Two-time NCAA champion Nick Gwiazdowski takes aim at history

Nick Gwiazdowski after winning his second NCAA championship. Photo: Tony Rotundo.

Trailing a two-time NCAA champion 1-0 in the third period of the 2014 NCAA finals, Nick Gwiazdowski never waivered.


The North Carolina State sophomore unseated Minnesota’s heavyweight king Tony Nelson 4-2, courtesy of two third period takedowns, giving “The Gwizz” his first NCAA Championship and possibilities of legend.


Fast-forward two years, and Gwiazdowski has an opportunity to win a third NCAA title for NC State this season. However, his road to success has been anything but smooth.


After earning two New York state championships at Duanesburg High School and posting a 50-0 record during his senior season, with no match going the distance, Gwiazdowski was the given the distinction of top heavyweight recruit in the nation.


Even after the large amount of success in high school, Gwiazdowski was filled with self-doubt and questions about his abilities.


“Honestly, when I was being recruited I didn’t think I was the best kid in the country,” Gwiazdowski said. “You’ve got these coaches calling you and I’m scratching my head a little bit thinking am I good enough to go to so and so school?”


Ultimately, Gwiazdowski elected to stay close to home and wrestle for coach Pat Popolizio at Binghamton University.


Wrestling right away as a true freshman, Gwiazdowski endured the usual freshman lumps, but ultimately finished in eighth place at the NCAA Championships for the Bearcats, earning All-American honors.


After catching his stride at the end of his freshman year, another tough situation arose for Gwiazdowski when Popolizio took the head-coaching job at North Carolina State.


Gwiazdowski could either stay at Binghamton where he felt the comforts of home, or make the move to unfamiliar North Carolina. He took a chance and followed his coach.


“The transfer decision was a tough one. I knew it would be best for my wrestling career, but as for coming to North Carolina, I was like, I don’t belong here. I knew like three people here. It was tough, but it has made all the difference,” said Gwiazdowski.


Needing some time to adjust to his new surroundings, Gwiazdowski opted to take a redshirt year and grow both on and off the mat. This year was transformative for Gwiazdowski as started to believe he was a championship caliber wrestler.


“The redshirt year helped me a lot. I worked a lot with Jamill Kelly in those first two years he was here. I can look back at my career and mark that time as a time I made a lot of gains and gained a lot of confidence,” said Gwiadowski.


Gwiazdowski qualified for the U.S. World Team Trials during his redshirt season at NC State. He proved himself a contender on the Senior level by finishing in fourth place at the Trials, but more importantly he defeated the reigning, two-time NCAA champion Tony Nelson soundly, not once, but twice.


“That was big for me, given he was the reigning champ and I beat him. He was my first loss in NCAA’s. He beat me 8-0. So here’s the guy who beat me 8-0, I change locations and a year later I beat him 10-0. That was a big builder for my confidence, knowing I could take him down to the mat,” said Gwiazdowski.


Gwiazdowski has ridden that confidence to back-to-back NCAA titles for the Wolfpack program.


Last season, Gwiazdoski topped University of Michigan up and comer Adam Coon in the NCAA finals by a slim 7-6 margin. The score might have been close, but Gwiazdowski controlled the match throughout, scoring three takedowns to Coon’s one.


“When you look at the box score I scored a lot of offensive points. You take [Coon’s] escapes away and you’ve got an 8-2 match. It’s kind of frustrating when you’re wrestling because you’re scoring points and then you look at the scoreboard and you’re up one. But it’s the scoring system,” said Gwiazdowski.


With wins in the NCAA finals over Nelson and Coon, Gwiazdowski avenged his only two college losses while donning a NC State singlet, while on the sports grandest stage.


Entering his senior season, Gwiazdowski has a chance to cement his legacy as one of the greatest heavyweights of all-time.


A third NCAA title would place him in elite company, joining Jimmy Jackson of Oklahoma State (1976-78) and Carlton Haselrig of Pittsburgh-Johnstown (1987-89) as the only heavyweights to accomplish this monumental achievement in the modern era.


“I want to be known as the best ever, but at the same time I can’t get ahead of myself,” Gwiazdowski said. “If you think ahead like that, it may not happen for me, so then what? It’s a process and understanding that process and knowing I’ll be there at the end. As long as I’m there and I wrestle then I have a shot a becoming one of the best ever.”


Gwiazdowski is 8-0 to begin his senior season and currently leads the NCAA with an astounding 63 straight wins. Preparation and control will be the key for Gwiazdowski’s sustained excellence moving forward.


“I like to control the things I can control and prepare for the things I can control, so when those things do come up I’m ready for them,” Gwiazdowski said. “I’ll never look past someone. I don’t want to be caught off guard ever again, so I do everything in my mind to prevent that.”


The difficulties of defending a NCAA title are often harder than the ascent. For Gwiazdowski it is important to stay grounded, while at the same time avoid the frustration’s that arise from taking everyone’s best shot.


“I put those two [titles] behind me. I don’t think about them much because I want to be the 2016 champ,” Gwiazdowski said. “I just have to expand and grow. I know who the individuals are that are going to try and keep it close and those that are going to attack me. Is it frustrating? Yes, but I have to keep my cool at the same time so I don’t make mistakes.”


The 2015-16 college season will culminate in the World’s Most Famous Arena, Madison Square Garden, on March 17-19, just down the road from Gwiazdowski’s home town, setting the stage for a memorable finish to a memorable collegiate career.


“It’s going to bring me to a different level in training and know that at the end of the road, in my last time out in a NC State singlet I’m really going to have to show up. I’m really looking forward to doing it in New York,” said Gwiazdowski.


Led by Gwiazdowski, this year’s edition of the NC State squad could end up being the best in school history.


“It’s a team that can do really big things, but we need to believe we are there. We can’t get rattled by an orange singlet. We can’t get rattled by a singlet with a white stripe across it or one with a VT on it. It’s about believing in yourself and I think we have a little bit of that,” said Gwiazdowski.


Gwiazdowski and the No. 13 Wolfpack hope to make a serious statement this Sunday as they travel to Stillwater, Okla. to dual No. 4 Oklahoma State in a hostile Gallagher Iba Arena.


A Wolfpack win in Stillwater would put the wrestling world on notice, proving one thing, that NC State has arrived.