Virginia wrestler Nick Nelson has made a statement just a few weeks into his rookie campaign. The freshman out of Pittsburgh has racked up a 13-4 record so far, and brings quite a resume to Charlottesville. Nelson was the first four-time placer from his high school in the state championships, including a title his senior year.
How did you get started wrestling?
I started wrestling when I was four years old. My dad was a football coach at a local Catholic school and he had a few wrestlers on his team who ended up being All-American in college, so we used to go to their wrestling matches after the football season. It started as a way to get me out of the house and keep me in shape for football, which was my first sport.
Can you talk a little about wrestling that young?
There was an elementary school squad at my local high school. I started off on that team along with my twin brother, Matt. We learned and practiced when we were four and five, and started competing in meets when we were maybe six years old. We did a few tournaments every so often, and then started wrestling in meets nearly every week when we were around eight years old. We started traveling more and were able to meet some cool people.
What is your greatest accomplishment as an athlete?
I would say winning a state title my senior year.
What do you still hope to accomplish in your next few years at Virginia?
Obviously to win a few national championships, individually and as a team. I want to help bring Virginia up to the level of a national power. We're a program on the rise right now, but you can only be a program on the rise for so long. You have to eventually do something with it, so that's what we're hoping to do here. We have a great core group of (returning) guys and (a great) incoming class, so there's a lot of excitement. One of our mottos on the team is "the sky's the limit". We just gotta go for it.
Can you talk a little bit about your transition to the college level?
It's a hard transition. (Four matches) is already more matches than I lost all of last year, but at the same time, I'm wrestling much better opponents and every match is tough. There are no easy matches, and you have to prepare to wrestle your best every time. Almost everyone I wrestle at this level is a state champion from his high school. It's a lot more of a grind, too. At the Penn State Open, I must have wrestled eight or nine matches. It seemed like I was on the mat every 10 minutes. Every time I went to put my sweatpants back on, sure enough the guy at the table would say, "Nick, you're up next!"
Has anything in particular helped you adjust to college, athletically or academically?
My twin brother. He's my best friend and I love the kid to death. He's having a hard time not being able to wrestle this season because of a concussion he got in high school, but his support is great. He keeps me level-headed and makes sure I don't get too big-headed and brings me back down to earth. He keeps me in line, which helps me out a lot. I'm from Pittsburgh, which is six hours away, so he also brings a little piece of home to me, a little peace of mind.
Is there anything challenging about having your brother on the same team?
Since he's not wrestling this year, he tells me when I'm about to compete: "Remember, you're not just wrestling for yourself anymore." Every time I step on the mat, I realize that his day could be made or broken by how I wrestle. If you ask Coach Garland, he'll tell you that he can't even get a word in when I look over in between whistles because Matt is always screaming, "Move your hands! Move your feet!" He gets really into it on the sidelines and sometimes Coach has to tell him to calm down. Matt sometimes gets a little ruthless with it, and rips on me a bit after matches. He's my biggest fan, but also my biggest critic. If I wrestled bad, he's going to tell me. I need that though. Some people try to fill my head with (just the positive) since I'm a freshman, but my brother will straight up say I wrestled terribly if I did. Most people look at it as a bad thing, but I like it. It can get on my nerves at times, but he's my brother, I love him, and he's only trying to help.
Why did you choose Virginia?
Virginia was really a no-brainer for me. I knew the first time I (heard) Coach Garland and Coach Moore talk about Virginia and the excitement they have for everything. They make me want to wrestle. They motivate us so much and get us so enthused about what we're doing, where we are in life, and just wrestling in general. Wrestling was a job for me in high school, something that was like, "Oh I got practice today," and now it's more like, "Yeah I got practice today!" Not only is it fun, it's also difficult and pushes you to your limits. Not that it wasn't fun in high school, but now, (our coaches) get me so pumped up to wrestle.
Can you talk a little bit about your experience on the coaching side with pee-wee football and wrestling?
I love football and I've been around it for a long time. Just helping kids out brings me joy and I like giving back. I had guys who helped me out when I was younger and I remember how that felt when the high school wrestlers worked with me, so if I can make someone else feel like that, then why not? Why not give an hour of my time?
What is your favorite thing about the holidays?
This year it is going to definitely be going home. We didn't get to go home for Thanksgiving, so it's going to be nice to see all my family and my friends who I haven't seen in awhile. It's going to be weird seeing all of my high school buddies again, but who knows? Maybe we'll start a new tradition this year.
Nick Nelson and the Cavaliers return to the mat on Dec. 29, as they head to Greensboro, N.C., to compete in the Southern Scuffle.
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