Honoring and Supporting Our Nevada Athletes and Programs

Nick Foster

Athlete of the Month
Nick Foster


Pictures and Content Courtesy The Foster Family

Hello, my name is Nick Foster I am from Sparks, Nevada and I currently attend St. Thomas University in Miami, Florida. My dad got me into wrestling at a young age. In high school he wrestled in Pennsylvania, and also California. He then got into refereeing for high school wrestling in Nevada and according to him, I always loved being on the mat as a little kid. When I was 6, I joined my first club team–the Sparks Scorpions. Throughout my youth career I met a lot of great coaches that helped me constantly improve. My family and coaches always took me to tournaments out of state. In 5th grade I was ranked #9 in the country, and I was placing in tournaments I had never placed at before. When I got into high school I wrestled at Spanish Springs, which has been the most successful program in the North since Joe Imelli became the Head Coach there. However the one thing Spanish Springs was still missing was a State Title. My Freshman year at Spanish Springs, I was walking around at about 100 pounds on a good day, and with how stacked our lightweights were I wasn’t able to make the Varsity Line-up.

My Sophomore year I decided that I didn’t want to cut any weight and went 113s–weighing around 110, but again I wasn’t able to make the starting line-up. After that year, I got tired of not making the starting line-up and trained hard in the off season to get that starting spot. I started cutting weight, and I wrestled 113s again the next season and Finally made the starting line-up. That year we also got a Freshman who became my new main practice partner. His name is Devin Griffen. Devin and I pushed each other to be the very best in the room, and we both had successful first years on the Varsity Line-up. We both won our First Regional Titles, and I ended up finishing 3rd at State, and we won State as a team for the first time in school history. I was very happy about the improvements I had made from this season to the previous season, but my goal since I was a little kid was to win a State Title, and the next season would be my last chance to do so.

The next season I improved even more and placed at one of the toughest tournaments in the country which was the Reno Tournament of Champions, and I went on to win my Second Regional Title as well as 4A Light-Weight Wrestler of the Year. Unfortunately, my goal to win a State Title came up short, and I lost in the State Finals. Spanish Springs did win another State Title, and it was amazing to be able to end my high school career on the best team in the state. Devin went on to become a Three-Time Nevada State Champ, and I believe he would have won his 4th State Title, if Covid didn’t cancel his season. It was pretty sad for me knowing that my high school career was over, and I would never get another chance to complete my goal, but I decided that I would need to train even harder and work for an even bigger goal, which is to win a National Title in college. I ended up wrestling at Lassen Community College in Susanville, California

I chose Lassen because of the head coach Tom Rogers, and my Assistant High School Coach Chris White also became my Assistant Coach at Lassen. I became the starting 125 pounder and went on to have a pretty solid Freshman Season–getting First Team All-Conference, and I ended up placing 4th at CCCAA, I also became a JUCO All-American. Unfortunately Covid hit in the off season, and the California Junior Colleges canceled their season. I decided that I wanted to keep wrestling and not have to sit out a season, so I ended up transferring to St. Thomas University in Miami, Florida. This past season was my first year there and I became the First Conference Champ in School History!

I would like to thank everyone who has helped me get where I am now: • First is my family for always paying for clubs, and tournaments to go to as well as always supporting me • My youth coaches: Coach Trey, Coach Jake, Coach Gresko, Coach Mumm • My high school coaches: Coach Imelli, Coach White, Coach Chris • My coaches at Lassen: Coach Tom, and Coach Chris • My coaches at STU: Coach Ptax, Coach Sam, Coach TC, Coach Johnny, and Coach Rob • My off-season coaches: Coach Nolan, and Coach Kelly • All my high school, and college teammates for making the season more fun!