wrestling room, but that patience paid off last weekend when he tasted victory at the collegiate level for the first time.

Corrado, a 2021 state champ for Burrell, won the 165-pound championship at the JWU Wildcat Open in Rhode Island, helping Brown take the team championship.

He had two pins and won a pair of decisions to take home the title.

“It was tough that I had to miss the start of the season but going into that tournament my goal was to win it, and I came out on top with a few other kids on my team, so it was a great tournament,” Corrado said.

Getting to that win started with plenty of physical therapy and included a move. Corrado hadn’t fully healed by the time he moved to Providence, so he picked up the rehab process at Brown.

“It was kind of a weird transition, because I had a physical therapist at home and then I moved 10 hours away,” Corrado said. “I picked up with the trainers here, and they did a good job getting me back on track and putting me through the workouts I need to do. I ended up getting back around the time I expected to be back.

“I didn’t want to rush anything. Even if it felt better that’s when it can be the most dangerous, because even though it does feel better it isn’t fully healed. I just listened to whatever the trainers had to say and eventually got back onto the mat.”

Corrado hadn’t had a loss in quite some time after going 38-0 his senior year with the Bucs, but he had a few defeats in a handful of matches prior to entering the JWU Open. One of those losses came to Bucknell’s Ryan Hartman, who’s ranked 14th in the country at 165.

Corrado has absorbed some lessons from those defeats.

“It’s definitely a transition from high school to college. It’s nonstop movement, hand fighting and wrestling,” Corrado said. “In Pennsylvania there are great wrestlers, but in college everyone is a state champion or place winner. There aren’t any easy matches, and I’ve gone against some nationally ranked wrestlers, which is helpful. It shows me where I am right now and the work I need to put in to get up there in one of my seasons of college wrestling.”

At the JWU Open, he opened with pins over Springfield’s Xavier Aitelmajouh and Benjamin Rivera of Alfred State. In the semifinals he secured a 3-0 decision over Ryan Grebe or Roger Williams. Then, in the championship match he topped JWU’s Scott DeFex, earning a 3-2 decision.

“I feel like I could’ve wrestled better that match,” Corrado said of the championship match. “I didn’t take nearly enough shots and my conditioning wasn’t the greatest, but that’s all stuff I can improve on. The season isn’t over yet. There’s still a lot of time left to improve.”

Corrado said he is still getting back to 100% when it comes to being in top wrestling condition, but the win was a sign that he’s getting closer. He has former Burrell teammate Ian Oswalt in the wrestling room with him, as well as few others from Pennsylvania that he knows well.

Brown has dual meets all through February before the EIWA Conference Championships March 5-6.

“I’m just looking to improve,” Corrado said. “We have a really good 165-pounder here (at Brown) so it’s going to be tough to wrestle off there. I’m considering going down a weight, but there’s still time before I have to make any crazy decisions. Mostly, I just want to continue improving and getting back in shape.”