University of Pittsburgh Athletics
100th Win Doesn't Change Much for Nauman
1/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Jan. 12, 2011
With two highly-successful seasons under his belt, Tyler Nauman entered this season with the goal of a national title. An All-American and two-time EWL champion, the 141-pounder had already accomplished more in two years than most could in an entire career.
Then, this past weekend, Nauman knocked down another accomplishment when he earned his 100th career-win. Nauman became only the 17th Pitt wrestler in the program's storied history to accomplish that feat.
"In high school, 100 wins is a huge thing, but in college, I didn't really look at it at all," said Nauman, who currently sits at 102 wins and needs only six more victories to hold sole possession of 12th-place on Pitt's all-time wins list. "I was just looking around at my record the other day and I realized I was close to 100. Coach said something about it to the team, but I'm not really concerned about those numbers. I just go out there and wrestle."
That approach has helped Nauman get to the point he's at now. Since he arrived at Pitt in 2007 and took a redshirt season, Nauman has stayed focused on his approach of taking each match one at a time. He currently places fifth all-time on Pitt's pins list with 31 and has a chance to move up on that list quickly (Scott Hovan ranks in fourth place at 33, while current redshirt senior Ryan Tomei is in third place with 34). Legendary Pitt wrestler Pat Santoro holds the Panthers' all-time record with 43 pins in his career.
Nauman, who holds a 35-2 all-time record in dual meets, was ranked No. 7 in the most recent Intermat rankings, which were released on Tuesday. If he keeps his pace, he'll continue to climb in the all-time wins list and possibly set records of his own. But his focus, as it has always been, is simply on winning the next match.
"The biggest thing is I'm trying to win every match and win the title in the end," he said. "I want to get two of them before I'm done. If I can do that, it'll make me feel like I accomplished what I wanted to do and I came here to do. I want to be the best I can be, and I'm sure that should be everybody's goal."
