Summer vacation, a way for students to get away from school and take a break from all academic stress and early morning classes. Summer 2021 served as a slow transition back to normality for many students as the summer of 2020 was littered with COVID-19 restrictions and quarantine. Students were able to go on vacations out of state once again and participate in summer activities such as sports. For junior Nick Treaster, the summer meant the opportunity to once again compete at the highest level for national wrestling honors. 

Over the summer Treaster participated in 16U National Championships at the FargoDome in Fargo, North Dakota. The week-long competition took place from Jul. 16 all the way to Jul. 23. During this time, Treaster had to compete against some of the best wrestlers in the nation for All-American honors.

“Basically, I was training six days a week,” Treaster said. “I was doing all kinds of cardio bodyweight exercises, having to watch my diet and make sure I’m eating healthy. A lot of that is challenging mentally and physically.”

As Treaster took a lot of time to prepare physically for the national competition, he also took the time to prepare mentally. He acknowledged the importance of mental preparation and what kind of effect it can have on the outcome of a match. 

“[Mental preparation] is really important because a lot goes into a match,” Treaster said. “If you aren’t confident in what you’ve done to get you to where you’re at then you’re already a step behind the guy you’re competing against. So confidence is key and being able to endure the struggles and adversity throughout wrestling is difficult to go through, especially with cutting weight and stuff like that.”

Treaster competed in both Greco Roman and Freestyle wrestling, placing in both. In Greco Roman, Treaster came in second and in Freestyle he placed eighth. Both placements earned Treaster double All-American honors for his performance at the competition. 

“It feels pretty good,” Treaster said. “I’ve worked a lot, a lot over the summer. Many, many grueling days of practice, and it’s awesome to have everything coming together at the end.”

The two-time state champion now turned All-American looks to further improve on his craft even with all of the honors that have come with his accomplishments. Treaster acknowledges that some added pressure comes with his All-American accomplishments but does not shy away from it. 

“[The honors] definitely puts some pressure on people, but it kind of depends,” Treaster said. “It determines how you face that you can put a lot of pressure on yourself or you can just wrestle every match like you would normally, and just do it like that.”