The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
LEC’s Boggs set for NCAA tournament at Wolstein
Riverside grad faces nation’s No. 1 at 157 in Round 1
Riverside graduate Nick Boggs will have a big cheering section at the NCAA D-II wrestling tournament at the Wolstein Center as the Lake Erie senior hopes to fare well.
Nick Boggs faces a huge challenge at this weekend’s NCAA Division II Wrestling Tournament, but no matter the outcome it’s been an eventful week for the Riverside graduate.
The Lake Erie College senior learned this week he’s been accepted to the University of Akron’s law school.
He also won’t have to travel far for the final wrestling tournament of his career.
For Boggs, it’s the perfect way to close it out — in fullcircle fashion.
The NCAA D-II tournament is set for March 8 and 9 at the Wolstein Center in downtown Cleveland, where more than 30 friends, teammates and family members will sport green T-shirts with “Finishing where he started” written on them.
When Boggs was 4, he wrestled in his first organized youth tournament a few miles west of the Wolstein Center at St. Edward High School. Nearly 20 years later, there’s one tournament remaining for the 22-year-old.
“It’s awesome to finish up with my last tournament in the same city where it all started,” said Boggs, who’s 31-4 entering this weekend. “There’s a lot of emotions going on for me, but wrestling close to home gives me a lot of motivation.”
When those emotions are under control and wrestling begins, Boggs faces a big challenge as he tries to maneuver his way through the 157-pound bracket and to the top of the podium. His first-round opponent is Nebraska-Kearney’s Matt Malcolm, the nation’s No. 1-ranked 157-pounder in D-II.
Boggs and first-year LEC coach Jeff Breese have analyzed film of Malcolm (255), and his aggressive style is similar to that of Boggs.
“With Nick, I think when someone comes out and attacks him, that allows him to start attacking back and that really helps his style,” said Breese. “Not a lot of guys have wrestled (Malcolm) that way. Conversely, if you’re the guy who’s used to attacking and almost kind of being the bully and somebody matches that? That throws you off.”
That being said, Breese said Boggs has been “too tight” in the second half of the season. The coach attributes that to the pressure Boggs put on himself to qualify for the NCAA tournament in his hometown. Now the pressure is on Boggs’ first-round opponent.
“This is a match we’re not supposed to win, which takes some pressure off,” said Breese. “You find out if you’re good enough to win a national title at 11 a.m. on Friday morning instead of
an entire weekend of that stress.”
There’s also a chance at history for Boggs.
With 99 career victories, he has a chance to tie or surpass Matt Vandermeer, who’s second all-time in school history with 103 victories. Zak Vargo’s 105 career wins ranks No. 1 at LEC.
With five wins this weekend (the maximum amount he can get), Boggs would tie Vargo with the most wins in a season at 36.
Two seasons ago as a junior (Boggs redshirted last season) he went 30-10, was a national qualifier and placed fifth at the NCAA Division II tournament to earn All-America honors, so there’s not much left for Boggs to prove on the college level except one thing.
“We’re chasing this one big goal,” said Breese. “He’s not going there to settle.”
Said Boggs: “The No. 1 goal is to be a national champion.”