On the way to Rocket Arena for the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships in Cleveland, Ohio, FloWrestling’s Connor Petros asked Andy Hamilton and me an important question: “What behind-the-scenes moments from that national tournament stand out?”
Andy and I are nearly double Connor’s age, so our experience is different than his. Andy’s first NCAA tournament was in 1980; mine was in 1995. Except for 2021, when fans were limited, I’ve attended every tournament since then.
Answers are rarely accessible immediately, at least for me. We typically think about what’s next rather than what was. I offered a few answers, but I usually find my best response days later, when a question settles in my subconscious.
My best answer finally hit me the day after the NCAA Championships.
Troy Nickerson won the 2009 NCAA Championships at 125 pounds when he wrestled for Cornell. He defeated Edinboro’s Paul Donahoe, 2-1, in the final, then ran off the mat, skipping the post-champions press conference at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.
Nickerson found an exit and sprinted up the stairs. This was before a wrestler’s family was situated matside, so he was clearly seeking someone with urgency.
I later learned that his dad was in the late stages of a cancer battle and had to be flown in to watch his son wrestle.
Robert Nickerson was an investment banker for 20 years but retired after his first bout with kidney cancer, when Troy was two. Robert bought a car dealership so he could work when he wanted and take his children wherever they needed to go.
“That was just that Cornell family at the time,” Nickerson said. “They did a lot to get him out there. One of our big donors flew him out in a private plane because he probably wouldn’t have been able to get through an airport at that point. It was huge having him there. I didn’t know at the time that I would have that little time left with him, but you can’t take away those memories.”
Troy Nickerson found his family in the stands after winning the 2009 NCAA Championships
Nickerson was in South Carolina having shoulder surgery when he received a call from his brother that his father was nearing the end of his life. He made it home in time to say his final goodbyes.
Damion Hahn, an assistant for Cornell at the time, happened to be in South Carolina with Nickerson. Hahn had been through something similar with his own father.
“Having his guidance was invaluable,” Nickerson said.
Troy Nickerson won his NCAA title on March 21, 2009.
Robert Nickerson passed on April 12, 2009.
In 2020, I was at Nickerson’s home when he was Northern Colorado’s head coach. I noticed a picture of Tom Brands, which seemed odd in the hypercompetitive wrestling world.
Nickerson stood up from his office chair and took a picture off the wall. It featured Brands wearing jeans and a black Iowa Wrestling sweatshirt shaking hands with a man in a white shirt and a tan-colored hat. Brands, fresh off a win at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, was at the peak of his competitive powers.
The man in the photograph shaking Brands’s hand is Troy Nickerson’s father, Robert.
“That picture reminds me of all the things that my dad did and sacrificed for me to get me to where I am,” Nickerson said. “In 1996, he took me down to Atlanta to watch the best wrestling in the world. Most people can’t do or can’t say they ever did things like that. He always exposed me to the best coaches and to the best partners. He never claimed to be some expert, but he knew this was something I wanted to do, and he exposed me to the best.”
Troy Nickerson holds a picture of his dad shaking hands with Tom Brands at the 1996 Olympics
Troy Nickerson sprinting out of the arena to see his dad before he died was the right answer to Connor’s question, and it always has been. It should have entered my mind quickly, but I’m glad he asked, because it allowed me to reflect.
It also reminded me of something that 2022 Senior World Teamer Abby Nette said about losing her father in 2025.
“My dad’s final days made me realize that things we strive for in life or spend so much time trying to reach these goals don’t matter as much in the end,” Nette said. “My dad just wanted his family by his side. That was one of the purest things I’ve ever witnessed.”
Watching Nickerson sprint up the stairs to see his father was one of the purest things I’ve ever witnessed, and I appreciate Connor asking an important question that helped me understand why.