Former NCAA champion and 4x All-American Nathan Tomasello joined the Heavyweight Nation Podcast, and spoke about his future in the sport, as well as reminiscing on his incredible folkstyle career.
Here’s what Tomasello had to say:
Nathan Tomasello has done it all… a 4x state champion from Ohio, a 4x Big Ten Champion, and the 2015 NCAA champion at 125-pounds for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Tomasello first stepped onto a wrestling mat when he was nine-years-old, after receiving a flyer from his school in the fifth grade. Despite not even knowing what the sport was, it wasn’t too much longer until Tomasello knew he was really talented.
Tomasello’s youth wrestling coach was like a father figure to him, and helped push Tomasello into the sport where he knew he was very talented. Just a few years after getting into the sport, Tomasello started getting very good.
Tomasello couldn’t have done more in his high school career. As a seventh grader he placed fifth in the state, then placed second in eighth grade; After that, Tomasello attended Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, where he went on to post a 178-5 record and won four Ohio state titles.
When it came to making a decision, Tomasello could have gone anywhere he wanted.
“I took my unofficial visits to Michigan and Penn State. For my official visits, I looked at Purdue, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Iowa, and Minnesota,” said Tomasello.
Tomasello decided to take his talents to Ohio State, where he had friends, an Olympic Training Center, and other elite recruits such as Kyle Snyder.
“We won our wrestle-offs our freshman year, but Tom Ryan wanted us to redshirt because he knew our class was so talented,” said Tomasello.
Since then, everyone knows how Tomasello’s collegiate career went. In his redshirt freshman year, he won the Big Ten’s and stamped it with his first National title in 2015. Tomasello would go on to place third at the NCAAs throughout the next three seasons, but also earned four Big Ten titles to go with that.
Now at 28-years-old, Tomasello isn’t done and wants to keep going with his international career.
“It’s the passion to compete, the love of the sport and learning, and the belief that I still have more left in the tank,” said Tomasello.
Although having a great collegiate career at Ohio State, Tomasello now competes for the Michigan RTC, where he says it is the best spot for him.
“I just felt like for me, it was a really good place for me to compete and get better at freestyle, as well as it still being close to my support system,” said Tomasello.
After taking a year off of wrestling, Tomasello had a long talk with Sean Bormet, and they both concluded that Tomasello still has what it takes to be a world and Olympic champion.
“It’s just a part of my life, it’s been what I’ve been doing since I was nine-years-old. Now that I’m 28 and talk to people about it, everyone has been supportive,” said Tomasello.
Tomasello’s focus has fully shifted to making the world team for the USA at 61kg. He is already registered for the U.S. Open at the end of the month, which can then take him to the world team trials challenge, and eventually Final X to punch his ticket on the team.
Although it is a long and tough road ahead, if there is anyone who has the credentials to do it, it is Nathan Tomasello.
