Whatever Happened to Troy Nickerson?

Do you hear a name and say to yourself, "Whatever happened to that person?" Here's a blast from the past for you...Troy Nickerson. So whatever happened to Troy? The pride of Chenango Forks was the first five-time New York state wrestling champion, winning it from 2001-2005 (Wow, it's been that long already) and signed with Cornell. So what happened next?

He placed second at the NCAA Championships in 2006 and finished third in 2007. He won the NCAA title in March of 2009. His father, Robert Nickerson passed away in April 2009 from kidney cancer.

You see, Robert was an inspiration to his son, Troy. In fact, he keeps a picture of him on the wall by his office chair at his house. Robert is shaking the hand of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics gold medal winner Tom Brands.

The picture reminds him of all the things that his father did to help Troy become the best in his sport. So where is Troy now? He's the head coach for the Northern Colorado Bears and is driven by the memory of his father.

He's been there seven years and has turned the Divison 1 program into a contender. He's had a few stellar recruiting classes but the coronavirus pandemic brought the season to a halt before he had a chance to show it off.

He's convincing the kids in Colorado to stay in the state and was able to land the top high school recruit in the country, Andrew Alirez. At one time, Andrew's father lived only six houses away from Troy.

Like a true leader, he gives credit to the staff and the kids. His dad would be proud of him...I know we are.

[via Trackwrestling]