Nickerson prepared to reveal college pick
Wrestler narrows choices to four
BY MIKE MANGAN
Press & Sun-Bulletin
For Chenango Forks senior Troy Nickerson, the wait will finally be over.
After enduring months of intense recruitment by nearly every prominent Division I wrestling program in the country, Nickerson will make a verbal commitment to his college destination at 2:30 p.m. today in a press conference slated for the Chenango Forks High School library, according to Nickerson’s father, Robert, as well as Chenango Forks athletic director and wrestling coach Rick Perkins.
Nickerson said has already made up his mind but will wait until today’s press conference to make a formal announcement. The four-time New York state champion did acknowledge that his choice will come from a list of four schools: Harvard, Cornell, Minnesota and West Virginia.
“It’s nice to get it over with, “said Nickerson, who won’t officially sign until April 1, the beginning of the NCAA Division I signing period for wrestling. “I’ll be able to focus on other things in my life, including trying to win a fifth state title. It’s a big relief.
“I’m very confident in my decision, and I feel I’ve made the right one.”
All four schools — Harvard, Cornell, Minnesota and West Virginia — have aspects that made them particularly appealing to Nickerson.
From strictly a wrestling standpoint, Minnesota would be the top choice of the four. The Golden Gophers won back-to-back NCAA Division I team championships in 2001-02 and were runners-up in 1998-99 and 2003. Last season, Minnesota placed eighth at the NCAA Championships and is currently ranked in the top 10 in various Division I wrestling polls.
However, Nickerson, who has a grade average in the mid-90s and hopes for a career as a doctor, is interested in pre-med studies.
That would in part explain the possibilities of Ivy League schools Cornell and Harvard, two of the premier academic institutions in the country.
Both have strong wrestling programs as well, Cornell finishing 11th in last season’s NCAA Division I championships and Harvard’s Jesse Jantzen — with whom Nickerson is tied with for the most state wrestling titles in New York State history — winning an NCAA Division I individual title at 149 pounds as a senior last season.
West Virginia, a top-20 Division I program, has been considered not just because of its collegiate success, but for another reason as well.
Mountaineers assistant coach Zeke Jones has served as a coach on the last three U.S. Olympic freestyle wrestling teams. Nickerson has often made mention of his hopes of one day competing in the Olympics.
“I’ve gotten close with a lot of coaches during this, and it’s going to be tough to (tell them no), “Nickerson said. “Hopefully the relationships will last after all this.”
You have to go back nearly 20 years — to former Binghamton High basketball standout King Rice — to find a Broome County athlete who has received the wide-spread attention of Division I athletic programs that Nickerson has.
Rice, then widely-regarded as one of the top high school point guards in the country, made the decision during his senior season in 1986-87 to attend the University of North Carolina, doing so after a long recruiting process that included many top-20 collegiate programs, among them Syracuse and Notre Dame.
Nickerson first made his mark when he won his first high school state wrestling title in 2001, becoming only the second eighth-grader in New York State wrestling history to win a state title with his victory in the 96-pound weight class.
Many championships followed. Nickerson added state titles at 103, 112 and 119 pounds over the next three years, the 119-pound Division I title coming in last year’s state tournament and tying him with Jantzen — winner of state titles from 1997-2000 while at Shoreham-Wading River — for the most in New York state history.
Nickerson has also won five national titles, six Empire State Games gold medals and two Beast of the East tournament titles. He has spent the better part of the last three seasons as the top-ranked wrestler in the country in his weight class according to the National Wrestling Coaches Association and has amassed a 181-6 career record in high school varsity competition.
It’s a wrestling resume that, come today, will make somebody a very happy college coach.
Wrestling Gear
