Troy Nickerson, Army’s new wrestling coach, is not only returning to be near his upstate New York roots but, perhaps more importantly, is taking over a team that features six wrestlers who qualified for the NCAA tournament last season.
“It is set up in a great position, that is something that was a little unusual,” said Nickerson, who spent the last 11 years as the head coach at Northern Colorado. “Usually when you walk into these types of scenarios the cupboards are probably pretty bare. I would venture to say that this might be the best West Point team coming up that we have seen in the past 20 years. I am really grateful to have that opportunity to take over such a great team and continue to build on it.”
Nickerson’s arrival comes less than a month after longtime Army head coach Kevin Ward abruptly announced he was leaving the program after 11 years as its mentor. Ward, it has since been learned, will become an assistant coach at Oklahoma State, his alma mater. Last season, Ward’s program produced seven wrestlers who qualified for the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia, tied for the second most in program history.
Army was 8-3 in dual matches during the season and went 5-2 against Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) opponents.
Nickerson’s resume is solid as well. During his tenure at Northern Colorado, he transformed the Bears into a Top 25 program and oversaw the program’s transition into the Big 12 Conference in 2015. Last season, Nickerson coached six wrestlers to the podium at the Big 12 Championships and sent four to the NCAA Championships. Two Bear wrestlers earned All-America honors last season.
Overall, Nickerson guided six All-Americans and 37 NCAA Championship qualifiers while at Northern Colorado.
Nickerson grew up in Chenango Falls, N.Y. and wrestled for Cornell University for four years, earning All-American honors three times and winning the 2009 NCAA Championship at 125 pounds with an undefeated 25-0 record.
Army and Nickerson moved quickly filling this spot, with Nickerson noting his long relationship with Army deputy athletics director Trish Brandenburg certainly helped speed up the process.
“I have known Trish for quite a while now,” he said. “Way back in the day she was a manager for the Cornell wrestling team and we had that connection. I have got to know her over the last 15 years or so. I was hoping she would reach out to me, which she did. It was conversations for a week or so, then the invite to post.
“The past five days have been a blur. I went out (to West Point) and my wife went out there. We fell in love with the community. I was offered the job and here I am.”
Just 24 hours into his new job, Nickerson said he is already very impressed with the mindset of the wrestlers he has spoken with and greatly respects the work they all go through academically and athletically at Army. “I am not coming in there and trying to shake the tree down,” he said. “I want to find what is working well and I want to stick with it and make some tweaks here and there. If we have some defiencies, I want to correct those and keep moving forward.”
In the end, he wants to create an environment that captures both the spirit of West Point and the heart of a wrestler.
“It is dedication and discipline with hard work and working towards the end result,” he explained. “I think in wrestling, in general, winning matters. We want to win and we want to get our hand raised on the mat. But I am more worried about really creating the entire individual and making them good leaders and good people for what is next in their lives. I think when you look at what West Point stands for, you really understand that this is more than just about each individual, this is a brotherhood. That comradery is next to none and we want to keep building that to make great leaders for our country.”
