Old Dominion presents familiar challenge to John Nicholson on ISU wrestling
Redshirt senior John Nicholson throws Grand View’s Quinten Haynes to the mat in their 157-pound matchup on Nov. 7 at Hilton Coliseum. Nicholson pinned Haynes to the mat to seal a victory in his matchup, helping the Cyclones to a 22-18 win.
November 22, 2013
A little more than 1,200 miles separated John Nicholson from home, and after four years, he finally made it back.
The 157 pounder for the Cyclones and Des Moines native spent the last four years as a member of the Old Dominion wrestling team before making his return to Iowa.
On Sunday, Nicholson returns to Norfolk, Va., to wrestle his old squad.
“I’m excited about it. It’s going to be cool,” Nicholson said. “It’s going to be a little weird, and I’m not sure how they’re going to be, but I’m excited.”
Coming back home was an easy choice for Nicholson, and wrestling for the Cyclones was an even easier choice.
“I’ve always liked it here and I’ve been going to home meets since forever,” Nicholson said. “My coach is here and I wanted to be here and be home. Troy [Nickerson] called me up and asked me if I wanted to wrestle this year. If it wasn’t for that, I don’t think I’d be wrestling right now.”
Nicholson racked up 62 wins during his time at Old Dominion, and now at Iowa State, Nicholson will take his perfect 6-0 record into Sunday and try to protect it against his old teammate Tristan Warner.
Old Dominion has had Iowa State’s number the last two years, defeating the Cyclones in Ames last year 22-13 and 21-16 the year before that.
“We just need to wrestle with intensity and a sense of urgency,” said 197-pound All-American Kyven Gadson. “They’re not going to back down, and they’ve beat us twice. We’re 4-0 right now, and we don’t want to lose any momentum, especially with the Iowa meet coming up right after that.”
Last season, Iowa State notched an 8-3 record on the road, which included seven-straight dual victories from Jan. 11 to March 8.
Four-straight dual victories to start the 2013 season has ISU coach Kevin Jackson confident, but he thinks people have yet to see his team at full strength.
“We just have to wrestle to our ability and our potential, and I don’t think we’ve done that,” Jackson said. “[Old Dominion will] compete well against us, and now their confidence is up because they have beat us the last couple of times, but I don’t think they’ve seen what we’re really all about.”
