Alfred Trejo Jr.

August 11, 1958 - October 10, 2023

 

Legendary wrestling coach and referee Alfred Trejo Jr. passed away this week. Trejo started the junior high wrestling program at San Manual in 1993 and the corresponding San Manuel Junior High Invitational in 2002. That tournament was changed to the Alfred Trejo Invitational in 2022 in his honor.

Trejo went on to lead the AIA Wrestling Advisory Committee where he was instrumental in moving the sport to single day sectional tournaments, where four athletes from each weight class advanced to the state tournament, and increasing the division format to the four division we have now in Arizona.

“For about a year we listened to what the coaches wanted,” Trejo told Jose Garcia of AZPreps365 in 2012. “The proposal was the best thing for right now. If in two or three years we need to tweak it, then we’ll change it.”

Trejo was inducted into the San Manuel High School Sports Hall of Fame in January and he was also a longtime referee and he was named “Honorary Caballero” at the Flowing Wells Invitational this past winter.

Trejo was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2021. Services are pending.