Ever wonder what it takes to not just endure but thrive in the world of competitive wrestling? Our latest conversation with Nick, a 2x NCAA national champion, peels back the layers of this demanding sport, revealing a saga of resilience and triumph. Throughout his journey, Nick's tale is woven with the strategic guidance of mentors, and the life-altering decisions that have sculpted his character and career. From the early days of grueling road trips to pivotal choices under the public's scrutinizing eye, we unravel the making of a champion.
Nick's narrative is a primer on the transformation that occurs when an athlete melds purpose with passion. He opens up about the mental gymnastics behind the Champion by Design program and how it helped him bounce back from injuries and setbacks. His story takes unexpected turns, from a transfer to Rutgers to finding his stride again at Michigan, and ultimately, how acknowledging one's roots can be as important as the pursuit of gold medals. It's a tale that champions the strength found in vulnerability and the wisdom in seeking guidance, proving that the quest for greatness is as much about self-discovery as it is about victory on the mat.
As we wrap up, Nick's eyes are set firmly on the horizon, where goals of international glory beckon. He shares his reverence for the environment in Arizona, his current training ground, and how it rejuvenates his spirit. His reflections on personal growth, shedding past limitations, and the transformative power of discipline in diet and mental training underscore the evolution of an athlete. This episode isn't just a chronicle of wrestling achievements; it's a playbook for anyone aiming to wrestle with their own ambitions and emerge a champion in life's arena.
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Ever wonder what it takes to not just endure but thrive in the world of competitive wrestling? Our latest conversation with Nick, a 2x NCAA national champion, peels back the layers of this demanding sport, revealing a saga of resilience and triumph. Throughout his journey, Nick's tale is woven with the strategic guidance of mentors, and the life-altering decisions that have sculpted his character and career. From the early days of grueling road trips to pivotal choices under the public's scrutinizing eye, we unravel the making of a champion.
Nick's narrative is a primer on the transformation that occurs when an athlete melds purpose with passion. He opens up about the mental gymnastics behind the Champion by Design program and how it helped him bounce back from injuries and setbacks. His story takes unexpected turns, from a transfer to Rutgers to finding his stride again at Michigan, and ultimately, how acknowledging one's roots can be as important as the pursuit of gold medals. It's a tale that champions the strength found in vulnerability and the wisdom in seeking guidance, proving that the quest for greatness is as much about self-discovery as it is about victory on the mat.
As we wrap up, Nick's eyes are set firmly on the horizon, where goals of international glory beckon. He shares his reverence for the environment in Arizona, his current training ground, and how it rejuvenates his spirit. His reflections on personal growth, shedding past limitations, and the transformative power of discipline in diet and mental training underscore the evolution of an athlete. This episode isn't just a chronicle of wrestling achievements; it's a playbook for anyone aiming to wrestle with their own ambitions and emerge a champion in life's arena.
Appleton Tattoo Links
https://www.facebook.com/appletontattoo
https://www.instagram.com/mark_appletontattoo/
920 Hat Co. Links
https://920hatco.com/
https://www.instagram.com/920hatco/
https://www.facebook.com/920HatCo
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Speaker 3:I just remember it was competitive in New Jersey, absolutely for sure, yeah. But Pennsylvania, I remember there was Clubs from from Pennsylvania where my father, we used to take a couple, you know, road trips to see a competition and I don't know be challenged and and that was a time for me to, I Guess where I got to decide if this is what I actually liked or wanted to do, because it was ultra competitive and I, I Just remember we, you know, we would travel to Pennsylvania a little bit, yeah, or the doors, and then go out to Tulsa, oklahoma, eventually okay.
Speaker 3:And then build into the super 32s when high school came around. Yeah, you know, a journey of seeking competition, being challenged and being honest with those challenges, and I always Seem to have proper guidance, coaching and and mentorship from a young age and a strong family support, especially in the sport of, in my conquest of you know, becoming a champion.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I'm glad you brought that up. I was about to ask about the support system. You Obviously have a family. What was, what was the dynamic Like for you as and I'm a wrestling dad, so I mean, don't get me wrong there's moments I've been crazy about, like why did you do, why'd you shoot, like this, where you know that kind of thing. So what was the dynamic like for you growing up? What was that? Was your, was your dad, where your dad and mom, like, was your dad the sport guy? Was your mom's school lady? Like, how did that go for you?
Speaker 3:My first wrestling coach wasn't my father was actually. I'm in call Alonadara.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:He was amazing. He was just a great Coach very person. And again my father left it to him for for my introduction to the sport it took me a couple years to get to the other side of the room.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I miss high school and.
Speaker 3:So I had a build up into, I guess, building my. You know the respect from my father and the coaching yeah availability. Yeah, he just would. I guess he was coaching on the other side with the older. There was another coach too, and my brother Okay. Yeah, so it took time to build up into. You know, going on the other side of the room, yeah, club coaches and just developing that confidence, the skills, learning, the technique. Yeah, for sure that that is Necessary, you know necessary, to be a champion in wrestling.
Speaker 2:That's awesome and that's so. A lot of times I'll talk to guys, you know. I would just talk to you know, reese Humphrey the other day and he was saying that, yes, obviously his dad, you know, his dad was already in in the gig. So, knowing that those guys were in high level sports, they already kind of understood what it took and the type of pressures that come with that type of level of wrestling, right Like Reese was one of the cook, you know, when I went to Rutgers and was trying to.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so yeah, I mean, there I've had Just the opportunity to be around, I'd say the best coaching throughout my career. But yeah it's been a whirlwind and a journey. Throughout high school I did stay at Bergen Catholic all four years.
Speaker 3:Yeah and that was my. I always wanted to go there. I didn't end up going to promise high school where I started. Yeah, I, there was something about, I don't know, the Perotville school mentality of, you know, winning championships, and yeah, I always felt the need and the pull and the calling to Live up to that potential. So so, yeah, it was always seeking you Know that that's the thing with this for the wrestling, I don't know if it was a tension base that I think I was seeking the challenge, the challenges that you know you face on the mat, and it just, you know it's. It blows my mind from the youth, you know, being a young guy, it clicked well, you can tell you, tell the way that you are with it.
Speaker 2:With sports we're just wrestling, that it's natural.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and the want, the drive and in watching some of the things that you've been in already and the response that you have to like the want to win and the will to win, like it's always been there with you, but at the same time, though, too, now when you kind of think about you know, like you said, you went to a Catholic school Was there ever a time where you thought you wanted to stop wrestling? Was there ever a moment where you're like, man, this is getting heavy? Yeah, you know, I don't. I don't know if I want to do this anymore.
Speaker 3:I, yeah, I mean, you know, yeah, absolutely. Yes. I think it's such a demanding, physically grueling sport. You know, I remember, you know, doing the club competitions in middle school was, was a challenge to yeah and I was. I had success early but I think getting in high school you know the stakes were higher. The social perception of I went to an all-boy high school. Yeah, so there was.
Speaker 3:There was just the status of being a champion, especially in wrestling and Promise. High school had and had a state champion Since the I think it was the 1980s. At the time, his name, okay, my father was a multiple-time region champion and that was it. That was as far as he had one, okay, okay, so I never. I always felt the need to Push myself and trust coaching so that I could be better than my best and be better than you know I, and I never imagined that I would be. I mean, I always had the dream and in the vision To the goal to be a four-time state champion or state champion. Oh, it started, started with that first title yeah, friend here. And then I think it took me to about sophomore and the sophomore year. I was a two-time state champ and I and I actually it actually clipped when I said, wow, I could be a four-time state champ, but I had inspiration and motivation to Get to that point. I didn't just come from within it. You know, I always looked.
Speaker 2:You know I looked up to certain individuals who were champions so what that championship mentality and the things that you were bound to accomplish where? Where in your we'll say starting in your high school career? Where in your high school career Did you say, like where you, when you were wrestling, where you're like I'm gonna go, I want to wrestle at a big 10 school and see a champ? When did that vision begin for you? You know to be quite honest.
Speaker 3:I? I think it was starting in seventh grade perhaps.
Speaker 2:I.
Speaker 3:Repeated eighth grade at another Catholic school, Okay, St Joseph's school in New Wilford. I think the town was Birken County not far from the Waradale and Birken Catholic and Promise, yeah, but it was that repeat eighth grade year, the seventh grade, where I used to go out to Iowa camp, the intensive camp oh really, absolutely. And I got a nice flavor and taste of Iowa wrestling and the culture of what it takes to be a, you know, a champion, and seeing that and those colors you know yeah and that that intrigued and inspired me.
Speaker 3:But I Went another direction. You know, to start my college career, I felt a, I felt there was a deeper understanding to the sport. Okay, I Was still young at the time but again, my main focuses were, you know, to be a state champion. And I ended up I remember the beginning of freshman year, high school 106 pounds. There's a little under size. At the time. There was a lot, you know, there was doubts and, yeah, I ended up winning the Super 32's and and I ended up winning it multiple times throughout high school, that it was.
Speaker 3:It seemed to be that Super 32 was the entry To see where we were at with the training and the coaching and in the parent, the parent hood and the family, and to, to kind of measure where I was at and I had high success, I'd say some of the best competition in the country to this day. I mean a lot of competitors at Super 32. Yep, I've become national champions and whatnot, but for me it I always had a deep urge to be a state champion in Atlantic City of Boardwalk Hall and that that was my focus as a high schooler. Quite honestly, I that that's what I trained for yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So you're training for it, you're going through the grind and obviously you're in a great area for it. Your high school career we I mean we've you were. You were born in a time of, of Televised, everything right. Social media is around, flow wrestling's around. You're talking about high school now, right, so when was there ever a time and I'm not talking about quitting wrestling or anything like that but was there a time where you just that? You're like I don't stop at the cameras, I just want to go and wrestle, I just want to do this, like what was that kind of? Was that a little alarming to you at first when that attention started to come to you?
Speaker 3:Absolutely. I think there was a Certainly a time where I was excited for those opportunities yeah, competition and Winning, I think that was a part of it, but I don't think, you know, I don't think that was the soul focus. I Think they're. I can't recall a time where I was like, yeah, I think I'm looking back. I mean, maybe senior year I was going for my fourth, yeah, undefeated Championship. I've competed, you know, we went out to Dr Cannon up in the yeah, yeah, I closed this eye. Yeah, that was that started my assault. That maybe that was my junior senior year completely expanded my awareness and perception of the sport of wrestling, because I, I think I only took it, you know, as far on the road as Tulsa, the Midwest.
Speaker 3:Oh, yeah, yeah right, right, coming out to California and competing it completely just. It brought a new motivation and a new lens to the sport, the dynamic of the sport, okay the person dude the Beat. That's a trip and it could be one of my favorite tournaments to compete in. It wasn't Wow, super fancier or anything, but it was yeah we've really tough out of the way kind of event and again I felt purpose was pulling me in that direction here.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you succeed into being an example of what it takes to be an honest champion.
Speaker 2:So I think we have a question that actually popped up here that might be a little relevant to what we're talking about here. I mean, I can't see it. So I'm gonna pop it up here quick. Okay, can you ask him who the strongest guy he wrestled was during NCAA competition?
Speaker 3:I wrestled a really strong dude yesterday in practice. It kind of blew my mind here at Cal Poly. Yeah. Yeah, his name was Adam Kemp, but I just in high school or college was a question NCAA competition. I Can't, I can't look all we're jumping into high school.
Speaker 2:Like I said junior year, we wanted to really touch on this as far as where you went to Things that came up. But let's first start out. What were the phone calls like? What were the Letters? Did that happen right after your sophomore year?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I think it started sophomore year. I Think Cal Sanderson was one of the first ones to be quite honest with you. Yeah, maybe, like quite honestly, I think it might have been Mark Perry actually, who's coaching at Illinois at the time. Might have been the first call, but I remember, you know, besides the Iowa guys in the past like I mentioned, I think, yeah, with Penn State, I remember being in Bergen Catholic and you know coaches classroom and I just I remember Cal Sanderson, yeah, checked it, you know call, give him, give him call.
Speaker 2:So so was he. Was he making so, because you're that close was Was Penn State coming in the room checking you out? Were they sending guys in? How was that working?
Speaker 3:No, penn State was only about three and a half hours from Bergen County and I just thought. I Don't remember the recruiting process, you know too specifically, but I do remember that there was um, you know Penn State was was. I always knew of their success and they had champions. Then you know, I wasn't really looking in that direction. It kind of it was just an opportunity that really presented itself and and I remember.
Speaker 2:That's interesting that you say you weren't thinking that. Looking in that direction, what? Because you mentioned going to those Iowa camps you mentioned do it, you know all this, all these other things that were in between Are you saying that Penn State wasn't really the direction you were looking?
Speaker 3:Well, it certainly was Okay. When I had gotten such with Coach, I felt a different energy. That was something I hadn't experienced before in the sport. There was a certain something about it and I remember really being interested in going to visit and, long story short, I wanted to go to Penn State. That was my first pick, that was my top pick, and it was a stressful time picking a college at that time.
Speaker 3:I can remember that I used to work out in the backyard a lot and after all the tournaments and the successes I had a drawing to go out to State College. We took a drawing to go with my family and we would go to Happy Valley and I got to see the wrestling and the culture and it was fascinating at the time.
Speaker 2:So, with that being said, I mean obviously Penn State's there. Penn State's the forefront of your mind. It's the guys you're talking to. I mean, what were some of the other colleges that were contacting you throughout that time? It's nerve-wracking. I mean, you were popular. You had guys I mean not just popular, good at wrestling so you probably had colleges galore that were just reaching out and wanting you to join in. What were some of the? I mean to get a guy like you, to get a guy like you on their team. What are coaches telling you?
Speaker 3:Well before that there was a lot of Big Ten. If I can remember correctly, there was a lot of Big Ten schools that were recruiting me, I mean from the last level, ohio State, to you know all the Big Ten was the mantra I mean, at least in my mind.
Speaker 3:I felt where the best competition was and that's what to me, growing up in New Jersey and climbing through the ranks and seeing the champions, at the time, big Ten seemed to gravitate to me. But that doesn't exclude schools like Arizona State, which I visited back in that time and I think I had received a letter from Cal Poly, but it just never was Cal Poly at the time. It's like you know, I really wish. Like I said, doc Buchanan was my first California wrestling experience. I never thought or saw myself at that time, at that age, heading out west to the West Coast and competing to be a national champion. So it really came down to it was a no-brainer. It was a no-brainer, it was just I wanted to.
Speaker 3:I went to Penn State. That was my freshman year of college. I was a true freshman. Yeah, that was my high school career and I went right. I did summer training and then, you know, I competed right off the bat. I think the first match was Stanford and you know, and it was Penn State and that was that was. That was what it was.
Speaker 2:So pump the brakes here for a second, once you. Once you, because we're still still a little bit on high school. But once you made your choice, like in your head, right, you knew what you wanted to do, even, let's say, before you committed and things like that. But once you made that choice in your head, because you're a competitor, you're a competitor through and through, even though you knew what you wanted to do. And you hear about some of these kids nowadays that that kind of say well, I already have my college picked, I don't need to worry about going to this tournament or I don't need to worry about competing here and doing certain things. What was your frame of mind through those last two years of college or at college, of high school, before you got to college? Were you, I mean, you're a competitor. I never really saw you taking it easy, but did you feel like that? I don't really got to do this?
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was to close out that high school career with the four state championships. That was a goal I always had and it was attained by Anthony Ashton from South Plainfield.
Speaker 3:At the time we had trained the club together and he, you know, I just used to see that and I said, wow, I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it. Yeah, and it ended up happening. You know, four championships state and you know I traveled across the country to wrestle the best and I don't really want to say names, but I've wrestled the best. I've wrestled.
Speaker 2:You did.
Speaker 3:And I think you know, and I, yeah, I think I left high school you know, number one rank or whatever and that was my focus. It was to finish my high school career as strong and honest as possible.
Speaker 3:I just I didn't let anything get in the way and I trusted the people in my corner and yeah and I just dug deep and I love that process of it and I think that was that was my focus. It wasn't college, it was. It was to take it one day at a time, one win at a time and, uh, winning that that last state title match in in Boardwalk Hall.
Speaker 2:Well, and I figured that was the case. But you know, sometimes, like I said, these kids kind of some of the kids out there, you know I got my spot picked, I'm comfortable, I'm going to go train with my college team kind of thing and go that direction. But so now, as you're, you're, you're, you're getting into it. You said you were training there in the summer, things like that. How was your initial uh, let's just say stop at Penn State once you were settled in freshman years coming? You've been training with the guys. Let's talk, talk about that process a little bit, about the just the mentality of Penn State. It's a big mystique right now. You know. I mean, you went there for a reason. You, you love the environment. There was just a different type of wrestling to you. So kind of describe that first year at Penn State and how that went.
Speaker 3:Um, man, it was everything I wanted and at the time, and I uh grateful for that opportunity, for sure. It's.
Speaker 3:I couldn't remember being challenged and I can, and I and I, and I truly remember being supported and supported, and that was something that not that I hadn't been in my past, but I felt as if, when I was there, I was supported to become the person I wanted to be, in the sense of being a national champion, right off the bat and right out of high school. And it was just, it was a commitment, it was um, it was. It was indeed a a part of the process that needed to happen, and I learned. I learned quite a lot, I did.
Speaker 2:Let's, let's talk about that. So when, when you were your freshman year, some of the matches you had and I, as far as going back and knowing you know who you beat, who you lost to, I mean what what sticks out in your mind as far as matches and obviously we know the ankle situation, we know that but what were some of the things that you're going through? Your freshman year was pretty damn dominant, right. I mean you, you had great success going through that freshman campaign. What? What were some of the thoughts that you had going into just before the injury happened. You know things are going smooth, you know what. What? What were some of the thoughts? Just worrying about big 10s, ncaas at that point, Um, you know, the college grind was totally different.
Speaker 3:I had a lot of people, teammates, coaches, and to look to I, so I, I was supported in the conquest of being a national champion. I so I, uh, yeah, the injury, the injury is, you know, to this day, I, you know, I, I, I've been reflecting on it more and more. I, you know that was something that that happened, and it happened in a big arena. Um, I think it was the all star, or Penn State was number one for sure at the time, and you know, and, uh, I think it was Oki stay, I don't remember their rank, but there was some kind of all star duel after the regular season. I don't think it happens anymore, but, um, that was that match and it was right before.
Speaker 3:It was that match, and then it would be big 10s and then the NCAA championships. And, yeah, I broke the ankle, I remember it. Just, it happened and I got out on bottom and it was just a shell shock of an experience and a truck size experience that that, uh, you know, I think everybody dealt with. So I missed the big 10. I had to, you know, and the CAs came and I missed that as well and I ended up that season at Brecht Jordan center. I had a victory over the champion that year. So it's just, uh, it's definitely something to reflect on and be grateful for, that's for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely and and obviously I mean, like I said, god, that year was dominant, you know, and and to the injury that happened. You know, we, we've seen, you know, guys go down with injuries and things like that. But what an inopportune time. I know that they, you know, obviously, when you did that that show with flow, kind of talking about, you know, the injury happened, were there, were there, were there decisions, that what's that?
Speaker 3:Which show is that sir?
Speaker 2:Flow the, the first one that you did with those guys the fearless when you had just started at Rutgers. You kind of touched on the injury a little bit in that interview. As far as you know, maybe some decisions were being made that didn't agree with. I mean what? What was your? What was your want and need in that time of your injury? What was your want and need to to be able to go, you know, to the process?
Speaker 3:You know, I think at that time I truly believed I was on track, like you know, my coaches believed in. That was our plan, that was what it was all about. I think I was on track to being a national champion my freshman year. So that was a big percept. Uh yeah, perspective shift it, just it completely blew my mind. I was in total shock. Yeah. And.
Speaker 3:I think there was a homesick effect of, you know, want to be with my family and loved ones at the time.
Speaker 3:And that was New Jersey, three and a half hours back east, and I, I, truly, you know, I, I don't know, it was just a really emotional time and I, I want, I dug deep and said, hey, I think I can win a championship back home, yeah, and and I, you know, I'm not going to get into specifics, I can hardly remember but I went with it, I, I, I stuck with it and said, you know, because there was, I just felt that nothing at that point, that trauma, you know, in that matchup with the left ankle, it just, you know, it brought a sense of clarity too. It really took pressure off me and it was a heartbreak a little, because you know that happened and what the thing with me, too, was, it wasn't really just about me, it was, there was a team aspect to it that I did want to be a part of and I didn't get that opportunity, but things in perspective and brought clarity of who I could become if adversity at any cost did happen.
Speaker 3:And I realized, if you know adversity happens like that, do I have what it takes to dig deep and still be who I want to be. And I just, you know, I decided to to, to do what I did at Rutgers.
Speaker 2:For me, this is kind of where the vision quest part starts for you. You had it. You had, like you said, you had that feeling that you're going back home, the comfort zone, being able to be close to you know family, things like that. So, having that perspective and going into Rutgers, I mean obviously you had to, you know transfer, things like that. So there's, I'm sure there's heartbreak and things that you know, having to leave a situation that you really wanted, but but now you're getting into a situation that is almost more, I would say more, of a zone for you, right? So you get to Rutgers. How does that feel? What is that environment like for you? Being back home, things like that. What was that feeling once you started at Rutgers?
Speaker 3:Man.
Speaker 3:I think that there was a high demand coming from Penn State and because of their talent and what they do and being a part of that, it just it was really an expectation I had to live up to because there was a lot of doubt I felt, not not from within maybe.
Speaker 3:So I mean, maybe there was some doubts, like man, maybe I'm, you know that injury happened and like who knows, you know, maybe maybe. But I had a dig deep and say no, I, I, I can do this, no matter the cost of the adversity. And I think being back home was with the family and stuff was was a key point, you know, point of my development as a college, college athlete, for for me and my path. So I think the expectation of always being that national champion stuck with me and at Rutgers I just remember that I lived up I had to live up to that expectation of becoming that and it had never happened at Rutgers before. So that was an intrinsic motivator for me to dig deep and say there's nothing that's going to, you know, stop me from from becoming that.
Speaker 2:Do you feel like the pressure was more when you got to Rutgers? Did you feel like there was just because it was that home environment?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'd say so yeah.
Speaker 2:Okay, okay. So obviously you're you're not a slouch, you're you're. Freshman year was dominant. You're going into your sophomore year with Rutgers. How do you feel about the season coming up? As you're preparing for it, your ankle injury healed You're, you're. You got a fresh state of mind now that you're back home. How did you feel going into that season, as you started duels and things like that? Did you feel fresh, like you had this renewed type of energy?
Speaker 3:No, I remember just constantly battling through the adversity. You know the transfer process was stressful and then the injury I had to deal with all summer and training through that brought doubts. And then I had a new setback with with an infection in my knee that kept reoccurring, which is another story, and thankfully I've had the right mentors and, and you know, just the right people to help get my health back on track in the right direction to to be at.
Speaker 3:And so I think that whole sophomore year was a constant fight to to recover from the trauma and from the perhaps the downfall, or however you want to perceive it. For me it was, it was a blessing. I just you know it was a really challenging time. Yeah, it brought the director's sophomore, you know, season really brought a motivation that I always would be satisfied with part of my you know that time where I had to really dig deep and you know I remember, and leading up to it I was on fire. I was, you know, I was winning the duels and whatnot.
Speaker 3:And then, you know, I ended up in a hospital for a couple of weeks before, before the NCAA tournament, and I had to fall short and losing.
Speaker 3:And that that was something that you know was two years with injuries and health issues and things like that, and I had. I had never experienced that in high school. I was kind of always healthy and fresh and I started having doubts about that. This is when the the tide started to change in my mind with this war of wrestling and, like you asked before about, you know, stopping or quitting or whatever, yeah, it brought. It brought a whole different lens from entering from high school success to entering Penn State and then, you know, falling short, going through the injury experience. I had never done that.
Speaker 3:So it really I don't know. It really forced me to be honest with myself and my surroundings and my goal, because it takes a lot. It takes a lot to recover, it takes a lot to to want it and go get it, no matter the circumstance. And I think the losing and the breaks and the and the injury and the infection was a big part of me building a confidence, building a reputation to you know, fight and to fight through that. Yeah, To do what you want, you know and make it happen.
Speaker 2:So the injury is interesting because I remember in the interview that you did after the, after you won the NCAAs that year, you talked a lot about again your support system, people that backed you, people that were in your corner, you mean you?
Speaker 3:what's that? You mean? Junior junior season, was it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, sorry, sorry about that. Yeah, because you talked about a lot of people being in your corner and when you were going through the adversity that you're going through, who was the one that you reached out the most to during that that time?
Speaker 3:I mean in terms of family. I was in a relationship at the time I had mentor. Champion by design was something that really fine tuned my mind.
Speaker 2:Okay, okay.
Speaker 3:And if I just, you know, fine tune your mind in any, you know, through any extreme, any adversity or something that I could, it was a, it's a programming mechanism to, to you know, create the life that you want and, with all the stress and the noise in the school and competitions and the trauma, it was something I could resort to and it kept my expectations high for myself and it helped me create that and help build that reality through meditation, through a meditative state.
Speaker 3:Okay, where, yeah, where, you know I needed to. I needed to be in that space through the after the trauma, because if I were to be, you know, with the pain and the traumas, I don't know if I would have become a national champion. I had to, through the through the trauma, through the loss, I had to really be in that meditative space and, you know, visualize and dream it and actually put it on paper, speak it and become it, because before I wasn't doing that as much and it was a tool that I could resort to to to get my mind and my physiology aligned.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so as that, as that, as your, as your Rutgers, I guess the big question actually I have is why the change from Rutgers?
Speaker 3:Because it was home and it was.
Speaker 3:I lived 35 minutes from Rutgers, from from New Brunswick, and I think there was a will and an urge to be the first champion, to be a champion there had it happened and you know I guess that leads questions back to Penn State but it really wasn't.
Speaker 3:It was personal in a way that I needed to go home, versus personal due to the circumstance of what happened, you know, on the mat against Doki State wrestling for Penn State, it just it was a different character, it was a, it was a true character of man and my. Is this my purpose? Because if it truly was, then how did that, after all, the, the coaching and the support and the, you know, like that, how it just blew my mind and it to this day and it, and if that weren't to happen, I don't, you know, it would be a totally different story and I that's why Vision Quest is such a cool, you know, metaphor for me and the best wrestling movie ever, by the way. I think, yeah, I just it really was a pursuit to, to my ultimate purpose, I felt and, but hey, you know if I weren't to get injured.
Speaker 3:Who knows how it would have, how it would have played out. So I think things happen for reasons and you got to adjust and adapt and then I did, and so that's how, that's how, that's how for me. That was my way. It was going back to my roots, really digging deep. You know, at the time Rutgers there was a you know we're training in the basement. It wasn't even a full format room or anything like that.
Speaker 3:There's two mats college apps and it was, and I and I, just that gritty fight for it, your life's on the line, kind of mentality, like I don't know. I kind of resorted back to that, to my roots.
Speaker 2:So, when you are, you're, you're, you're set, you're, you know, your, your mind frame's kind of changing a little bit from Rutgers when. Where are you? Where is your mind going from there? What, because there's, there's all this speculation, right, where's Nick going? Where is he now? He's over here, Now. He's over here. What? Where were you in a place? What? What place were you in at that time? Were you?
Speaker 2:Because, again, I think your vision quest started once you were going to Rutgers. I think something, something shifted because Penn State was the place, right, I mean, you shifted a little bit and then the injury happens. You're coming through, you know, getting into your junior year. You win. Why the change? Why? Why, why, what made everything feel so different that that you're like I need to seek Was it? Was it you said, the great? You know, obviously you're looking to win, you're looking for greatness, you're looking to do something that you know, maybe someone hasn't done before. But where were you in a place of trying to find something? What was that quest? Where were you? You were traveling man. You were everywhere, you know.
Speaker 3:It's still. It's still happening. I think it's there's a deep I don't know in terms of understanding what it's all about. I don't. You know I, that was a traumatizing experience that set me on a new quest, a deeper quest, and you know I, I went with it and to this day, I, you know there's ups downs. It's just wasn't a pretty clean path. It was a hard fought, you know there was traumas, there was injuries, there was lessons I needed to learn, there was places I needed to be, and it started my true freshman year in college and I've learned, and those lessons I had learned that I've taken with me. I, you know wherever you are, you know wherever you go there, you are that kind of thing you know. So I didn't really get caught up in the labels of it as much.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was certainly a vision quest and and I think I'm still living and fulfilling that, that quest to this day, definitely, definitely, and I think that's why you know, training in California and Central Coast, here with Cal Poly, it's, it's been amazing and the relationships I've made, you know, starting at Penn State through Rutgers and then Michigan I mean, and then in the in-betweens, I mean there's, it's to me it's being a bit mindless about the situation and trusting, even in times of extreme I don't want to say trauma, but adversity and yeah yeah, how much doubt and you know, can you still trust, you know, the higher the Lord?
Speaker 3:can you trust this process when things are not as you visualize them, when when there are obstacles manifesting that you couldn't, can't imagine? And I think that was a big part of my journey in college and I and I know, in college as a wrestler for all college wrestlers, it's just a, it's a grueling process and it's it's a long season. There's a lot of different obstacles that take place. You know, and I I seem to you know want to rise to the top in ways that were attractive to me and I and I and I went closer to that attraction to that, to that love to that place, if you want to call it so yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So with that traveling you obviously were able to kind of get into some other rooms, practice. You'll get your hands on other guys and you were. You were practicing. I heard Arizona State was an area that you went to to practice with. I know Mark Curry's down there, so you were able to kind of get some different perspective. But as you were down there, you wind up in Michigan. Yeah, how does? How does now obviously wrestlers talk to each other? There's all kinds of guys that are up there at the RTC. Guys are down, you know, over in California like you're talking about. But can you kind of talk about what the draw was to kind of take that hot weather and go up to that cold weather in Michigan?
Speaker 3:you know Exactly, it's just at the time COVID happened. The Olympic trials were canceled. I was, you know, and six months in my backyard trying to figure out what you know. I was a national champ at that time. I had to decide if I wanted to win one more or if I was going to Olympic red shirt, that kind of thing. And since the trials got canceled there was a six month break, for me at least, and in that break process I wasn't training on the map, I was really just I don't know. I started getting into fasting and running a lot and things like that and, yeah, just being in nature and COVID, things were shut down and stuff like that. So I ended up exploring.
Speaker 3:My college roommate at the time was actually at Arizona State, my roommate at Rutgers, a friend, okay, so I remember he had reached me and it just there was coaching there and you know, and I took that that Western, I went for it and I, when I got there, it was just such a different experience again, you know, from the Penn States of Rutgers, you know being in the backyard kind of thing, figuring it out, going in the sun with the mountains and the desert and the hiking, you know, it just completely opened my mind again to who I could become and I wasn't training with the college team at the time. There was a small group over with some kids, kids there and and I and I loved it and it gave me space from that national champion identity and then it gave me the clarity to okay, wow, to believe that you know, I might be on path to to being a top guy in the world. Now in my mind and at atmosphere, with the sun and I guess the stars kind of aligned kind of thing I had my first overseas tournament in East France, ended up winning and it just it was yeah, and then you know that that that built up in that
Speaker 3:adversity, you know, to trials, the Olympic trials, where I tested positive for COVID-19. And that brought me a whole new perspective of adversity, doubt and understanding, recovery from that trauma. It just I had to deal with that and in that time the roads led to to Michigan and that was the bright, that was the decision that I, that I had to make. And you know, arizona State was great but, and you know, made some great relationships there, met some really cool people. But I decided to go to Michigan for my final season of college and with the, with the motivation to truly close out my college career as a national champion, no matter the circumstance, the opponent, the injury, the COVID, it didn't, you know, it was just. You know, yeah, it was being a champion. You know, coming down, losing, being down there a little trying to figure it out, understanding with a new clarity of an opportunity and going with it and completely diving into that character and belief of this is who I'm gonna become, no matter, you know, there's that just that, no matter what effect of, you know, and there's a lot of things beyond my control, of course, right, and stuff like that, but like there was just belief where it didn't matter where I was. I'm gonna focus on doing what's right and I'm gonna get the job done.
Speaker 3:And for me, that was when, in that national championship like just like freshman year, yup, and I always had a goal as a youth, you know, when I started wrestling states, why not ESPN, it was nationals. That was my. It wasn't freestyle growing up at the time, for me it was taking people down, chop, ride, arm bar. It was just that. That's my focus. It was to be a national champion, kind of thing. So that's so, that's so. The world, wrestling from the air, you know, from being in Arizona and whatnot, yup, it's just a boom. Right back to reality. In Ann Arbor, and the nationals were in Detroit that year and yeah, and it's just to get into that weekend, but it came down. It was NCAAs, my mom's birthday and when that was, that was that was it. You make it happen. So that was my duty. That was my duty with Michigan and it was a great experience as well, but just a totally different one from the other places and just a vision question.
Speaker 2:So with that, with that, with that Michigan season, I noticed a difference. I mean not only just how you were on the mat you were still competitive, you're still wrestled hard but just the look of you. You talk a lot about the nutrition and things like that. Talking to Frank Jasper, which shout out to Frank Jasper, shoot from Vision Quest, got the shirt on. That's right. That's right. So we know he talks a lot about nutrition. He's the man with the plan when it comes to food. So we talked a lot about you when we've had you on the show or we had Frank on the show and he's brought up that. When he brought up to you any type of change, any type of diet, like you hammered it home, you, you dialed in like he said, hey, do this, do this. He creates plans. This guy right here is another guy that follows one of his plans. So you, yeah, as you're going, I mean, what's that?
Speaker 3:It's the best. I can't say enough yeah.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 3:That's the total. Just amazing. And you're right, I mean it was a totally different started to interrupt, but it was a totally different approach and it had started in Arizona, but it was a totally different approach from winning it at Rutgers and even being at Penn State to a total self-transformation in terms of what I was putting in my body and how I was living, and it just it was such a deeper. I had an urge for this deeper understanding of reality. Yeah, it was my stuff and I and I dove into that and I actually won the title at Rutgers at 133. And then at Michigan it was 125. And there was just a lot of decisions and lifestyle habits, that and dietary things in terms of you know, health.
Speaker 3:You look lean.
Speaker 2:You look lean, dude. I mean, watching you at the NCAA is, I mean you were cut different, you were built different and obviously, whatever you know, the times that brought you to your mindset looked different. Just the way that you looked once the match was done, I mean your face was like mm-hmm, that's it was. It was why you were there, right. I mean it felt like things were really starting to come together as far as just as far as the rest of wrestling for you. So what did that kind of? How did that hit home for you with that national tournament in particular?
Speaker 3:There was just no doubt in my mind. I don't care, it didn't. I knew the stakes were high. I knew there was a lot of, there was a lot of pressure from a lot of different places. Now, yeah. And I had to live amongst that with myself and my family and my team at the time because, with Michigan.
Speaker 3:now there was a motivator to not only be a national champion, you know for them, which hadn't happened in a little bit of time. There there was a team at once again there was a team aspect and motivation of, hey, can we? At the time there was a belief that we could potentially be number one in the country as a team and it happened at the Big 10s and the NCAAs. It didn't but for me individually. There was no doubt.
Speaker 3:In fact that was going to, you know, come back into that arena and win my senior year. I, yeah, and I couldn't do it without you know, frank and my family and the support that I had and the help at Michigan at the time too, and whatnot as well.
Speaker 3:But there were a lot of personal you know transformation and adjustments in terms of my performance. That it was a big question because a lot of the ways that worked for me growing up and in the start of my college career I completely changed and you know, from not even doing any exercise, science-based strength training, the yeah, I don't need to get into the rest, but there were some things that I really sacrificed and let go of and just to discover new, to discover the right way to be a person. That was taught or believed to. You know, I had to discuss this whole process and journey as a, you know, to seek and to learn and to grow. So that was a growth process that I needed to go through. That experience and that in Sierra Leone and Detroit on that day yeah, the circumstances to really see who I, to see if what I've decided to become was a reality, if that makes sense, you know, and it became a reality.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so once you get done with Michigan, what's your mind frame? You won the NCAAs. You know, you've been, you've been through this. I mean up here. What are you thinking once you're done? Are you done Like do you have any eligibility left? I don't pay attention that much. Do you have eligibility left? Probably?
Speaker 3:I don't know. Maybe someone can look into it for me, but I don't think so. No.
Speaker 2:I don't know, covid.
Speaker 3:No, I don't think I have any eligibility. I know there's guys doing seven years and whatnot, but that was the finale of my college career. And at the time when I had won that match, I was like, man, that's a lot of. That was just maybe I got what. That was the time, you know, when I'm like maybe I got what I needed, but obviously I didn't.
Speaker 3:Obviously After that, you know, I headed out west a little bit and here I am in California and just all those decisions, right and steps that we take in life. It led to this point, and this is a point where I always felt the calling and pulling to, just like all those other places and things and people. Yeah, and here has been a really great lesson of understanding in life and you know, and just something a little bit different from where I'm from on the East.
Speaker 3:Coast. Yeah, and learning and learning. You know how can I, how can I, you know, take those lessons that I've learned and those opportunities that I've had and bring them here but become better and dive deeper and learn and grow and evolve and truly become all that I'm capable of becoming.
Speaker 2:And I think that that's always. It seems like that that's really what you've been trying to do the whole time, right? I mean, it seems like it's been a vision quest for you to try and just trying to get to the peak, trying to not the peak of a sport, but the peak of you, like who you are, the person you can be, because even in interviews you kind of express that a little bit You're not. You're not so much worried about the outside, you're worried about the inside, right. You're worried about what's going on with you and the journey. Now that you're on, you have the Pan Ams coming up, that's right. You're the only US guy at 61 kilograms, right.
Speaker 3:I believe so yeah.
Speaker 2:Okay. So with your training right now and the things that you're going through, what have you think you've do? You think you've found that path? Now that kind of puts your mind at ease where you can, because I mean talking to you every day. Your training is focused. You're doing I gotta get this done, I gotta get this done. You're very still dialed into the sport of wrestling and what you're trying to accomplish. So kind of describe. Now you're out at the training lab out there You're working with Frank. You're out at Cal Poly. Do you feel like you have chess pieces in place now to be able to take yourself to where you think you might wanna be?
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's. I'm not there yet, and I don't know if I ever will be. It's more of a. This, though, is a wholesome approach and natural. I know I'm on my own. I have a good support system here as well, of course, and of course the training.
Speaker 3:I mentioned now is a new piece to that Good At Pete performance mentality and becoming that. But it's, this one is a beautiful thing and I always wanted to be out this way. I never really truly thought that I'd be able to wrestle, train, compete kind of thing. Here it just like I said from my past, it and never. I always thought it was big 10 and you know. Arizona was the light of wow, I could be in a natural. You know the mountains and the sun and all that.
Speaker 3:And it's beautiful and I could still perform at my highest, which was proven. But here now there's so many, just the resources and the mentorship, and then the new additions to the stuff that has worked and the stuff that I believe to be true and to be honest and to help me be the best I can be. It's all here, so it's another deep. What's a realization of man? How deep am I willing to go? How far am I willing to go? Who do I really want to become and can I? And now you know being super grateful for the opportunity to compete at Pan Am's for USA and.
Speaker 3:February 23rd it's in Alcapulco. Coaches here have been supportive of. I've been out here since the summer, so it's just been amazing and there's an energy out with the Cal Poly wrestling team and the staff that I really appreciate and there's some serious talent on the roster that I hadn't heard of perhaps in the past as much, being on the East Coast in my college career most of the time, and it just completely opened my mindset once again being out on this terrain, the West Coast, which I truly love. I love the Pacific Ocean, I like to do the Colp Hunters, I like to go to the West, you know, I just I like the nature, I like the place. But what's the point, what's the purpose? And I think I've hit on a deeper level again. So that's, you know, purpose pulls.
Speaker 2:So that's. It almost seems like you're shedding a skin each time and you're becoming and growing into something and not something, but someone else, not necessarily different, but you're just growing and it's exciting to watch. It's fun to see what you're doing and everybody wants to know, right, everybody's like what's Nick doing? Where is he going? How's he? Who's he practicing with? You know so when you see this wrestling thing. How old are you, nick?
Speaker 3:I'm 26.
Speaker 2:Okay, you've got plenty of time to compete yet. Right, I mean lots of goals you can accomplish. Yet in wrestling, you got time, especially now. I mean you're a healthy guy. The way you're eating, the way you're training, it all just feels right. But we've got a couple of questions that we've seen. Now. Are you possibly ever thinking about ever doing like a UFC?
Speaker 3:Oh, I'd have a couple. I mean I don't know. I used to like boxing in high school with my coach at Good News and Pascal boxing coach.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 3:He's absolutely amazing and that was something we hadn't talked about. Through my high school career I started boxing, you know, just for training and because I like to watch fights and stuff on TV and like I just kind of would love to train it, and but I don't know. I've crossed paths with, you know, several champions in that sphere, but I don't know, I don't know if that's something I wanna. I know I can do it and I haven't. I'd have an opponent in mind that I'd love to maybe line up with, but that's another story. Right now I'm focused on gold for USA and myself.
Speaker 3:And people out here in the support through this whole journey. That's led me to that point, but it's out there. That's not my focus right now. My focus is being at peak, optimal health and perform the best I've ever had on a wrestling mat. And I think the opportunity to wrestle for USA at Pan Ams is a blessing and I'm excited for that because I haven't experienced that before. So that's a new, deeper dive into the ultimate of who I wanna become.
Speaker 2:Right on. So we got a couple other questions on here I wanna ask you. This one is can you ask Nick if he remembers Premier Wrestling Club?
Speaker 3:Oh, absolutely he. The first was the moda, for sure. Yeah, premier was. We came out. We just heard the song the other night Duran Duran Wild Boys. It was again being a premise wrestler. We had all our duels there with the teams, but there was once a duel at Premier and we ran out to, because the original run out song which my father ran out to back in the 70s was a locomotive ref, jethro Toll, but at Premier it was Duran Duran Wild Boys, and that's what I remember about Premier.
Speaker 2:It's nice. I think Liam's got a couple for you bud.
Speaker 4:So were you always in that mindset of I'm gonna let the wind take me, or was there ever a moment where it kind of clicked, like in high school or maybe after your injury at Penn State? Or was it always just kind of I'm gonna let it take me wherever I need to go?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think a lot of it was deciding and knowing, you know, based off of my goals. You know, if I want to be a champion, I always, that always was there. No matter what happened, that was there, but things happen and I had to adapt or die.
Speaker 3:So you have to adapt to those challenges, you adapt to the adversity and you make decisions and then, but there's always that essence I was just talking to a really close buddy of mine from back home today about that. There's that essence from the point of your to start of your journey in life. It's there and you know, I think, throughout the traumas and trials and the successes it's there too. But I think when things get you know challenging and things occur that you didn't plan for, it's, it's, how do you? Remember that essence how do you? You know, say, man, this is what I want and I'm going to make it happen.
Speaker 4:And then during during your time when you had COVID and you couldn't wrestle in the trials, was it a lot of? Was it a lot of like just burying yourself into training more, or was it you kind of took a step back and reevaluated not just your goals but yourself?
Speaker 3:That's a great question, all of you, but definitely reevaluation and trusting the mentors and the people that I look to my father, my family and the mentors, the Franks, the coaches, the biomechanic training, whatever your support team is, whatever you look to, you know that's there but there's up, but at the end of the day, you know, throughout it comes down, the. Are you willing to make it happen? Are you, do you want this? Is this what you're willing to, to become and to sacrifice everything for?
Speaker 2:You got anything else, man? No, I got one, maybe a couple fun ones here at that. What's your major?
Speaker 3:I did labor relations back in Rutgers. I chose that it was an open major. I got to do philosophy and acting classes with it, that's right, that's right.
Speaker 2:I loved it. You did so. Okay, here's a question Would you ever try any acting gigs? Would you ever try to do anything with an acting gig? Absolutely.
Speaker 3:I would love to. I think showing up to rest and practice every day to be quite honest with you is a decision that you live with amongst yourself. It's a part of the building to that identity of who you want to become. So in acting, it was just that was the key part of me becoming a national champion to be quite honest with you at Rutgers, after all the adversity and trauma, it just it, just why. You know, going to theater, being in the middle of stage and you know, and saying things and feeling emotions and dealing with that, it just there's something about it that took me out of that. I need to win, because I need a win mentality and it actually I got to. I started to feel and listen a little bit more. Yeah.
Speaker 4:Right on. Did you like during your first year at Rutgers when you had that injury? Was it was it difficult for you to do school and wrestling while recovering from certain things, or was it? Was school really easy for you all the?
Speaker 3:time. No, school is a big part of being a national champion. In college you know you have class daily. It's it's a part of being a collegiate athlete and it's not something that you can overlook. So I know you have to certainly deal with that requirement. That's that's why that major for me was key, because I had acting class a couple times a week and I took some philosophy and it just took me out of like classes that I didn't want to be in. I put myself in environments I was unfamiliar with but I wanted to be there.
Speaker 2:So do you, do you get? We got a question on here that says can you ask Nick about nerves? Do you get nervous when you think you're going to win how you like, how you want to win? How do you deal with nerves?
Speaker 3:I feel, nerves all day throughout the day. It's it's a part of our life. I definitely, absolutely. I. You know, just walking into a resting room is it brings a different sensation than you know walking into a coffee shop. It's how do you adapt and adjust when you feel those nerves and sensations. And I think how you kind of program your mind a little bit and how you talk to yourself and and how you can, can feel is a big part of dealing with the nerves, because they're there, yeah.
Speaker 2:Okay, Well, Nick man, I really appreciate the time. I apologize for the hiccups. You've been a great guest dude. You told your story. We've got to dig into a couple of things. You were able to kind of express some things out there. You got, guys, things you want to plug.
Speaker 3:I just wanted to say to Liam good luck on your fourth team state title. That's really cool. I got to experience that in high school, thenfully, so good luck, thank you. Appreciate it In terms of plugs, brad, I think we've touched on quite a lot, and again it's, but I'm super thankful for the circumstances to lead me to be where I'm at now. I feel like I'm thriving in a direction that's I couldn't do. You know it doesn't. It comes down to to to you and the purpose that you're trying to fulfill, but there is a lot of guidance and trust that goes along with it. So I'm super thankful for those people in my life and I pray about it that you know I have continued support to you know evolve into the person I wish to become and be that. So thanks for the opportunity.
Speaker 2:Yeah, dude, I appreciate you being on. There are a lot of questions out there, a lot about UFC stuff and a lot about that, but I know we now know your focus obviously right now is wrestling and keeping track on that. So everybody pay attention to him. He's going to be 61 kilograms, he's going to Pan Am's, represent the US and the man of mystery, nick Serrano. Appreciate it, dude, we still want to talk to you afterwards. I know you got some stuff going on, but we want to talk to you quick. We do that with everybody. But, guys, this has been the Vision Quest podcast. This is a validated podcast, got that? Because, guess what? We're coming back. Never know. That's right, nick might be back, so we'll talk to you guys later. Peace, peace.