[1] Rey was also an all-state New Jersey football player his senior year.

Rey attended Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he was a four-time NCAA Division I qualifier and three-time place winner, finishing third in 2010, second in 2012, and winning an NCAA championship as a junior in 2011.

While in college, Rey represented the United States at the 2010 University World Championships, where he finished in 8th place with a 1-1 record.

[citation needed] In 2015, after losing in the finals at the World Team Trials, Rey was awarded the opportunity to compete in the 2015 World Wrestling Championships after World Team Trials winner Tervel Dlagnev was forced to miss competition due to injury.

[citation needed] In 2019, Rey was hired by his alma mater, Lehigh University, where he served as assistant coach for the Lehigh Mountain Hawks college wrestling program.