| Nat’aani, also known as Nate, began his wrestling journey during the end of his 6th grade year. Prior to that, he had been a dedicated travel baseball player, starting his baseball career at the young age of 5. However, during his 8th grade year, Nate made a significant decision – he chose to quit playing baseball and fully devote himself to wrestling. Our family has always emphasized keeping our children engaged in sports, so if Nate wanted to pursue wrestling, he had to give it his complete dedication. |
| |
| With five years of wrestling experience under his belt, Nate stands out with his slow and measured style. His style and his movements on the mat did not come easy at first. Nate understands the value of hard work and its ability to open doors to countless opportunities. |
| |
| This lead Nate to have a big year, his Junior year of high school. His Junior year was the first year that he had ever been hard on himself. He set high expectations on himself and realized areas where he might have fallen short and tried to learn from his mistakes. By being hard on himself, this actually helped him and he started to place in larger tournaments, such as placing 4th in La Costa Canyon, 5th in Five Counties and he was a 5A State Finalist and part of the Team of the Year–Slam Wrestling. He also made it a personal goal to have the most techs on his high school wrestling team, and he got that award at the team banquet. |
| |
| Throughout the years, Nate has had the right support and love around him. From the start were the Slam Youth Coaches, which included fathers of other kids who spent their time helping him. ATC (Aniciete Training Club) wrestling coaches have treated him like family. Atlas Grappling coaches have helped him with his Jiu-Jitsu. The Slam high school coaches have taken an interest in getting to know him. |
| |
| Nate is 100% going to college to wrestle. He has already had his first offer, which we are all very excited about. In addition, other schools have expressed their interest in recruiting him, further highlighting his potential of wrestling at the collegiate level. We express our heartfelt gratitude to the individual who nominated him for this recognition. Your support and belief in his abilities are truly appreciated. Thank you for putting him forward and helping to showcase his talent and accomplishments. |
| |
