This story was originally published on Jan. 2, 2010.

Since walking onto East Hill three years ago, Adam Frey ’11 showed himself to be one of the University’s most tenacious competitors in any venue. Frey died on Dec. 26 after a battle with cancer that lasted nearly two years and showcased all aspects of his winning personality.

“Adam was a competitor, from day one,” said Cindy Frey, Adam’s mother and a constant source of support during his cancer battle. “There was nothing that he would do 50 percent. He was the ultimate competitor in everything.”

Honoring a teammate: Adam Frey ’11 (right) stands next to Athletic Director Andy Noel as Frey is honored during halftime of the wrestling team’s opening match of the season against Penn State on Nov. 21, 2008. Sponsors donated five dollars for each person in attendance at the match, which raised more than $20,000 for the Adam Frey Cancer Fund.

Since being diagnosed with testicular cancer 21 months ago, Frey spread his story far beyond East Hill. He wrote a daily blog, chronicling the ups and downs of treatment and dealing with everyday life as a cancer patient. Spurred by the success of his blog, he founded the Adam Frey Foundation, which works to raise money for cancer research through gear and the Adam Frey Wrestling Classic. The first annual Classic featured several nationally ranked high school grapplers, and raised $15,000 for cancer research. Josh Liebman, a former Blair Academy freestyle and Greco-Roman coach, worked closely with Frey in organizing the tournament and maintaining the Foundation, and says he will continue work to develop both venues.

“The guy in the last two years of his life did some amazing things,” Coach Rob Koll said.

Frey’s hyper-competitive nature was evident at an early age. After the precocious first grader begged his parents to sign him up for a local wrestling club, he caught on to the sport quickly. With emotional support from his mother, who says she “refused to let him quit” in his first few years of grappling, the Pittsburgh, Pa., native was recruited to wrestle for national high school powerhouse Blair Academy. Taking home five freestyle and Greco-Roman All-American trophies and two individual national prep championships, Frey would garner a slew of elite college offers. But it was the call from Cornell that Adam heard the loudest.

“He was super-athletic, and extremely competitive,” Koll said of the high-profile recruit. “He was also a very intelligent young man.”

Frey made an immediate impact in his first two seasons at Cornell, despite entering the University with a mass of nagging injuries, including a torn labrum and a split bicep tendon. Renowned by his teammates for his pain threshold and “freakish” strength, Frey took the Ivy League Rookie of the Year honor in 2006-07 and qualified for nationals twice, entering the tournament both times with a top-10 ranking.

Despite the accomplishments, the highly touted wrestler also faced bizarre weight issues. Frey pulled out all the tricks his freshman season to make the 133-pound weight class, but eventually missed the cut on the crucial second day of the NCAA National tournament. He faced further hardship on the national stage the following year, when he was eliminated on the second day of Nationals, despite holding respectable leads over both his final two opponents. The easily fatigued Frey was lambasted by many wrestling commentators and fans as lazy and mentally weak for fizzling out two years in a row.

The doubters of Frey’s will and perseverance were silenced several days after Frey’s exit from Nationals, which would sadly be the beginning of the end. On a morning drive for breakfast, Frey’s car fishtailed and rolled over. Walking away from the crash with whiplash, a routine CAT scan revealed three tumors between his lung, liver and kidneys. Testicular cancer had metastasized throughout his body.

Frey took a leave of absence from the University to deal with chemotherapy. Despite the brutal treatments, he lifted weights every day whenever possible. Kept up late at night by the chemicals in his muscles and the waves of pain, he began correspondence with Liebman, who calls himself a “late-night person.” In the last 21 months of Adam’s life, Liebman would become a confidant and close friend.

“Adam was a true original person,” Liebman said. “I’ve never met anyone else like Adam. Whatever he was talking about, it would be the biggest story in the world.”

Frey and Liebman also began an online radio talk show program, and featured Koll as one of the show’s first guests.

Frey treated the cancer as an opponent, refusing to let the tumors subdue him. He lowered his cancer cell count to zero twice, only to suffer relapses. The chemotherapy treatment was especially hard on his lungs and heart, prompting emergency surgery in the last several days of his life.

“He said from the very beginning, ‘I will go down swinging,’” Cindy, his mother, said. “It was a challenge, and he was always up for a challenge.”

Even more than for his athletic prowess, Frey is remembered as a true “character,” a high-energy individual who would spark freestyle rap battles on bus rides to tournaments and drill takedowns while waiting in line at McDonalds.

“He had the biggest heart of anyone you’d ever meet,” Warner Phipps ’12 said, a member of the wrestling team and a close friend of Frey’s. “He was exactly who he presented himself to be. When he lived, he lived.”

Other friends recalled his high-octane personality, and noted that his dynamic characteristics went hand-in-hand with his commitment to helping others and staying positive during any fight he faced.

“He was always so full of energy,” said Grant Daffin ’12, another good friend of Frey’s. “He went from being one of the best wrestlers in the country to being a cancer patient. But he never let that get to him.”

Adam will be honored at the home dual meet on Jan. 31 against Iowa State.