| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | January 7, 1987 Binghamton, New York, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Wrestling | |||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | Freestyle and Folkstyle | |||||||||||||||||||
| College team | Cornell University | |||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Troy Nickerson (born January 7, 1987) is a former wrestler and NCAA champion out of Cornell University. He is the current head wrestling coach at the University of Northern Colorado.
Nickerson attended Chenango Forks High School in Chenango Forks, New York. At Chenango Forks, Nickerson became the first five-time high school state champion of New York State and amassed a record of 217-6, while winning several Junior National championships. Intermat wrestling named him the ninth best high school wrestler for the entire 20-year period ending in 2005. Nickerson was also named the Junior Hodge Trophy winner in 2005. [1] At the Fargo tournament, a national championship tournament in the U.S. for freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, he captured five titles in six tries.
After graduating from high school Nickerson attended Cornell University, where he won three EIWA wrestling titles and was a rare four-time NCAA All-American. In his junior year, Nickerson won the 2009 NCAA wrestling title at 125 pounds. He finished 2nd as a true freshman, 3rd as a sophomore, and 4th as a senior with a total career record of 97-8. He served as captain during his senior year and was also a member of the Quill and Dagger society.
In September 2010, Nickerson accepted a position as an assistant coach for the Finger Lakes Wrestling Club of New York, which focuses on promoting all levels of wrestling in New York State.
In 2011 and 2012, Nickerson competed in freestyle wrestling on the senior level, with his goal of making the U.S. Olympic team. He would not make the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trails and afterwards would turn his full attention to coaching. In 2012, he was hired as an assistant coach at Iowa State. In 2014, Nickerson was named head coach of the University of Northern Colorado wrestling program.
Cael Norman Sanderson is an American former folkstyle and freestyle wrestler who is the current head coach of Penn State's wrestling team. As a wrestler, he won an Olympic gold medal and was undefeated in four years of college wrestling at Iowa State (159–0), becoming a four-time NCAA Division I champion (1999–2002). He is the only wrestler in NCAA Division I history to go undefeated in official matches with more than 100 wins. Sports Illustrated named his college career as the second most impressive college sports feat of all-time, behind the setting of four world records by Jesse Owens in a single hour at the 1935 Big Ten track and field conference championship meet.
David Lesley Schultz was an American Olympic and World champion freestyle wrestler, and a seven-time World and Olympic medalist. He coached individuals and teams at the college level and also privately.
Chris Pendleton is a former American wrestler who competed collegiately for Oklahoma State University. Pendleton won NCAA Division I wrestling titles at 174 pounds in 2004 and 2005 and was a three-time All-American.
Teyon Ware is an American former freestyle and folkstyle wrestler. Competing for the Oklahoma Sooners, Ware won NCAA Division I wrestling titles at 141 pounds in 2003 and 2005. Ware is a 4-time All-American, former Big 12 Conference champion, and U.S. World Team member that competed at the 2011 World Wrestling Championships.
Steve Mocco is an American former amateur wrestler, judoka and mixed martial artist. As a collegiate wrestler, he was a two-time NCAA national champion, four-time finalist, and was awarded the Dan Hodge Trophy. In freestyle, he represented the US at the Olympics and was a three-time Pan American Champion. As an MMA fighter, he most notably competed at the WSOF. He is currently a coach at both combat sports, being one of the main coaches at MMA powerhouse American Top Team and an assistant wrestling coach at Lehigh University.
Larry Lee "Zeke" Jones is an American wrestler who won a silver medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, a world championship in Varna, Bulgaria, in 1991, and was the former freestyle head coach at USA Wrestling. He is currently the head coach of the Arizona State University Wrestling team as of April, 2014. He was a six-time national freestyle champion, four-time World Cup champion, Pan American Games champion, and received the "World's Most Technical Wrestler Award" awarded by FILA, the international governing body for the sport. In college, he was a three-time All-American for Arizona State University and competed on the 1988 NCAA Championship team, coached by famed Bobby Douglas. After college, he wrestled on two world championships teams with the United States wrestling team. In 2005, he was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member.
The Oklahoma State Cowboys wrestling team is the most successful NCAA Division I program of all time in any sport. As of 2021–2022, Oklahoma State wrestling has won 34 team national championships, 143 individual NCAA championships, and 485 All-American honors.
Leslie Lyle Gutches is an American former wrestler and coach. His accomplishments include becoming a World Champion in freestyle wrestling at the 1997 World Wrestling Championships, the Dan Hodge Trophy as the nation's best college wrestler in 1996, becoming the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) champion in the 177 lb. weight division in both 1995 and 1996, earning All-American status in 1994, 1995 & 1996, becoming a member of the 1996 United States Olympics freestyle wrestling team and winning numerous other tournaments and honors.
Brent Metcalf is an American former freestyle and folkstyle wrestler. Metcalf was a three-time member of the US World Team and two-time NCAA wrestling champion at the University of Iowa.
William Michael Zadick is an American amateur wrestler. He won an NCAA college wrestling championship while competing with the University of Iowa and the 2006 World Wrestling Championships in freestyle wrestling.
Rob Koll is an American college wrestling coach. He is currently head wrestling coach at Stanford University. He is the son of Wrestling Hall of Fame member and three-time NCAA wrestling champion Bill Koll.
The Cornell Big Red wrestling team represents Cornell University of Ithaca, New York in collegiate wrestling. It is one of the most successful and storied collegiate wrestling programs in the nation with over 20 individual NCAA champions, 42 Ivy League championships, and 27 Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association championships since the program's 1907 founding.
Logan Stieber is an American former freestyle and folkstyle wrestler, who competed internationally at 61 and 65 kilograms. In the Olympic year of 2016, he won the non-Olympic world championship at 61kg, and in 2018, he won a Pan American title.
David Morris Taylor III is an American freestyle and graduated folkstyle wrestler who currently competes at 86 kilograms. In 2021, Taylor became the 2020 Olympic gold medalist after defeating reigning Olympic and World Champion Hassan Yazdani, a feat he repeated from the 2018 World Championship where he stormed his way to the title. He later became the 2021 World Championship runner-up, after being defeated by Yazdani. Then, at the 2022 World Championships, he avenged that loss by defeating Yazdani once again to reclaim his world title.
Spencer Richard Lee (born October 14, 1998) is an American freestyle and former folkstyle wrestler who competes at 57 kilograms. In freestyle, he won the US National championship in 2019 and was a three-time age-group world champion, once at the cadet level and twice at the junior level. As a folkstyle wrestler, Lee won the James E. Sullivan Award and the Dan Hodge Trophy twice, as well as three NCAA Division I national championships out of the University of Iowa. Lee was often considered one of the most dominant athletes in college athletics.
Yianni Diakomihalis is an American freestyle and folkstyle wrestler who competes at 65 kilograms and 149 pounds. In freestyle, he is the 2022 world silver medalist, a two-time US World Team member, the 2020 Pan American champion, the 2019 US Open national champion, and a two-time age-group world champion. As a collegiate wrestler, Diakomihalis was a four-time NCAA Division I champion and four-time EIWA champion out of Cornell University.
Mark John Hall II is an American freestyle wrestler and graduated folkstyle wrestler who currently competes at 86 kilograms. As a folkstyle wrestler, Hall was an NCAA Division I National champion and a three-time Big Ten Conference champion out of the Pennsylvania State University. As a freestyle wrestler, Hall was the 2021 US Open National champion, 2018 Pan American Continental champion, a two–time Junior World Champion and a Cadet World Champion.
Zain Allen Retherford is an American freestyle wrestler and graduated folkstyle wrestler who competes at 65 kilograms. In freestyle, Retherford is a three-time US World Team Member. He was a silver medalist at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships, earning his first World medal at the highest level of the World Championships. Additionally, he helped Team USA reach third-place at the 2019 World Cup, going undefeated at 4–0, and winning the individual 2019 World Cup title. Retherford was also the 2012 Cadet World Champion at 63kg as a freestyle wrestler.
Gable Dan Steveson is an American professional wrestler and freestyle and folkstyle wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he was appointed to the Raw brand in 2021 under his real name, however he has only had brief appearances in the company, and has yet to have a professional wrestling match. He is the second Olympic wrestling gold medalist to be signed by the company, after Kurt Angle.
Gabriel Curtis Dean is an American retired freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestler and graduated folkstyle wrestler who formerly competed at 86 kilograms. In freestyle, he was the 2020 US National Champion, a '17 Pan American Championship medalist, and a '14 Junior World Championship medalist. He was also the '15 Pan American Championship runner–up in Greco-Roman. As a collegiate wrestler, Dean was a two–time NCAA Division I champion, a four–time EIWA Conference champion, and a four–time NCAA Division I All-American for the Cornell Big Red.
