Nick Sulzer
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2015 All-American – 165 pounds (5th Place)
2014 All-American – 165 pounds (4th Place)
2013 All-American – 165 pounds (8th Place)
2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 NCAA Qualifier – 165 pounds
2014, 2015 ACC Champion – 165 pounds
RANKINGS: 2 (InterMat, TheOpenMat, AWN, WIN), 4 (Flowrestling)
NCAA RANKINGS: 4 (Coaches), 5 (RPI)
AT VIRGINIA: CAREER
• Three-time All-American
• Four-time NCAA qualifier (one of eight UVa wrestlers all-time to compete in four NCAA Championships)
• Finished second in career wins at UVa with 122
• Was 122-27 in his career, including 58-7 in UVa duals
• Earned bonus points in over 60 percent of his career wins (58 major decisions, 14 technical falls, six falls)
• Finished with 15 career wins and 24 matches at NCAA Championships – both are program records
2014-15
• Became second three-time All-American in program history, taking fifth place at 165 pounds at NCAA Championships
• Won second straight ACC championship at 165 pounds (3/8)
• Was No. 4 seed at NCAA Championships and went 6-2 at the event
• Defeated three seeded wrestlers at NCAAs – No. 3 Isaac Jordan (Wisconsin), No. 12 Dylan Palacio (Cornell) and No. 15 Ethan Ramos (North Carolina); earned 12-4 major decision over Ramos in fifth-place bout
• Went 11-4 against 2015 NCAA qualifiers
• Champion at Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (12/5-6)
• Runner-up at Southern Scuffle (1/1-2)
• Competed in NWCA All-Star Match
• Was 4-1 in ACC duals; all four wins resulted in bonus points
• Graduated in May with master’s degree in higher education/administration; earned bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2014
•Named to All-ACC Academic Wrestling Team and ACC Academic Honor Roll
• Named to NWCA All-Academic Team for third straight year
2013-14
• Placed fourth at 165 pounds at NCAA Championships to earn All-America honors for second straight year
• Earned No. 3 seed at NCAA Championships
• Went 36-3, recording ninth-most wins in single season in UVa history
• Was 20-0 in duals, including 6-0 in ACC bouts
• Won first ACC championship at 165 pounds
• 24 of his 36 wins resulted in bonus points (17 major decisions, five tech falls, two falls)
• Went 15-3 against 2014 NCAA qualifiers, including 4-2 at NCAA Championships
• Won 18-consecutive matches prior to loss to second-seeded Tyler Caldwell of Oklahoma State at NCAA Championships
• Recorded eight wins over national seeds: No. 6 Corey Mock (Chattanooga), two against No. 8 Michael Moreno (Iowa State), two against No. 11 Turtogtokh Luvsandorj (The Citadel), No. 13 Daniel Yates (Michigan) and two versus No. 14 Dylan Palacio (Cornell)
• Three losses all were to top-four national seeds: two against Caldwell and one against No. 4 Steven Monk of North Dakota State
• Was 165 champion at Cliff Keen/Las Vegas Invitational, UVa’s first-ever champ at the event (12/6-7)
• Placed third at Southern Scuffle
• Named to NWCA All-Academic Team for second straight year and All-ACC Academic Wrestling Team for first time
2012-13
• Took eighth place at NCAA Championships to become 15th All-American in program history
• Posted 27-11 record on the year
• Went 3-3 at NCAAs, including defeat to top-seeded Kyle Dake of Cornell, the eventual champion
• First two wins at NCAAs were in overtime – 4-2 SV win over Stanford’s Bret Baumbach and 3-1 tiebreaker win over No. 9 seed Josh Veltre of Bloomsburg
• Also earned 3-2 decision over Oklahoma’s Patrick Graham to clinch All-America honors
• All of his season losses came to NCAA qualifiers (13-11 against 2013 NCAA field)
• Wrestled tough schedule, including eight of the 165 national seeds (No. 1 Kyle Dake of Cornell twice, No. 3 Pete Yates of Virginia Tech twice, No. 4 Tyler Caldwell of Oklahoma State, No. 5 Steven Monk of North Dakota State, No. 6 Patrick Graham of Oklahoma, No. 9 Josh Veltre of Bloomsburg, No. 11 Cody Yohn of Minnesota, No. 12 Taylor Massa of Michigan)
• Also faced 157 No. 4 national seed James Green in NWCA National Duals
• Took third place at 165 pounds at Las Vegas Invitational (12/1)
• Placed fourth in loaded 165 field at Southern Scuffle (1/2)
• Defeated then-No. 9 Taylor Massa of Michigan at Las Vegas Invite and then-No. 10 Cody Yohn of Minnesota at Southern Scuffle; also recorded two wins against then-No. 15 Zach Toal of Missouri
• Finished season ranked seventh by InterMat and AWN and eighth by WIN
• Tied with Jedd Moore for team lead with nine major decisions
• Went 4-1 in ACC dual action, with lone loss coming to Virginia Tech’s Pete Yates; recorded bonus points in each of the four wins (two majors, two tech falls)
2011-12
• Went 27-9 on the season
• Earned automatic berth in NCAA Championships with third-place finish at 2012 ACC Championships
• Posted 2-2 record at NCAAs, with wins over No. 10 seed Cody Yohn of Minnesota and Coleman Gracey of Army; both losses came to eventual All-Americans – Josh Asper of Maryland (6-4) and Ben Jordan of Wisconsin (3-2)
• Defeated Yohn in a 3-2 tiebreaker to advance at NCAAs
• Also earned a 10-9 win over Coleman Gracey of Army in wrestlebacks at NCAAs
• Wrestled 15 times against 2012 NCAA qualifiers, posting a 5-9 record (representing all of his losses on the season)
• Ranked No. 15 in final Amateur Wrestling News poll and 16th in final InterMat and WIN rankings
• Ranked No. 17 in final NCAA RPI and 18th in NCAA Coaches rankings
• Went 3-2 in ACC action, with losses coming to then-No. 14 Pete Yates of Virginia Tech (6-2) and then-No. 2 Josh Asper of Maryland (4-3)
• All three ACC wins came via major decisions: NC State’s Nigel Jones (12-4), Duke’s Ryan Harding (15-4), UNC’s Kyle Kiss (10-1)
• Earned two wins over ranked opponents during regular season: major decision over then-No. 12 Zach Toal of Missouri, 5-2 decision over then-No. 13 Scott Winston of Rutgers
• All of his defeats were close; his largest margin of defeat was a four-point decision (twice) and eight of his losses came by two or fewer points
• Led team with 11 major decisions
• Won the NC State Open at 165 pounds (11/13)
• Took third at Body Bar Invitational (11/19)
• Placed fifth at Southern Scuffle, with major over Toal in fifth-place bout (1/1-2)
2010-11
• Redshirt season
• Posted strong 24-5 record in open competitions
• Placed in top three of five open tournaments, winning championships in four
• Won Wolfpack (11/14), Mat Town (11/27), Cleveland State (12/11) and Clarion (2/19) opens
• Took third place in EMU Open to start season (11/6)
• Recorded nine major decisions (second most on team), one tech fall and one pin
• Advanced to World Team Trials (freestyle) after taking second place at 74 KG/163 pounds at FILA Junior World Team Trials (5/21)
• Earned Freestyle All-America honors after third-place finish at FILA Nationals (4/10)
ST. EDWARD HIGH SCHOOL
• Ohio State Champion at 160 pounds in 2010
• 2010 Ironman Champion (second in 2009)
• NHSCA Freshman, Junior and Senior National Champion
• Named Most Outstanding Wrestler at 2010 state tournament and state dual tournament
• Went 40-0 his senior season
• Four-time state placewinner – previous finishes were second (112), third (130) and second (152)
• Finished with 138-16 career record
• Was ranked No. 3 nationally at 160 pounds and No. 13 overall as senior
• Named Cleveland Plain Dealer Wrestler of the Year in 2010
• Two-time Junior Freestyle All-American (second in 2010, fifth in 2009)
• Coached by Greg Urbas at St. Edward HS
• Also was a high school teammate of fellow UVa wrestler Gus Sako
• Posted 3.5 GPA in high school
PERSONAL
• Parents are Keith and Susan Sulzer
• Has two brothers, Keith and Aaron
• Keith wrestled at Northwestern, while Aaron wrestles at Eastern Michigan
• His cousin, Alex Boone, played football at Ohio State and now plays for the San Francisco 49ers
• Earned bachelor’s degree in psychology in May 2014
Weight | Overall | Dual | ACC Dual | Dual Pts. | ACC | NCAA | MD | TF | Pins | Fastest | |
Year | Class | Record | Record | Record | Scored | Place | Place | W/L | W/L | W/L | Pin |
2010-11* | 165 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 9-0 | 1-0 | 1-1 | 6:22 |
2011-12 | 165 | 27-9 | 10-2 | 3-2 | 37 | 2-1/3rd | 2-2 | 11-0 | 3-0 | 2-0 | 0:53 |
2012-13 | 165 | 27-11 | 13-4 | 4-1 | 53 | 1-1/2nd | 3-3/8th | 9-1 | 5-0 | 1-1 | 1:30 |
2013-14 | 165 | 36-3 | 20-0 | 6-0 | 85 | 2-0/1st | 4-2/4th | 17-0 | 4-0 | 2-1 | 1:55 |
2014-15 | 165 | 32-4 | 15-1 | 4-1 | 60 | 2-0/1st | 6-2/5th | 18-0 | 2-0 | 1-1 | 4:46 |
Career | 122-27 | 58-7 | 17-4 | 235 | 7-2 | 15-9 | 55-1 | 14-0 | 6-4 | 0:53 |