August 8, 2025 • 51 mins
2000 Division III National Champion Nick Slack is one of the good guys in wrestling. A personable friend and coach, Slack was a three-time Division III finalist at Augsburg and won the 2000 NCAA Division III championship.
Setbacks in the finals in 2001 and 2002 didn't define him. He overcame. Just over two years ago, Slack had a brain tumor removed that seemed to resolve his decades-long battle with depression.
Then another brain tumor emerged.
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Setbacks in the finals in 2001 and 2002 didn't define him. He overcame. Just over two years ago, Slack had a brain tumor removed that seemed to resolve his decades-long battle with depression.
Then another brain tumor emerged.
Links to Follow
Join the Discord: https://www.mattalkonline.com/discord
Daily Wrestling Newsletter: https://www.mattalkonline.com/news
Contribute: https://www.mattalkonline.com/contribute
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mattalkonline
The Short Time Time Wrestling Podcast is proudly supported by Compound Sportswear: https://www.mattalkonline.com/compound
Quick Subscribe: https://www.Podfollow.com/shorttime
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Whoa Nick Slack, the guy everybody in wrestling knows, but
(00:41):
you ever think about why they know you. It's like
I sit there and when we first mess like, I
feel like I know that guy. Why don't we know
the guy? You've probably seen so many different places, so
many tournaments, so many coaching chairs, but you might be
one of the most recognizable people in wrestling, and people
they can't always put a finger on it. So how
would you describe your relationship with the sport of wrestling?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Go, Jason, I don't know if I've ever really thought
about it like that. I just have been real fortunate
to be around a lot of people in the sport.
My dad was a wrestler, wrestled at man Cato State
for Remy Masius way back in the day, and he
was the guy that got me into the sport and
just fell in love with it.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
He was just super supportive.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
With me, and I just surrounded myself with a lot
of different people going to Gopher matches growing up, went
to a few Augsburg matches, and just have been around
the sport doing many facets everything from from my full
time job right now, I sell sporting goods, so I'm
selling to mostly wrestling coaches. I've officiated before. I've wrestled
(01:50):
at the college level, high school level, coach at the
college level, coach at the high school level, still coach
at the high school level today. So I guess I've
been around the sport for almost you know, about forty
years now.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Yeah, we go back in time. You talk about your dad.
You have the unique opportunity you and your dad travel
around wrestling tournaments. I see you guys at Ncublea's at
the About at the ballpark down in Texas. I mean,
it's cool to travel the country with your dad watching wrestling.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
It's been pretty special. I've been going to the NCUBLEA tournament.
My first one was nineteen ninety six when it was
hosted at the Target Center in Minneapolis, and then since
two thousand and one, I've been to every single NC
DOUBLEA Division one wrestling tournament. And I think my dad
started coming with us probably about two thousand and eight,
two thousand and nine, so he's made about fifteen of
(02:39):
them now in a row. And it's just something that
we put on the calendar every year and we just
set aside time and it's just really a special weekend.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
So when we met years ago. You know Scott West
where you wrestled in high school, but it's not a
high school, it's a co op. Minnesota has co ops,
it's not an uncommon thing around the country. But where
I was from Virgini, we didn't have co ops. So
explain what Scott West is for those who are not
from Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Sure, so, Scott West is a wrestling program co op
between two towns, Bell Plaine and Jordan, Minnesota. They're two
separate high schools. The only sport they're together with is wrestling.
Probably just a little backstory, in the late nineteen eighties,
both bell Playing and Jordan, we're having a numbers problem
in wrestling and it was probably getting to the point
(03:26):
where they could have dropped one program or both programs.
They're both having a numbers crunch. And this is where
Kevin Slack comes in the way he thinks about outside
thinking and the greater good for the sport of wrestling.
Two of the biggest, probably rival schools in the Minnesota
River Conference, who probably didn't like each other. He came
(03:47):
up with this idea along with a bunch of other people,
on how to make this work with these two programs
that were having a numbers problem, and it's definitely been
the most successful co op program Minnesota. And at first
no one really had probably a problem with it, and
then once you become successful, people start putting their finger
(04:08):
on it a little bit more. But we've had a
lot of good support over the years with different coaches
and it's it's been a very successful program. I don't
know the stats off out of my head, but numerous
Section championships, state place winning trophies, state champions et cetera.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Yeah, and it's it's unique. So now like up in
Saint Cloud they've got they call it the Crush, the
same Scott West is Bill plaint and Jordan's most places
they go like Newfield, Caledonia Da Da Da Da Da
Da hyphen hyphen hyphen Scott. You know, you're in Scott County,
So that's where it comes from in the West. So
it seems kind of natural to come up with that.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Yeah, So there's probably a couple programs that had paired
in different sports throughout like the western part of.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Minnesota that did like Sibley East.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Or Yellow Medicine East, some different co ops back in
the day. So I think that was just kind of
natural to go with with Scott West. It was western
part of Scott County, which is still in the Metro
part of the Twin Cities metropolitan area.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
So yeah, it's a fringe metro. Now we talk about
getting into wrestling. What would have found interesting about bell
Plane Jordan. We joke about this still to this day.
Is the back when phones were a thing. You know,
you're from bell Plane, but you were on the Jordan line,
which meant when you were in school sometimes calling home
was a long distance call.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Yeah, so I was guilty of this a couple of times.
So if you forgot something at home going to the
belt Plane school, we were actually the only ones who
have a belt Plane address but a Jordan phone number.
So Jordan had a different line. It was the Metro line,
so it was actually long distance to call from.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Bell Plaine to Jordan.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
So there are a couple of times where I forgot
stuff and you beg the secretary to let you call home,
and it was just a different time back then.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
It's just kind of funny to laugh about. And they knew, no,
you're the guy with the long distance number.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
It was definitely it was definitely my phone number that
showed and my parents' phone number that showed up for
all the long distance charges in bell playing.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
So coming through high school, you multiple time place winner
at the juniors. You know, a couple of time Minnesota
high school state champion placed in NHSA. Is I mean,
you had good credentials in an era of Minnesota wrestling.
Just some of the guys that were coming through your
senior class the year before, year after, it's a who's
who of Minnesota wrestling.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
So in nineteen ninety seven, Minnesota won the freestyle portion
of the Junior National Championships Team Minnesota, and I think
the University of Minnesota was right on the door knocking
to win a national championship, and Augsburg had already won
a couple of Division three championships. So it was just
a great time as a high school wrestler growing up
(06:48):
Minnesota at wrestling was definitely on the rise.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
And I just feel that.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Probably because because of that, and I did ask some
success and Augsburg was definitely one of my college choices.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
The University of Minnesota is one of the college choices.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
And when I was thinking of school, there was a
bunch of different factors that came in and I just
had a great visit at Augsburg. I had had a
relationship with Donnie Wickman, who I had saw a lot
selling clothing and shoes at different tournaments. And when I
came to Augsburg, and we're sitting at Augsburg right now,
(07:29):
it was just a special place. And had just had
a great tour, a great experience with all the guys
on the team. Guys that were actually going to be
competing against for a starting spot at Augsburg were giving
me my tour. And the guy that I was going
to be competing against was selling me on how to
(07:50):
go to on why should go to Augsburg.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
And I think about that quite a.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Bit, where you were really competitive in a certain spot.
This guy is selling me on going to Augsburg, and
it was just like a family atmosphere, and I guess
I couldn't really say nor to Augsburg.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Yeah, we look at the names in that era. I
mean you you won a title as a sophomore, then
wrestled Jacob Boltman your junior year, win a title as
as a senior. I mean you've got all the credentials.
I mean you you if this was the Internet era
were around, really like it was like it is now.
You probably would have been called by almost every Division
one school in the country, yet you chose Division three Augsburg.
(08:31):
You you sold it in that manner. But when when
you look at like the guys around you, I mean
Marcus Levester was was in that era. I mean, guy,
you know, you were teammates with Pat McNamara who at
Scott West. People know from Michigan State. You know, you
come from good stock wrestling, and then you come to
a program that's got good stock, and then you've got
guys like Luke Becker also around you and on the
(08:51):
all those junior teams and such, and you know, heyday
of high school wrestling in Minnesota, you know could be argued,
but you look around there's almost there's not as many
spots at the U. What other Division ones were even
considering or was that on the table?
Speaker 2 (09:06):
You know, I think it was kind of hard. I
grew up on a farm and my dad and I
talked about farming together for a long time, and it
was something where probably my parents and I sat down
and we said that farming could always be in the background,
it could always be something that happens when I'm done
with college. But it was important at the time that
(09:27):
I go get an education somewhere. So that was just
super important to my parents. And then when I thought
about it, I could always have farming to fall back on,
and Augsburg just became the choice for me.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
You look at the I mean nationally, right, guys don't
go Division three unless you Usually people be like, oh, well,
grades are afraid of a competition. Your freshman year, you're
in the lineup as a guy with a lot of
high school credentials. You qualify for the national tournament, but
you don't place. So what was your understanding of quality
(10:03):
of Division three wrestling coming in? And how quickly did
the reality of how good Division three wrestling was actually
get set in?
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Oh, it definitely got It got to me pretty quick
actually the summer when it came up to work out
with some of the guys right after Junior Nationals before
school started, I was like, wow, it's you know, maybe
in the back of my head I was thinking it
might be a little bit easier than it was going
to be. But I got to put my place real
quick that it's going to be challenging and it's going
(10:32):
to be no cakewalk. When I got on campus, competing
for a starting spot.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Yeah, how hard were those wrestle offs?
Speaker 2 (10:40):
I'd say, every day, you know, I was working out
with people that had won national championships. And I think
the special thing about Augsburg is every year we had
about eight to twelve different assistant coaches that were former
alumni that came back that were national champs, starters, all Americans,
just guys that wanted to give back to the program.
(11:00):
And those guys were wrestling with us every single day.
Coaches were wrestling with us who had won national championships,
all Americans. They were starters at Augsburg every single day.
So every single day it was just a battlefield in here.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Trend to earn a starting spot when you go through
your sophomore year, you win a national title. You know,
Augsburg and Wartburg is very much a thing starting in
the early to mid nineties. And then how much did
that rivalry really shape not just the battles between the teams,
but your performance at nationals knowing that the guys from
(11:36):
Waverley are on your heels or vice versa every single year.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Yeah, it's kind of hard to explain. I get this
question asked a lot. The Battle of the Bergs and
it's just it's such a special rivalry that you know,
obviously started in the early nineties when Jeff Wentzon was
already coach at Augsburg, won his first title in ninety one,
and then Jim Miller comes over from Wartburg and wins
the national title a couple of years later, and every
(12:02):
single year Augsburg and Wartburg is they're knocking at the
door to win national championship, and it just elevates everybody,
and it's it's pretty hard to explain. All the guys
circle the dual meet on the calendar every single year, and.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
It's just it's just super cool. Do you know your
record against Wartburg wrestlers.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
I think I've definitely had the upper hand. I know
I lost I know I lost one my freshman year,
so I would think it's probably about maybe six and
one or so.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Yeah, Because when when you were you were coming in
the Division three national bulls weren't yet a thing, and
they came in later, so it used to be the
one duel in the schedule. Then you started meeting two
times a year, so the series started, you know, hitting
a lot, and sometimes it'd be a week between you'd
be like National duel meet title on the line, and
then now we're going down to Waverley. Oh, now we've
(12:57):
got them coming up here to Minneapolis. So how much
did the national really kind of help add more power
to that Battle of Burgs dualby Oh?
Speaker 2 (13:05):
I think it elevates it every year. I mean, if
you would probably look at the history, the team that's
won the National Duels is probably more than likely between
Augsburg and Warburg won the national title the same year.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
So I think.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
It's just, uh, the national duals now we're talking, it's
just such a huge measuring stick for where you are.
Usually happens the middle of January. A lot of teams
can then evaluate after that, but there's definitely a lot
of stock that takes place in winning that duel meets.
And I definitely think the team that's won the National
(13:38):
Duels between Augsburg and Warburg is probably more than likely
won the national title at the Division three Championships the
same year.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
You know, I've been around the rivalry the last I
guess decade and a half at this point. In some years,
the duel meet is one thing and then the National
tournament's another. How magical is the National Tournament? What do
you remember most about those those battles of the duel meets,
and then turn around and be like, oh there was
your team, Oh he slipped a result from the tournament,
or that he lost in the duel meet. With those
(14:07):
type of magic moments. Goal so it's just, uh, anyone
stand out, anyone performance?
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Oof, you're really putting me on the spot.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
What about your performance?
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Definitely, I would say I would definitely say I was
definitely getting on the roll probably probably uh, junior year,
I was starting to be more dominant on top, starting
to pin a lot more people, had some success against
the Warburg guys and got a couple of pins, and
(14:53):
I think, uh, carrying that momentum into the national tournament
probably sticks out a little bit.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Now we go back your sophomore year, you win a title.
You know, you punched through not only you place for
the first time you win it. Then you come back
your sophomore year in your junior year, and this is
where your name gets almost forgotten because you are kind
of like a trivia answer to question nobody actually knows
how to ask the question. So this is the year
two thousand and one, Cayle Sanderson wins the Dan Hodge
(15:21):
trophy and he shares it with a Division III wrestler
from Simpson College named Nick Ackerman. You're the other half
of that trivia question. Who did Nick Ackerman beat in
the national finals? And for those who don't know, is
a double amputee at the knees. So you here, you
are the returning national champion from an evil empire of
Division III wrestling. There must have been nobody in that
(15:42):
building except your family and Augie's rooting for you that match.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Yeah, it was kind of a crazy time for me.
And I'll take nothing away from Nick Ackerman and what
he's accomplished. It was a great feat was it was
pretty crazy to be part of that moment and can
gratulations again to Nick just backing up and not making
any excuses. Probably about three weeks before that national tournament,
(16:09):
a lot of people probably don't know, And what happened
is I blew out my knee completely. I completely tore
my LCL and PCL. I later find out that Jordan
Burrows had the same same injury and he wasn't able
to compete for that whole year. And uh, I wanted
(16:33):
I was a captain, I was a defending national champ.
I was the leader of the team. I wanted to
make a point. I wasn't going it was past the
point of doing a medical red shirt. I don't even
know if the medical red shirt really crossed crossed my mind.
It was something like, how can we figure out how
to wrestle in this tournament. So it was about two
more weeks until the qualifying tournament, met with a specialist,
(16:56):
got a special knee brace, made met with our trainer, Missy,
who did an unbelievable job of rehabbing what we could,
getting me some extra workouts, getting me over to Saint
Thomas where I could swim, and just do everything that
I possibly could to get me in the best shape
that I could. I was on a long match win streak.
(17:18):
I think I had won sixty some matches, defending national champ.
I wanted to be a great example for Augsburg and
the program and toughness. And two weeks later I'm wrestling
in the qualifying tournament, and three weeks later I'm wrestling
in the NCAA Finals. And that match, think goal how
(17:39):
I wanted, and it's unfortunate, I guess for me that
I lost that, but I was I'm super thankful the
year before I was at NCAA champ. Super thankful that
I was part of three national titles as a wrestler.
I was a two time captain of this team. And
(18:01):
there's just so many things that I'm just grateful for.
I'm grateful that I sucked it up and still wrestled.
I think a lot of times now when people get injured,
they use it as an excuse, and they might use
it to end their season. And I just proud of
the way I think that I wrestled through that. And
(18:23):
I think maybe that's why people know me. They know
that I'm classy, they know I work hard, they know
I don't make excuses. And yeah, and now here we
are a long time later, just going on some things.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
You know that I think I'm super proud of I.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
As the first person from Scott West Bell Planner Jordan
to wrestle at Augsburg. And I think there's been almost
fifteen people from our high school that have competed for Augsburg.
The head coach of Augsburg, now Tony Vallak, was from
Scott West. Scott West Now it's produced I believe the
most all Americans from any other high school has had.
(19:02):
Who's had wrestlers compete at Augsburg and all that stuff
is special because I guess it did.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
It did start with me. Yeah, I mean, you know
the head coaches here, and then you've got you know,
the All American last year, Matt Randolph is from down there,
so you've got you know, it's everywhere up Scott West
got Nick Slack and then you know here it's it's people.
People don't mention Pat mcnamarry anymore. It's like he starts
to Dick Slack.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Yeah, that's that's crazy too, because Pat was the guy
for Scott West that won the first state championship and
really got it done. So it's always that first guy
that you know.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
I love that guy to death.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Man, he used to beat me silly. We are about
the same weight, if you could believe that back in
the day. But uh, he's the guy that got it
done for Scott West and really paved the way for
a lot of us Scott West Panthers who won state
and titles eventually in our career.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Yeah. See, and back to the Scott West there's a
panther what's bell plane Bell Plain is the Tigers and
it's Jordan.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Jordan for the Boys, sport is Hubman and for girls
it's Jaguars. So Jordan. Technically from what I've been.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
There's three banners, four banners on the wall right there.
Many how many different banners are there? Names on that wall?
I've been to the gym. I can't remember.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Well, you've got you've got Hubman for the guys, is
a Hubman? That's That's somewhat you have to ask like
Matt Randolph or something about that, some Jordan guy. But
Jordan used to be the hub of Scott County, so
I guess they used to call them the the hub Men.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Yeah, yeah, well we'll we'll we'll table the the the
the Scott County History, Chamber of Commerce questions. You know,
with that, with that loss, you know that you come
back the next year. Well what was the rehab like
the next year? Because you don't you don't red shirt
and Division III you can get medical hardships, but you
know you came right back at it made the finals
(20:50):
the next year.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Yeah, So I had surgery probably about two weeks after
we got back from the national tournament.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Rehab.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Uh So the surgery was probably the first week in April,
if I remember right. Rehab was about twelve weeks, really
uncrutches for quite a bit, quite a while, pretty strenuous,
to the point where we weren't even sure if I
was going to be ready for the first tournament of
(21:17):
the year, the Augie Open.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
Which is mid November. So we're talking a mid February injury,
and here we go almost all the way to November
and October November.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Somewhere in there. They have to try and recover and
get the muscles strong enough able to compete.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Any hesitation to drive off of it. Once you were cleared, no.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
I mean, I was pretty confident, It felt good. Rehab
team was awesome, right across the street, was in there
a lot. Listen to my body. Didn't try and get
back any sooner than I needed to be. It was
just really smart with my rehab.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Well, we look at the next step. So the next year,
the next you're in the finals again. You lose in
the finals again, so you've reached the pinnacle of Division
III athletics on the wrestling mat and then you're a
part of what is an amazing story if you're a
Simpson College fan or anybody outside of this wrestling room.
And then the next year You've got this ringer from
(22:19):
Montclair State who came in who incidentally he won it
that year. He beat you in the finals, then he
loses in the finals the next two years. So it's
it's kind of weird the guy that you know, you
went one, two to the last three, and then he
went one to to the last three. I mean, as
far as not being able to get back on the
podium again at the top of it, what did that
(22:40):
do to Nick Slack the human being? First of all,
how hard is that to not get there, taste it
once and not get there two more times and you're
so close.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
To be honest, I go back to what I said before.
I was just super thankful that I had the chance
to win one national title. When you look back at it,
I wasn't going to be super selfish. I mean, there
were so many guys at Augsburg that could have that
were just right behind me, that were just as good
a me that didn't get a chance, and I was
just better than them, and it would be super selfish
(23:11):
for me to say that. You know, winning three titles
was like this, like wrestling is hard. Yeah, it's super hard.
It's super hard to win, you know, to win those
three titles would have just been, you know, super selfish
to me to say I was just super happy I
won one again, super happy. I was part of three
(23:32):
national team championships, one runner up championship, a two time
captain of the team.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
What would Marcus have said, lost in college? Yeah, you
have to ask Marcus. I don't know. I don't know what.
One thing. We were at the state tournament this past
year and in the suite watching the state finals, and
those guys you're in there this week, there's your there's
your college teammates, there's there's people that were they're not starters.
And then they were all Americans watching, watching their kids,
(24:00):
watching your teammates kids, watching your your competitors' kids out there.
And it seems like this is a program that there's
a brotherhood once once, once you're gone, you're still connected forever.
You come back all the time, even though you lived
here quite a bit. You live in Arizona now. But
it seems like the brotherhood of the small college wrestling
program seems to be just knit year after year after
(24:23):
year after years. What's that attributed to here? Man?
Speaker 2 (24:27):
I think it it just goes back to probably obviously
Jeff Swinson when he started the program family Atmosphere. It
goes back to those eight to twelve assistant coaches that
came back and made pennies every year because they just
want to be part of the program.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
They want to be part of something special.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
They could have gone on and coached somewhere else at
a high school level, made a lot more money.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
They just want to be part of Augsburg.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
And I think really the assistant coaches that came back
probably influenced me the moment. Someone like Donnie Wickman, who
was here every single day lifting with people in the
weight room at five o'clock after working a full time job.
The guy was making recruiting calls at night. The guy
(25:09):
knew every single person in Minnesota, Wisconsin and helped build
the program. And so many of us wrestlers when we
were done competing, stuck around and were assisting coaches for
a long time because we wanted to give back because
the coaches before us did the same thing.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
And talking about Donnie and he was here a long
time and it's been six years. You posted this while
you were coaching with Team Arizona and Fargo. He passed
away six years ago, and you know, how often do
you think about Donni would? Oh every day? Every day.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Man, that guy was just he was just a good dude.
And it's hard to not get all emotional when you
start talking about the guy.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
But it just goes back to what I just said.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
The guy just put so much time into Augsburg and
so much time in the kids. The guy owned a
sporting goods business where he was selling at tournaments on
a weekend, and I helped work some of his boosts.
And there was just countless times where someone couldn't afford something,
or someone needed to discount, and some team needed something,
(26:18):
and Donnie just worked with them. And I saw that
kind of stuff and I do that stuff in my
business almost daily as well.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
And that was the door that got you into doing
what you're doing now. I mean, you're naturally a people person.
You can talk for hours at a time about anything,
which is probably why we're friends. We could talk about
anything for hours at a time. But it was that
where the seed of Nick Slack the salesman got.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Started with Donnie. Definitely, Donnie probably started it. There was
a guy named Charlie Peterson.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Who worked here.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
He was a wrestler for Luther back in the day
he was a national finalist. He was working for Champion
and he was selling to Augsburg and part of my
work study job was helping to order the gear for
the team for the coming year, So I was working
with Charlie on order and stuff. I had asked Charlie
if he had had anyone that he'd ever hired before,
and I actually technically started working for Charlie right out
(27:11):
of college.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
I think my first Augsburg zip up three quarters zip
was a Champion that you gave me. Yeah, probably definitely,
probably two thousand and eight. Yeah, because we really sat
down and I was like one of the conventions as
we're coming up on the NBCA convention and right before
we were you know, work before we go, we're recording this.
(27:33):
But the you know, I remember sitting back. I don't
know if it was Buffalo or Pittsburgh or Vegas or whatever,
and you had the chance. We were all trying to
put on different sizes, like hey, can you fit. I
remember trying to put on like a medium purple whatever,
and it was like, no, it was not a great
ringing endorsement for Cornell College. Let me tell you that. Yeah,
it wasn't fitting. I remember that. I'm I definitely remember
(27:55):
those Yeah, and then you've had that opportunity to have
that relationship with the again. This this goes with why
everybody knows you, They just yeah, I know that guy
and being so sociable. What is it about wrestling coaches
and wrestling people that's so infectious to be around for you?
Speaker 2 (28:12):
I think that wrestling coaches just generally know how hard
the sport is, and deep down inside they know that
they're changing lives by making someone stick through the hard
times of wrestling. I honestly don't know. There are probably
isn't too many wrestlers that probably haven't thought about quitting
at some point in their career because it's it's pretty tough.
(28:34):
And college wrestling coaches and high school wrestling coaches and
youth wrestling coaches are shaping the youth of tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Talk about coaches. We're going to bring us back to
Donnie a little bit, and you know we you know,
he passed six years ago and he was fighting. It
was a brain cancer, brain tumor. And what did you
see from Donnie and his fight? Because my last interview
with him was weeks before he passed. It was at
an All Augsburg duel, and he was still here. He
was still in the gym. Obviously he wasn't coaching, but
(29:06):
he was still close to the program. And you know,
up until his final days, he was still around the
sport and around sport of wrestling. So you know, when
you watched his fight from afar and up close, what
are some things you saw from that that still follow
you today.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
The guy never felt sorry for himself, and that's hard
to do. That's hard to do. He just wanted to
set a great example. He wanted to fight with everything
he had till the very end. He had glioblastoma, which
(29:44):
is a cancer that not far many people survive for
too many years. I think the life expectancy is one
to two years, and I think he made it about six.
And that's just the guy was built like a Greek god.
The guy was just chiseled, worked out every day which helped,
and just fought to the very end.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
And the situation, as life, has a weird sense of irony,
I wouldn't call a humor. Is a couple of years
ago you got a medical diagnosis that was well, not
exactly similar. Now you've got something that's in your head
that you've got to fight. And how quickly did Donnie's
fight come right back to mind when you got the
(30:31):
diagnosis of what was going on with you.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Yeah, it's pretty crazy. Just to give you a little backstory,
I had suffered from depression for a long time. I
had suffered from depression for probably about thirty some years.
And I had such great family support, such great faith,
and such great friends that I don't really know if
(30:58):
I would be here today without those people holding helping
hold everything together. And I had just prayed for a
long time that hopefully something would work. Had just been
on so many different medications, tried different diets, tried different
workout things, just so many different specialists over the years.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
And.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Happened to move to Arizona, made a life change about
three years ago now, and just ran into a doctor
down there that happened to listen, and through talking with him,
we'd decided to pull some blood and do some different tests.
And this guy thought, just with all the background information
(31:43):
that I had, he just thought that there could possibly
be something more that maybe someone else missed. And through
just having an open mind and talking to this guy,
we pulled blood about twenty four hours later after the appointment,
I was getting an MRI about forty eight hours later,
and they found a brain tumor. And the craziest thing
(32:12):
about the whole deal is probably, like you said, thinking
about Donnie, it's it was like, Wow, they found something
and this could possibly be what has been going on
for thirty years, possibly leading to the depression. The other
(32:33):
side of it was this might not be good. I
have a brain tumor. So that whole thing was like
the highest of highs in the lowest of lows. And
then circling back thinking about what Donnie went through the
whole time, it was just a just a different ton
of emotions pulling all different ways.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
And watching you go through that from before, you know,
you were you were guarded, but you were still open
about it on social media. You know, you know, you're
out in Arizona, your family and your friends are mostly here,
even though you're connected around the country as we've talked about.
But you were calculated and when you told people certain
things and not to upset people, but also to make
sure that this is also a deeply personal thing. That
(33:18):
first that first bout with it, when they started to
treat it, you said you immediately noticed improvements in your
your mental health. You're you know that that depressing, that
depression kind of went away. What was what was the
the battle like the first time? And I say the
first time because there's more to come, But when when
(33:40):
that first hurdle was cleared, you know what was going
through your mind? What was you know what, we don't
want to say new lease on life, but what was
the the general feeling of what was going through your head?
Speaker 2 (33:50):
Meeting with the doctors, they told me that they felt
that this tumor had been in there for about thirty years.
They thought that this could done the rook cost that.
I was feeling pretty dang good. I was feeling pretty confident.
They were pretty confident once this thing was removed, I
was going to have a brand new lease on life.
(34:11):
And once we got to that point, I was feeling
pretty fricking good. I was feeling pretty confident. I was
feeling very thankful and grateful.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
You became a workout beast again too.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
Man.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
You start you started trimming up, you were getting you
were you were like the hulk out there and and
for those who are where you're you started coaching again.
Out there, you were coaching out here again college and
high school. Then you're out with with Valiant College Prep,
which most people are aware of that that crew of
kids that are coming through from Arizona right now, so
you're you're involved with them as well, I am.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
I am, yeah, So I uh, it's just been it's
just been awesome, you know, I uh talking about the tumor,
you know, I get I have surgery. I probably feel
better honestly with And they told me once I was
having surgery, expect to see in the hospital three to
(35:06):
six days after this. And within one day afterwards, they
looked at me, they did the tests, they said, hey,
we've never seen anyone go home after one day, but
you can go home.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
And I was like, oh man.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
This is just this is just can't get much better
than this, and just feeling super high.
Speaker 1 (35:29):
And I went home the next day.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
But leading up to it, yeah, they definitely told me
that to get ready for this surgery, you know, you
need to be in the best physical shape that you could.
And I was already working out pretty pretty heavily coaching
and Valuing College Prep, working out every day, trying to lift,
trying to be outdoors in Arizona and just going back to,
(35:52):
you know, the new lease on life. I just thought, Man,
I can't take any days for granted. I got to
be out there doing something. I gotta be moving my body.
I got to be thankful, no excuses.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
And you got to rub it in all your friends
back here in Minnesota that you got a foot of
sunshine every day.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
Yeah, I will say Arizona has been a blessing. You know,
it's been a blessing. When it's sunny three hundred and
thirty days out of the year, it's hard not to
get up at five in the morning when the sun's
coming up and be just grateful that you're in there.
I do come back quite a bit, like you said.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
And I.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
Do roll around in the snow, and I do jump
in the cold ice lakes, just to remind myself the
stuff that I've been through. Super grateful for Valiant College Prep.
I really didn't know much about that program. I really
didn't know anything. I had made a ask buddy to
make a list of three or four programs I should
check out when I moved to Arizona, and Valiant College Prep,
(36:50):
to be honest, was the closest one to my house,
and it was the first one that I had visited,
and just things ended up working out that I was
able to volunteer there.
Speaker 1 (37:02):
And you're coming off a week of Fargo coaching freestyle
and greco and you know styles that Minnesota has been,
you know great in there's you know, you're Minnesota gut Minnesota,
gut back and then you gotta teach they got to
teach the kids that again, because that was that was
my first memory of Minnesota. Fargo is is guys out there,
like you know, Tyler Saffertoic is a little guy with
you know, working the gun rement or Hayden zilmer is
(37:23):
as an eighty four pounder. He ain't eighty four pounds anymore.
But you know, the kids chanting at all and it
was again freestyling, greco, It was, it was a thing.
Illinois's got a really good program with that right now,
as the two states like to like to jaw a
little bit online, But when you're down there coaching Fargo,
different set of kids. These are these are different kids,
these aren't You're not coaching your friend's kids like you
(37:45):
did in Minnesota. What's it like to try to, you know,
basically introduce yourself as a coach to a new new
population of kids that they don't know. Minnesota people know
who Nick Slack is, but Arizona folks probably don't pay
much attention to Division three wrestling.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
Yeah, they might not. I guess people like Valiant and
just different schools that I've went around Arizona. I think
their coaches did some homework and did some research, and
the way that the internet works now, there's still some
results up there, so I think they definitely realize that.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
I've had some success at the high.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
School and college level where I've been at and probably
what I try and do, you know, as a coach
is I'm probably the coach that tries to get kids
to realize that, you know, once you're done wrestling, you
know there's more to life trying to be a good
a good kid, and a good person while you're wrestling
while you love the sport. But I'm that guy that
(38:41):
probably tries to instill a good work ethic in them
and keep things loose, make them, help them love the sport,
and just try and realize that you need to be
a good person, you need to give back to the
sport when you're done, and that there's probably more to
life once you're done with wrestling.
Speaker 1 (39:02):
There's more life of Nick Slack too. But we talked
in Fargo, and right before Fargo, you got on social
and you had some bad news for people. So what's
the latest update on what you're dealing with now? And
where do you currently sit outside of this wrestling room.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
Yeah, so it's interesting talking about the highest of highs.
October of twenty twenty two, I had surgery, successful surgery
to move a brain tumor. And I've got a super
rare set of cells and the doctors told me that
(39:44):
it's less than like half of a tenth of a
percent in the world. And they told me that there's
a chance that a tumor could come back at some
point later on. And I have another brain tumor, and.
Speaker 1 (40:04):
So what's the treatment here? Is this? You know how
we looking at, you know, day by day for Nick Slack.
So I was super hopeful.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
When I had went in and talked to my team
of doctors. I saw about five different specialists and I
was hoping that we were just going to have surgery.
It would be like last time they would go in.
Speaker 1 (40:31):
Pull it out.
Speaker 2 (40:32):
I'd be sitting in the hospital one night and be
home the next day. And after reviewing imaging and seeing
these five different specialists, they said that they.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
Can't operate on this tumor. So where's this one at
in relation to the other one.
Speaker 2 (40:53):
It's still it's still at the base of the brain,
It's in a different spot, and they have made the
determination that having surgery could possibly damage a part of
the brain where it would do more harm than good.
Speaker 1 (41:14):
What are other treatment? I mean, as somebody you know,
they talk about chemo, they talk about things to shrink
and maybe mitigate, so you know where are we at
in those conversations. So right now, the care team has
just been awesome.
Speaker 2 (41:27):
One of the best brain tumor centers in the world
is actually located in Phoenix, the Ivy Brain Tumor Center
at Baryl Neurological and I go in for treatment about
once a month.
Speaker 1 (41:42):
They give me.
Speaker 2 (41:45):
Some medicine that's helping keeping the tumor at bay. So
probably be a long drawn out process right now to
keep the tumor at bay.
Speaker 1 (41:59):
Goes back to.
Speaker 2 (42:02):
I just have to keep in the best possible shape
that I can, thinking positive every day, and as much
as I would have liked to just had surgery and
be done. It's something that's going to be in my
daily life for right now, taking things day by day
and we will go from there.
Speaker 1 (42:22):
How much is helping coach kids help you deal with
what's on your mind. Yeah, it's pretty crazy.
Speaker 2 (42:29):
You know, the kids were asking me at Valiant, you know,
like how I was doing. It was pretty well known
down there. I was probably gonna have a surgery, and
I just had to tell these guys before Fargo, Hey,
don't worry about me, you know, you guys, worry about
getting you yourself to be the best wrestler you can
get yourself ready for Fargo. I've got a good care team.
(42:49):
When stuff becomes available, I'll share it. And being around
kids and being around wrestling has just been just been awesome.
They're just gius something look forward every day. I honestly
don't think about this too much. This is all brand new.
You one of the first people that has known about it.
(43:10):
And again, I just look at the positives. Got a
great care team down in Arizona, taken it day by day,
and I'm hopeful that we will somehow beat this one.
Speaker 1 (43:26):
When it comes to people's journeys, you know, sometimes there's
people out there that are they make a social media
for lack of a better term, persona out of it.
It's blogs, it's gofundmes, it's this. You're very guarded, you
are very calculated, and you know you put this thing
out here. You put this thing out here. You're an
(43:48):
open book to your friends, but you're not an open
book to the rest of the world. So how hard
is it for you to kind of address this to
people that aren't part of your inner circle.
Speaker 2 (43:59):
Well, I think recently, more recently, I've become a public
I've been pretty public about I dealing with depression.
Speaker 1 (44:06):
I've been public about some other stuff.
Speaker 2 (44:08):
I've got some stuff in the works where I'm really
going public because I really think I can do some good.
Speaker 1 (44:14):
I really think by telling.
Speaker 2 (44:16):
My story and some of the stuff that I'm going
to be having coming out in the next couple months,
I really think we're going to do a lot of
good for the wrestling community and a lot of good
in the world as well.
Speaker 1 (44:28):
There's a lot of things people draw on in these situations.
You've obviously got a very very good family support system there.
You've talked about your your medical support team, your care team.
You've got your former college teammates, you've got the kids
you coach, the coaches you coach with, and also you've
talked about your faith. Recently you posted something pretty emotional,
(44:52):
but we attended that. We both went to Eaglebrook. I
am a regular attender at the spring Lake Park campus.
You talked about attending a campus in Apple Valley and
the message that Bob Merritt, the former senior pastor, presented,
seemed to check a lot of boxes and speaks to you.
Sometimes it's you know, people can look at faith a
(45:13):
bunch of different ways. Some people put everything in their face,
some people use it as a supplement. Some people live
that way daily life. How much is the faith element
crucial in Nick Slack's journey to you know, it's maybe
it's not recovery, it's management. You know, where does that play? Family? Friends? Faith?
(45:35):
Faith is definitely right up there.
Speaker 2 (45:38):
It's something that I work on every single day, reading
the Bible, going over Bible versus praying.
Speaker 1 (45:47):
As of recent years.
Speaker 2 (45:48):
I've really tried to have a gratitude journal and writing
down about five things a day that I'm super grateful for.
I like to look back and reflect, even if you're
having a bad day and you open up a journal
and it shows all these things that you're thankful for.
Some of those daily problems just seem to just kind
of dissipate and go away.
Speaker 1 (46:11):
You know. They talk about miracles, they talk about divine
intervention and things of that nature. But some people, I'll
speak for myself here, there's there's value in something else.
There's value in faith, not just reading the Bible or
drawing inspiration from it, but there's there's genuine value in
having something to believe in. Some people, it's you know,
(46:35):
it's it's it's religion. You believe in your family, you
believe in your friends. And then let's circle this back
to Donnie. What is it about Donnie's battle that you
are drawing from each and every day now? Because it's
two Augsburg guys that have, you know, a brain tumor
a brain cancer. It's it's just kind of weird how
(46:57):
that works out. And you had somebody that were so
close to What do you remember about discussions you had
with your friends and Donnie specifically about his battle that
you were pulling in to. I guess again, your your
road to management to managing this.
Speaker 2 (47:15):
So I think it circles back to that I can't
feel sorry for myself. This is kind of where I'm
at in life. It does mean no good to feel
sorry for myself. I've got a great care team in place.
I'm going to stay positive every single day, as hard
as that is.
Speaker 1 (47:30):
That might not be really realistic.
Speaker 2 (47:32):
Every single day, I might give myself five minutes maybe
to feel a little bit sorry for myself, and that's it,
and then you move on hands your debt, you stay busy,
you keep your feet moving, you keep moving forward, and
you draw on faith that that's yeah, good people like
Donnie Wickman watching you from above and that you're going
(47:55):
to beat.
Speaker 1 (47:55):
It right behind you. There is a minimum expectation, one
effort and a positive attitude. I just now looked up
and saw this, and you're right here in the foreground.
So let's put an Augsburg spin on that. What's the
effort level right now? And obviously it's it's a positive attitude.
Speaker 2 (48:18):
Yeah, effort level is just you know, one hundred and
ten percent moving forward, working out every single day, keep
my body in the best shape that I can, doing
the right things, eating right, avoiding alcohol, just doing what
I can, controlling what I can control, not letting any
outside factors come into play, trying to use this as
(48:40):
a positive role model. Again, I know there's so many
other people that are fighting so many other battles. Maybe
it's not cancer, maybe it's something small, but it's a
big battle to them, and you keep moving, you keep
the faith, and I do, honestly think that things do
get better.
Speaker 1 (49:00):
I'm, you know, not to sound grim here, but that's
that's one question you got to ask doctors, what is
the what is the long term prognosis here?
Speaker 2 (49:11):
The long term prognosis is that I'm gonna focus on
every single day. I'm gonna be grateful for every single
day that I have, and I'm going to make the
most out of every single day.
Speaker 1 (49:23):
No matter what nick slack. People are gonna come up
to you, and those that already know are are gonna
they're gonna ask how you're doing. They're gonna they're gonna
ask if you need anything, What what do you need
from the wrestling community right now? What do you need
from your friends and family.
Speaker 2 (49:39):
I'm a big guy on faith in prayers. I started
kind of a cool thing over the last year. I've
got a group that texts me every single morning, there's
about two or three guys that send a text message
and I reply or I send them something.
Speaker 1 (49:54):
And I've just really passed this along and I've.
Speaker 2 (49:56):
Heard so many stories, especially guys in this world. Athletes
tend to try and be macho, they tend to try
and not show emotion.
Speaker 1 (50:06):
And a lot of these guys.
Speaker 2 (50:08):
Are sending text messages to each other every single morning,
and they come back and tell me how much of
a difference that's made in their day, and how much
better they feel that someone is checking in on them
every single day, and just what a positive ray that
that can be in the world.
Speaker 1 (50:31):
Nick Slack, We're here with your battle every step of
the way. Man, You've been been a great friend over
the years. Who do you just randomly just give a
ride to the airport too? On the way to South
This guy gave me a ride to the airport on
my way to see my then girlfriend now my wife. Like,
where are you going South Africa? Oh sounds cool, No problem,
Like you know, first of all, you know you help it,
he he help you move. It's a type of friend
(50:53):
of you is you know, gives you ride of the airport,
helps you move. Nick Slack, I.
Speaker 2 (50:56):
Would say everyone, stay tuned. I've got some big things
that come out in the next couple of months. Uh,
you can maybe keep it in your back pocket. Support
will be coming then. I really think we're gonna do
a lot of great things in this world. Keep keep
the faith, guys. Like I said, I know everyone's going
through something. Stay positive. I think you'll beat it. One
(51:19):
percent improvement every day. Do it anyway.
Speaker 1 (51:26):
The Short Time Wrestling podcast has been outfitted by Compound
Sports where since ever since you need something, Surets Hats
Gear Team where you need it, They've got it. Call
up clipping the crew at CMP sportswear dot com.
Whoa Nick Slack, the guy everybody in wrestling knows, but
(00:41):
you ever think about why they know you. It's like
I sit there and when we first mess like, I
feel like I know that guy. Why don't we know
the guy? You've probably seen so many different places, so
many tournaments, so many coaching chairs, but you might be
one of the most recognizable people in wrestling, and people
they can't always put a finger on it. So how
would you describe your relationship with the sport of wrestling?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Go, Jason, I don't know if I've ever really thought
about it like that. I just have been real fortunate
to be around a lot of people in the sport.
My dad was a wrestler, wrestled at man Cato State
for Remy Masius way back in the day, and he
was the guy that got me into the sport and
just fell in love with it.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
He was just super supportive.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
With me, and I just surrounded myself with a lot
of different people going to Gopher matches growing up, went
to a few Augsburg matches, and just have been around
the sport doing many facets everything from from my full
time job right now, I sell sporting goods, so I'm
selling to mostly wrestling coaches. I've officiated before. I've wrestled
(01:50):
at the college level, high school level, coach at the
college level, coach at the high school level, still coach
at the high school level today. So I guess I've
been around the sport for almost you know, about forty
years now.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Yeah, we go back in time. You talk about your dad.
You have the unique opportunity you and your dad travel
around wrestling tournaments. I see you guys at Ncublea's at
the About at the ballpark down in Texas. I mean,
it's cool to travel the country with your dad watching wrestling.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
It's been pretty special. I've been going to the NCUBLEA tournament.
My first one was nineteen ninety six when it was
hosted at the Target Center in Minneapolis, and then since
two thousand and one, I've been to every single NC
DOUBLEA Division one wrestling tournament. And I think my dad
started coming with us probably about two thousand and eight,
two thousand and nine, so he's made about fifteen of
(02:39):
them now in a row. And it's just something that
we put on the calendar every year and we just
set aside time and it's just really a special weekend.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
So when we met years ago. You know Scott West
where you wrestled in high school, but it's not a
high school, it's a co op. Minnesota has co ops,
it's not an uncommon thing around the country. But where
I was from Virgini, we didn't have co ops. So
explain what Scott West is for those who are not
from Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Sure, so, Scott West is a wrestling program co op
between two towns, Bell Plaine and Jordan, Minnesota. They're two
separate high schools. The only sport they're together with is wrestling.
Probably just a little backstory, in the late nineteen eighties,
both bell Playing and Jordan, we're having a numbers problem
in wrestling and it was probably getting to the point
(03:26):
where they could have dropped one program or both programs.
They're both having a numbers crunch. And this is where
Kevin Slack comes in the way he thinks about outside
thinking and the greater good for the sport of wrestling.
Two of the biggest, probably rival schools in the Minnesota
River Conference, who probably didn't like each other. He came
(03:47):
up with this idea along with a bunch of other people,
on how to make this work with these two programs
that were having a numbers problem, and it's definitely been
the most successful co op program Minnesota. And at first
no one really had probably a problem with it, and
then once you become successful, people start putting their finger
(04:08):
on it a little bit more. But we've had a
lot of good support over the years with different coaches
and it's it's been a very successful program. I don't
know the stats off out of my head, but numerous
Section championships, state place winning trophies, state champions et cetera.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Yeah, and it's it's unique. So now like up in
Saint Cloud they've got they call it the Crush, the
same Scott West is Bill plaint and Jordan's most places
they go like Newfield, Caledonia Da Da Da Da Da
Da hyphen hyphen hyphen Scott. You know, you're in Scott County,
So that's where it comes from in the West. So
it seems kind of natural to come up with that.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Yeah, So there's probably a couple programs that had paired
in different sports throughout like the western part of.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Minnesota that did like Sibley East.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Or Yellow Medicine East, some different co ops back in
the day. So I think that was just kind of
natural to go with with Scott West. It was western
part of Scott County, which is still in the Metro
part of the Twin Cities metropolitan area.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
So yeah, it's a fringe metro. Now we talk about
getting into wrestling. What would have found interesting about bell
Plane Jordan. We joke about this still to this day.
Is the back when phones were a thing. You know,
you're from bell Plane, but you were on the Jordan line,
which meant when you were in school sometimes calling home
was a long distance call.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Yeah, so I was guilty of this a couple of times.
So if you forgot something at home going to the
belt Plane school, we were actually the only ones who
have a belt Plane address but a Jordan phone number.
So Jordan had a different line. It was the Metro line,
so it was actually long distance to call from.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Bell Plaine to Jordan.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
So there are a couple of times where I forgot
stuff and you beg the secretary to let you call home,
and it was just a different time back then.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
It's just kind of funny to laugh about. And they knew, no,
you're the guy with the long distance number.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
It was definitely it was definitely my phone number that
showed and my parents' phone number that showed up for
all the long distance charges in bell playing.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
So coming through high school, you multiple time place winner
at the juniors. You know, a couple of time Minnesota
high school state champion placed in NHSA. Is I mean,
you had good credentials in an era of Minnesota wrestling.
Just some of the guys that were coming through your
senior class the year before, year after, it's a who's
who of Minnesota wrestling.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
So in nineteen ninety seven, Minnesota won the freestyle portion
of the Junior National Championships Team Minnesota, and I think
the University of Minnesota was right on the door knocking
to win a national championship, and Augsburg had already won
a couple of Division three championships. So it was just
a great time as a high school wrestler growing up
(06:48):
Minnesota at wrestling was definitely on the rise.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
And I just feel that.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Probably because because of that, and I did ask some
success and Augsburg was definitely one of my college choices.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
The University of Minnesota is one of the college choices.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
And when I was thinking of school, there was a
bunch of different factors that came in and I just
had a great visit at Augsburg. I had had a
relationship with Donnie Wickman, who I had saw a lot
selling clothing and shoes at different tournaments. And when I
came to Augsburg, and we're sitting at Augsburg right now,
(07:29):
it was just a special place. And had just had
a great tour, a great experience with all the guys
on the team. Guys that were actually going to be
competing against for a starting spot at Augsburg were giving
me my tour. And the guy that I was going
to be competing against was selling me on how to
(07:50):
go to on why should go to Augsburg.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
And I think about that quite a.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Bit, where you were really competitive in a certain spot.
This guy is selling me on going to Augsburg, and
it was just like a family atmosphere, and I guess
I couldn't really say nor to Augsburg.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Yeah, we look at the names in that era. I
mean you you won a title as a sophomore, then
wrestled Jacob Boltman your junior year, win a title as
as a senior. I mean you've got all the credentials.
I mean you you if this was the Internet era
were around, really like it was like it is now.
You probably would have been called by almost every Division
one school in the country, yet you chose Division three Augsburg.
(08:31):
You you sold it in that manner. But when when
you look at like the guys around you, I mean
Marcus Levester was was in that era. I mean, guy,
you know, you were teammates with Pat McNamara who at
Scott West. People know from Michigan State. You know, you
come from good stock wrestling, and then you come to
a program that's got good stock, and then you've got
guys like Luke Becker also around you and on the
(08:51):
all those junior teams and such, and you know, heyday
of high school wrestling in Minnesota, you know could be argued,
but you look around there's almost there's not as many
spots at the U. What other Division ones were even
considering or was that on the table?
Speaker 2 (09:06):
You know, I think it was kind of hard. I
grew up on a farm and my dad and I
talked about farming together for a long time, and it
was something where probably my parents and I sat down
and we said that farming could always be in the background,
it could always be something that happens when I'm done
with college. But it was important at the time that
(09:27):
I go get an education somewhere. So that was just
super important to my parents. And then when I thought
about it, I could always have farming to fall back on,
and Augsburg just became the choice for me.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
You look at the I mean nationally, right, guys don't
go Division three unless you Usually people be like, oh, well,
grades are afraid of a competition. Your freshman year, you're
in the lineup as a guy with a lot of
high school credentials. You qualify for the national tournament, but
you don't place. So what was your understanding of quality
(10:03):
of Division three wrestling coming in? And how quickly did
the reality of how good Division three wrestling was actually
get set in?
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Oh, it definitely got It got to me pretty quick
actually the summer when it came up to work out
with some of the guys right after Junior Nationals before
school started, I was like, wow, it's you know, maybe
in the back of my head I was thinking it
might be a little bit easier than it was going
to be. But I got to put my place real
quick that it's going to be challenging and it's going
(10:32):
to be no cakewalk. When I got on campus, competing
for a starting spot.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Yeah, how hard were those wrestle offs?
Speaker 2 (10:40):
I'd say, every day, you know, I was working out
with people that had won national championships. And I think
the special thing about Augsburg is every year we had
about eight to twelve different assistant coaches that were former
alumni that came back that were national champs, starters, all Americans,
just guys that wanted to give back to the program.
(11:00):
And those guys were wrestling with us every single day.
Coaches were wrestling with us who had won national championships,
all Americans. They were starters at Augsburg every single day.
So every single day it was just a battlefield in here.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Trend to earn a starting spot when you go through
your sophomore year, you win a national title. You know,
Augsburg and Wartburg is very much a thing starting in
the early to mid nineties. And then how much did
that rivalry really shape not just the battles between the teams,
but your performance at nationals knowing that the guys from
(11:36):
Waverley are on your heels or vice versa every single year.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Yeah, it's kind of hard to explain. I get this
question asked a lot. The Battle of the Bergs and
it's just it's such a special rivalry that you know,
obviously started in the early nineties when Jeff Wentzon was
already coach at Augsburg, won his first title in ninety one,
and then Jim Miller comes over from Wartburg and wins
the national title a couple of years later, and every
(12:02):
single year Augsburg and Wartburg is they're knocking at the
door to win national championship, and it just elevates everybody,
and it's it's pretty hard to explain. All the guys
circle the dual meet on the calendar every single year, and.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
It's just it's just super cool. Do you know your
record against Wartburg wrestlers.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
I think I've definitely had the upper hand. I know
I lost I know I lost one my freshman year,
so I would think it's probably about maybe six and
one or so.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Yeah, Because when when you were you were coming in
the Division three national bulls weren't yet a thing, and
they came in later, so it used to be the
one duel in the schedule. Then you started meeting two
times a year, so the series started, you know, hitting
a lot, and sometimes it'd be a week between you'd
be like National duel meet title on the line, and
then now we're going down to Waverley. Oh, now we've
(12:57):
got them coming up here to Minneapolis. So how much
did the national really kind of help add more power
to that Battle of Burgs dualby Oh?
Speaker 2 (13:05):
I think it elevates it every year. I mean, if
you would probably look at the history, the team that's
won the National Duels is probably more than likely between
Augsburg and Warburg won the national title the same year.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
So I think.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
It's just, uh, the national duals now we're talking, it's
just such a huge measuring stick for where you are.
Usually happens the middle of January. A lot of teams
can then evaluate after that, but there's definitely a lot
of stock that takes place in winning that duel meets.
And I definitely think the team that's won the National
(13:38):
Duels between Augsburg and Warburg is probably more than likely
won the national title at the Division three Championships the
same year.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
You know, I've been around the rivalry the last I
guess decade and a half at this point. In some years,
the duel meet is one thing and then the National
tournament's another. How magical is the National Tournament? What do
you remember most about those those battles of the duel meets,
and then turn around and be like, oh there was
your team, Oh he slipped a result from the tournament,
or that he lost in the duel meet. With those
(14:07):
type of magic moments. Goal so it's just, uh, anyone
stand out, anyone performance?
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Oof, you're really putting me on the spot.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
What about your performance?
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Definitely, I would say I would definitely say I was
definitely getting on the roll probably probably uh, junior year,
I was starting to be more dominant on top, starting
to pin a lot more people, had some success against
the Warburg guys and got a couple of pins, and
(14:53):
I think, uh, carrying that momentum into the national tournament
probably sticks out a little bit.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Now we go back your sophomore year, you win a title.
You know, you punched through not only you place for
the first time you win it. Then you come back
your sophomore year in your junior year, and this is
where your name gets almost forgotten because you are kind
of like a trivia answer to question nobody actually knows
how to ask the question. So this is the year
two thousand and one, Cayle Sanderson wins the Dan Hodge
(15:21):
trophy and he shares it with a Division III wrestler
from Simpson College named Nick Ackerman. You're the other half
of that trivia question. Who did Nick Ackerman beat in
the national finals? And for those who don't know, is
a double amputee at the knees. So you here, you
are the returning national champion from an evil empire of
Division III wrestling. There must have been nobody in that
(15:42):
building except your family and Augie's rooting for you that match.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Yeah, it was kind of a crazy time for me.
And I'll take nothing away from Nick Ackerman and what
he's accomplished. It was a great feat was it was
pretty crazy to be part of that moment and can
gratulations again to Nick just backing up and not making
any excuses. Probably about three weeks before that national tournament,
(16:09):
a lot of people probably don't know, And what happened
is I blew out my knee completely. I completely tore
my LCL and PCL. I later find out that Jordan
Burrows had the same same injury and he wasn't able
to compete for that whole year. And uh, I wanted
(16:33):
I was a captain, I was a defending national champ.
I was the leader of the team. I wanted to
make a point. I wasn't going it was past the
point of doing a medical red shirt. I don't even
know if the medical red shirt really crossed crossed my mind.
It was something like, how can we figure out how
to wrestle in this tournament. So it was about two
more weeks until the qualifying tournament, met with a specialist,
(16:56):
got a special knee brace, made met with our trainer, Missy,
who did an unbelievable job of rehabbing what we could,
getting me some extra workouts, getting me over to Saint
Thomas where I could swim, and just do everything that
I possibly could to get me in the best shape
that I could. I was on a long match win streak.
(17:18):
I think I had won sixty some matches, defending national champ.
I wanted to be a great example for Augsburg and
the program and toughness. And two weeks later I'm wrestling
in the qualifying tournament, and three weeks later I'm wrestling
in the NCAA Finals. And that match, think goal how
(17:39):
I wanted, and it's unfortunate, I guess for me that
I lost that, but I was I'm super thankful the
year before I was at NCAA champ. Super thankful that
I was part of three national titles as a wrestler.
I was a two time captain of this team. And
(18:01):
there's just so many things that I'm just grateful for.
I'm grateful that I sucked it up and still wrestled.
I think a lot of times now when people get injured,
they use it as an excuse, and they might use
it to end their season. And I just proud of
the way I think that I wrestled through that. And
(18:23):
I think maybe that's why people know me. They know
that I'm classy, they know I work hard, they know
I don't make excuses. And yeah, and now here we
are a long time later, just going on some things.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
You know that I think I'm super proud of I.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
As the first person from Scott West Bell Planner Jordan
to wrestle at Augsburg. And I think there's been almost
fifteen people from our high school that have competed for Augsburg.
The head coach of Augsburg, now Tony Vallak, was from
Scott West. Scott West Now it's produced I believe the
most all Americans from any other high school has had.
(19:02):
Who's had wrestlers compete at Augsburg and all that stuff
is special because I guess it did.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
It did start with me. Yeah, I mean, you know
the head coaches here, and then you've got you know,
the All American last year, Matt Randolph is from down there,
so you've got you know, it's everywhere up Scott West
got Nick Slack and then you know here it's it's people.
People don't mention Pat mcnamarry anymore. It's like he starts
to Dick Slack.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Yeah, that's that's crazy too, because Pat was the guy
for Scott West that won the first state championship and
really got it done. So it's always that first guy
that you know.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
I love that guy to death.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Man, he used to beat me silly. We are about
the same weight, if you could believe that back in
the day. But uh, he's the guy that got it
done for Scott West and really paved the way for
a lot of us Scott West Panthers who won state
and titles eventually in our career.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Yeah. See, and back to the Scott West there's a
panther what's bell plane Bell Plain is the Tigers and
it's Jordan.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Jordan for the Boys, sport is Hubman and for girls
it's Jaguars. So Jordan. Technically from what I've been.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
There's three banners, four banners on the wall right there.
Many how many different banners are there? Names on that wall?
I've been to the gym. I can't remember.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Well, you've got you've got Hubman for the guys, is
a Hubman? That's That's somewhat you have to ask like
Matt Randolph or something about that, some Jordan guy. But
Jordan used to be the hub of Scott County, so
I guess they used to call them the the hub Men.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Yeah, yeah, well we'll we'll we'll table the the the
the Scott County History, Chamber of Commerce questions. You know,
with that, with that loss, you know that you come
back the next year. Well what was the rehab like
the next year? Because you don't you don't red shirt
and Division III you can get medical hardships, but you
know you came right back at it made the finals
(20:50):
the next year.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Yeah, So I had surgery probably about two weeks after
we got back from the national tournament.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Rehab.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Uh So the surgery was probably the first week in April,
if I remember right. Rehab was about twelve weeks, really
uncrutches for quite a bit, quite a while, pretty strenuous,
to the point where we weren't even sure if I
was going to be ready for the first tournament of
(21:17):
the year, the Augie Open.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
Which is mid November. So we're talking a mid February injury,
and here we go almost all the way to November
and October November.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Somewhere in there. They have to try and recover and
get the muscles strong enough able to compete.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Any hesitation to drive off of it. Once you were cleared, no.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
I mean, I was pretty confident, It felt good. Rehab
team was awesome, right across the street, was in there
a lot. Listen to my body. Didn't try and get
back any sooner than I needed to be. It was
just really smart with my rehab.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Well, we look at the next step. So the next year,
the next you're in the finals again. You lose in
the finals again, so you've reached the pinnacle of Division
III athletics on the wrestling mat and then you're a
part of what is an amazing story if you're a
Simpson College fan or anybody outside of this wrestling room.
And then the next year You've got this ringer from
(22:19):
Montclair State who came in who incidentally he won it
that year. He beat you in the finals, then he
loses in the finals the next two years. So it's
it's kind of weird the guy that you know, you
went one, two to the last three, and then he
went one to to the last three. I mean, as
far as not being able to get back on the
podium again at the top of it, what did that
(22:40):
do to Nick Slack the human being? First of all,
how hard is that to not get there, taste it
once and not get there two more times and you're
so close.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
To be honest, I go back to what I said before.
I was just super thankful that I had the chance
to win one national title. When you look back at it,
I wasn't going to be super selfish. I mean, there
were so many guys at Augsburg that could have that
were just right behind me, that were just as good
a me that didn't get a chance, and I was
just better than them, and it would be super selfish
(23:11):
for me to say that. You know, winning three titles
was like this, like wrestling is hard. Yeah, it's super hard.
It's super hard to win, you know, to win those
three titles would have just been, you know, super selfish
to me to say I was just super happy I
won one again, super happy. I was part of three
(23:32):
national team championships, one runner up championship, a two time
captain of the team.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
What would Marcus have said, lost in college? Yeah, you
have to ask Marcus. I don't know. I don't know what.
One thing. We were at the state tournament this past
year and in the suite watching the state finals, and
those guys you're in there this week, there's your there's
your college teammates, there's there's people that were they're not starters.
And then they were all Americans watching, watching their kids,
(24:00):
watching your teammates kids, watching your your competitors' kids out there.
And it seems like this is a program that there's
a brotherhood once once, once you're gone, you're still connected forever.
You come back all the time, even though you lived
here quite a bit. You live in Arizona now. But
it seems like the brotherhood of the small college wrestling
program seems to be just knit year after year after
(24:23):
year after years. What's that attributed to here? Man?
Speaker 2 (24:27):
I think it it just goes back to probably obviously
Jeff Swinson when he started the program family Atmosphere. It
goes back to those eight to twelve assistant coaches that
came back and made pennies every year because they just
want to be part of the program.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
They want to be part of something special.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
They could have gone on and coached somewhere else at
a high school level, made a lot more money.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
They just want to be part of Augsburg.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
And I think really the assistant coaches that came back
probably influenced me the moment. Someone like Donnie Wickman, who
was here every single day lifting with people in the
weight room at five o'clock after working a full time job.
The guy was making recruiting calls at night. The guy
(25:09):
knew every single person in Minnesota, Wisconsin and helped build
the program. And so many of us wrestlers when we
were done competing, stuck around and were assisting coaches for
a long time because we wanted to give back because
the coaches before us did the same thing.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
And talking about Donnie and he was here a long
time and it's been six years. You posted this while
you were coaching with Team Arizona and Fargo. He passed
away six years ago, and you know, how often do
you think about Donni would? Oh every day? Every day.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Man, that guy was just he was just a good dude.
And it's hard to not get all emotional when you
start talking about the guy.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
But it just goes back to what I just said.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
The guy just put so much time into Augsburg and
so much time in the kids. The guy owned a
sporting goods business where he was selling at tournaments on
a weekend, and I helped work some of his boosts.
And there was just countless times where someone couldn't afford something,
or someone needed to discount, and some team needed something,
(26:18):
and Donnie just worked with them. And I saw that
kind of stuff and I do that stuff in my
business almost daily as well.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
And that was the door that got you into doing
what you're doing now. I mean, you're naturally a people person.
You can talk for hours at a time about anything,
which is probably why we're friends. We could talk about
anything for hours at a time. But it was that
where the seed of Nick Slack the salesman got.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Started with Donnie. Definitely, Donnie probably started it. There was
a guy named Charlie Peterson.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Who worked here.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
He was a wrestler for Luther back in the day
he was a national finalist. He was working for Champion
and he was selling to Augsburg and part of my
work study job was helping to order the gear for
the team for the coming year, So I was working
with Charlie on order and stuff. I had asked Charlie
if he had had anyone that he'd ever hired before,
and I actually technically started working for Charlie right out
(27:11):
of college.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
I think my first Augsburg zip up three quarters zip
was a Champion that you gave me. Yeah, probably definitely,
probably two thousand and eight. Yeah, because we really sat
down and I was like one of the conventions as
we're coming up on the NBCA convention and right before
we were you know, work before we go, we're recording this.
(27:33):
But the you know, I remember sitting back. I don't
know if it was Buffalo or Pittsburgh or Vegas or whatever,
and you had the chance. We were all trying to
put on different sizes, like hey, can you fit. I
remember trying to put on like a medium purple whatever,
and it was like, no, it was not a great
ringing endorsement for Cornell College. Let me tell you that. Yeah,
it wasn't fitting. I remember that. I'm I definitely remember
(27:55):
those Yeah, and then you've had that opportunity to have
that relationship with the again. This this goes with why
everybody knows you, They just yeah, I know that guy
and being so sociable. What is it about wrestling coaches
and wrestling people that's so infectious to be around for you?
Speaker 2 (28:12):
I think that wrestling coaches just generally know how hard
the sport is, and deep down inside they know that
they're changing lives by making someone stick through the hard
times of wrestling. I honestly don't know. There are probably
isn't too many wrestlers that probably haven't thought about quitting
at some point in their career because it's it's pretty tough.
(28:34):
And college wrestling coaches and high school wrestling coaches and
youth wrestling coaches are shaping the youth of tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Talk about coaches. We're going to bring us back to
Donnie a little bit, and you know we you know,
he passed six years ago and he was fighting. It
was a brain cancer, brain tumor. And what did you
see from Donnie and his fight? Because my last interview
with him was weeks before he passed. It was at
an All Augsburg duel, and he was still here. He
was still in the gym. Obviously he wasn't coaching, but
(29:06):
he was still close to the program. And you know,
up until his final days, he was still around the
sport and around sport of wrestling. So you know, when
you watched his fight from afar and up close, what
are some things you saw from that that still follow
you today.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
The guy never felt sorry for himself, and that's hard
to do. That's hard to do. He just wanted to
set a great example. He wanted to fight with everything
he had till the very end. He had glioblastoma, which
(29:44):
is a cancer that not far many people survive for
too many years. I think the life expectancy is one
to two years, and I think he made it about six.
And that's just the guy was built like a Greek god.
The guy was just chiseled, worked out every day which helped,
and just fought to the very end.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
And the situation, as life, has a weird sense of irony,
I wouldn't call a humor. Is a couple of years
ago you got a medical diagnosis that was well, not
exactly similar. Now you've got something that's in your head
that you've got to fight. And how quickly did Donnie's
fight come right back to mind when you got the
(30:31):
diagnosis of what was going on with you.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Yeah, it's pretty crazy. Just to give you a little backstory,
I had suffered from depression for a long time. I
had suffered from depression for probably about thirty some years.
And I had such great family support, such great faith,
and such great friends that I don't really know if
(30:58):
I would be here today without those people holding helping
hold everything together. And I had just prayed for a
long time that hopefully something would work. Had just been
on so many different medications, tried different diets, tried different
workout things, just so many different specialists over the years.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
And.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Happened to move to Arizona, made a life change about
three years ago now, and just ran into a doctor
down there that happened to listen, and through talking with him,
we'd decided to pull some blood and do some different tests.
And this guy thought, just with all the background information
(31:43):
that I had, he just thought that there could possibly
be something more that maybe someone else missed. And through
just having an open mind and talking to this guy,
we pulled blood about twenty four hours later after the appointment,
I was getting an MRI about forty eight hours later,
and they found a brain tumor. And the craziest thing
(32:12):
about the whole deal is probably, like you said, thinking
about Donnie, it's it was like, Wow, they found something
and this could possibly be what has been going on
for thirty years, possibly leading to the depression. The other
(32:33):
side of it was this might not be good. I
have a brain tumor. So that whole thing was like
the highest of highs in the lowest of lows. And
then circling back thinking about what Donnie went through the
whole time, it was just a just a different ton
of emotions pulling all different ways.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
And watching you go through that from before, you know,
you were you were guarded, but you were still open
about it on social media. You know, you know, you're
out in Arizona, your family and your friends are mostly here,
even though you're connected around the country as we've talked about.
But you were calculated and when you told people certain
things and not to upset people, but also to make
sure that this is also a deeply personal thing. That
(33:18):
first that first bout with it, when they started to
treat it, you said you immediately noticed improvements in your
your mental health. You're you know that that depressing, that
depression kind of went away. What was what was the
the battle like the first time? And I say the
first time because there's more to come, But when when
(33:40):
that first hurdle was cleared, you know what was going
through your mind? What was you know what, we don't
want to say new lease on life, but what was
the the general feeling of what was going through your head?
Speaker 2 (33:50):
Meeting with the doctors, they told me that they felt
that this tumor had been in there for about thirty years.
They thought that this could done the rook cost that.
I was feeling pretty dang good. I was feeling pretty confident.
They were pretty confident once this thing was removed, I
was going to have a brand new lease on life.
(34:11):
And once we got to that point, I was feeling
pretty fricking good. I was feeling pretty confident. I was
feeling very thankful and grateful.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
You became a workout beast again too.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
Man.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
You start you started trimming up, you were getting you
were you were like the hulk out there and and
for those who are where you're you started coaching again.
Out there, you were coaching out here again college and
high school. Then you're out with with Valiant College Prep,
which most people are aware of that that crew of
kids that are coming through from Arizona right now, so
you're you're involved with them as well, I am.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
I am, yeah, So I uh, it's just been it's
just been awesome, you know, I uh talking about the tumor,
you know, I get I have surgery. I probably feel
better honestly with And they told me once I was
having surgery, expect to see in the hospital three to
(35:06):
six days after this. And within one day afterwards, they
looked at me, they did the tests, they said, hey,
we've never seen anyone go home after one day, but
you can go home.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
And I was like, oh man.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
This is just this is just can't get much better
than this, and just feeling super high.
Speaker 1 (35:29):
And I went home the next day.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
But leading up to it, yeah, they definitely told me
that to get ready for this surgery, you know, you
need to be in the best physical shape that you could.
And I was already working out pretty pretty heavily coaching
and Valuing College Prep, working out every day, trying to lift,
trying to be outdoors in Arizona and just going back to,
(35:52):
you know, the new lease on life. I just thought, Man,
I can't take any days for granted. I got to
be out there doing something. I gotta be moving my body.
I got to be thankful, no excuses.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
And you got to rub it in all your friends
back here in Minnesota that you got a foot of
sunshine every day.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
Yeah, I will say Arizona has been a blessing. You know,
it's been a blessing. When it's sunny three hundred and
thirty days out of the year, it's hard not to
get up at five in the morning when the sun's
coming up and be just grateful that you're in there.
I do come back quite a bit, like you said.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
And I.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
Do roll around in the snow, and I do jump
in the cold ice lakes, just to remind myself the
stuff that I've been through. Super grateful for Valiant College Prep.
I really didn't know much about that program. I really
didn't know anything. I had made a ask buddy to
make a list of three or four programs I should
check out when I moved to Arizona, and Valiant College Prep,
(36:50):
to be honest, was the closest one to my house,
and it was the first one that I had visited,
and just things ended up working out that I was
able to volunteer there.
Speaker 1 (37:02):
And you're coming off a week of Fargo coaching freestyle
and greco and you know styles that Minnesota has been,
you know great in there's you know, you're Minnesota gut Minnesota,
gut back and then you gotta teach they got to
teach the kids that again, because that was that was
my first memory of Minnesota. Fargo is is guys out there,
like you know, Tyler Saffertoic is a little guy with
you know, working the gun rement or Hayden zilmer is
(37:23):
as an eighty four pounder. He ain't eighty four pounds anymore.
But you know, the kids chanting at all and it
was again freestyling, greco, It was, it was a thing.
Illinois's got a really good program with that right now,
as the two states like to like to jaw a
little bit online, But when you're down there coaching Fargo,
different set of kids. These are these are different kids,
these aren't You're not coaching your friend's kids like you
(37:45):
did in Minnesota. What's it like to try to, you know,
basically introduce yourself as a coach to a new new
population of kids that they don't know. Minnesota people know
who Nick Slack is, but Arizona folks probably don't pay
much attention to Division three wrestling.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
Yeah, they might not. I guess people like Valiant and
just different schools that I've went around Arizona. I think
their coaches did some homework and did some research, and
the way that the internet works now, there's still some
results up there, so I think they definitely realize that.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
I've had some success at the high.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
School and college level where I've been at and probably
what I try and do, you know, as a coach
is I'm probably the coach that tries to get kids
to realize that, you know, once you're done wrestling, you
know there's more to life trying to be a good
a good kid, and a good person while you're wrestling
while you love the sport. But I'm that guy that
(38:41):
probably tries to instill a good work ethic in them
and keep things loose, make them, help them love the sport,
and just try and realize that you need to be
a good person, you need to give back to the
sport when you're done, and that there's probably more to
life once you're done with wrestling.
Speaker 1 (39:02):
There's more life of Nick Slack too. But we talked
in Fargo, and right before Fargo, you got on social
and you had some bad news for people. So what's
the latest update on what you're dealing with now? And
where do you currently sit outside of this wrestling room.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
Yeah, so it's interesting talking about the highest of highs.
October of twenty twenty two, I had surgery, successful surgery
to move a brain tumor. And I've got a super
rare set of cells and the doctors told me that
(39:44):
it's less than like half of a tenth of a
percent in the world. And they told me that there's
a chance that a tumor could come back at some
point later on. And I have another brain tumor, and.
Speaker 1 (40:04):
So what's the treatment here? Is this? You know how
we looking at, you know, day by day for Nick Slack.
So I was super hopeful.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
When I had went in and talked to my team
of doctors. I saw about five different specialists and I
was hoping that we were just going to have surgery.
It would be like last time they would go in.
Speaker 1 (40:31):
Pull it out.
Speaker 2 (40:32):
I'd be sitting in the hospital one night and be
home the next day. And after reviewing imaging and seeing
these five different specialists, they said that they.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
Can't operate on this tumor. So where's this one at
in relation to the other one.
Speaker 2 (40:53):
It's still it's still at the base of the brain,
It's in a different spot, and they have made the
determination that having surgery could possibly damage a part of
the brain where it would do more harm than good.
Speaker 1 (41:14):
What are other treatment? I mean, as somebody you know,
they talk about chemo, they talk about things to shrink
and maybe mitigate, so you know where are we at
in those conversations. So right now, the care team has
just been awesome.
Speaker 2 (41:27):
One of the best brain tumor centers in the world
is actually located in Phoenix, the Ivy Brain Tumor Center
at Baryl Neurological and I go in for treatment about
once a month.
Speaker 1 (41:42):
They give me.
Speaker 2 (41:45):
Some medicine that's helping keeping the tumor at bay. So
probably be a long drawn out process right now to
keep the tumor at bay.
Speaker 1 (41:59):
Goes back to.
Speaker 2 (42:02):
I just have to keep in the best possible shape
that I can, thinking positive every day, and as much
as I would have liked to just had surgery and
be done. It's something that's going to be in my
daily life for right now, taking things day by day
and we will go from there.
Speaker 1 (42:22):
How much is helping coach kids help you deal with
what's on your mind. Yeah, it's pretty crazy.
Speaker 2 (42:29):
You know, the kids were asking me at Valiant, you know,
like how I was doing. It was pretty well known
down there. I was probably gonna have a surgery, and
I just had to tell these guys before Fargo, Hey,
don't worry about me, you know, you guys, worry about
getting you yourself to be the best wrestler you can
get yourself ready for Fargo. I've got a good care team.
(42:49):
When stuff becomes available, I'll share it. And being around
kids and being around wrestling has just been just been awesome.
They're just gius something look forward every day. I honestly
don't think about this too much. This is all brand new.
You one of the first people that has known about it.
(43:10):
And again, I just look at the positives. Got a
great care team down in Arizona, taken it day by day,
and I'm hopeful that we will somehow beat this one.
Speaker 1 (43:26):
When it comes to people's journeys, you know, sometimes there's
people out there that are they make a social media
for lack of a better term, persona out of it.
It's blogs, it's gofundmes, it's this. You're very guarded, you
are very calculated, and you know you put this thing
out here. You put this thing out here. You're an
(43:48):
open book to your friends, but you're not an open
book to the rest of the world. So how hard
is it for you to kind of address this to
people that aren't part of your inner circle.
Speaker 2 (43:59):
Well, I think recently, more recently, I've become a public
I've been pretty public about I dealing with depression.
Speaker 1 (44:06):
I've been public about some other stuff.
Speaker 2 (44:08):
I've got some stuff in the works where I'm really
going public because I really think I can do some good.
Speaker 1 (44:14):
I really think by telling.
Speaker 2 (44:16):
My story and some of the stuff that I'm going
to be having coming out in the next couple months,
I really think we're going to do a lot of
good for the wrestling community and a lot of good
in the world as well.
Speaker 1 (44:28):
There's a lot of things people draw on in these situations.
You've obviously got a very very good family support system there.
You've talked about your your medical support team, your care team.
You've got your former college teammates, you've got the kids
you coach, the coaches you coach with, and also you've
talked about your faith. Recently you posted something pretty emotional,
(44:52):
but we attended that. We both went to Eaglebrook. I
am a regular attender at the spring Lake Park campus.
You talked about attending a campus in Apple Valley and
the message that Bob Merritt, the former senior pastor, presented,
seemed to check a lot of boxes and speaks to you.
Sometimes it's you know, people can look at faith a
(45:13):
bunch of different ways. Some people put everything in their face,
some people use it as a supplement. Some people live
that way daily life. How much is the faith element
crucial in Nick Slack's journey to you know, it's maybe
it's not recovery, it's management. You know, where does that play? Family? Friends? Faith?
(45:35):
Faith is definitely right up there.
Speaker 2 (45:38):
It's something that I work on every single day, reading
the Bible, going over Bible versus praying.
Speaker 1 (45:47):
As of recent years.
Speaker 2 (45:48):
I've really tried to have a gratitude journal and writing
down about five things a day that I'm super grateful for.
I like to look back and reflect, even if you're
having a bad day and you open up a journal
and it shows all these things that you're thankful for.
Some of those daily problems just seem to just kind
of dissipate and go away.
Speaker 1 (46:11):
You know. They talk about miracles, they talk about divine
intervention and things of that nature. But some people, I'll
speak for myself here, there's there's value in something else.
There's value in faith, not just reading the Bible or
drawing inspiration from it, but there's there's genuine value in
having something to believe in. Some people, it's you know,
(46:35):
it's it's it's religion. You believe in your family, you
believe in your friends. And then let's circle this back
to Donnie. What is it about Donnie's battle that you
are drawing from each and every day now? Because it's
two Augsburg guys that have, you know, a brain tumor
a brain cancer. It's it's just kind of weird how
(46:57):
that works out. And you had somebody that were so
close to What do you remember about discussions you had
with your friends and Donnie specifically about his battle that
you were pulling in to. I guess again, your your
road to management to managing this.
Speaker 2 (47:15):
So I think it circles back to that I can't
feel sorry for myself. This is kind of where I'm
at in life. It does mean no good to feel
sorry for myself. I've got a great care team in place.
I'm going to stay positive every single day, as hard
as that is.
Speaker 1 (47:30):
That might not be really realistic.
Speaker 2 (47:32):
Every single day, I might give myself five minutes maybe
to feel a little bit sorry for myself, and that's it,
and then you move on hands your debt, you stay busy,
you keep your feet moving, you keep moving forward, and
you draw on faith that that's yeah, good people like
Donnie Wickman watching you from above and that you're going
(47:55):
to beat.
Speaker 1 (47:55):
It right behind you. There is a minimum expectation, one
effort and a positive attitude. I just now looked up
and saw this, and you're right here in the foreground.
So let's put an Augsburg spin on that. What's the
effort level right now? And obviously it's it's a positive attitude.
Speaker 2 (48:18):
Yeah, effort level is just you know, one hundred and
ten percent moving forward, working out every single day, keep
my body in the best shape that I can, doing
the right things, eating right, avoiding alcohol, just doing what
I can, controlling what I can control, not letting any
outside factors come into play, trying to use this as
(48:40):
a positive role model. Again, I know there's so many
other people that are fighting so many other battles. Maybe
it's not cancer, maybe it's something small, but it's a
big battle to them, and you keep moving, you keep
the faith, and I do, honestly think that things do
get better.
Speaker 1 (49:00):
I'm, you know, not to sound grim here, but that's
that's one question you got to ask doctors, what is
the what is the long term prognosis here?
Speaker 2 (49:11):
The long term prognosis is that I'm gonna focus on
every single day. I'm gonna be grateful for every single
day that I have, and I'm going to make the
most out of every single day.
Speaker 1 (49:23):
No matter what nick slack. People are gonna come up
to you, and those that already know are are gonna
they're gonna ask how you're doing. They're gonna they're gonna
ask if you need anything, What what do you need
from the wrestling community right now? What do you need
from your friends and family.
Speaker 2 (49:39):
I'm a big guy on faith in prayers. I started
kind of a cool thing over the last year. I've
got a group that texts me every single morning, there's
about two or three guys that send a text message
and I reply or I send them something.
Speaker 1 (49:54):
And I've just really passed this along and I've.
Speaker 2 (49:56):
Heard so many stories, especially guys in this world. Athletes
tend to try and be macho, they tend to try
and not show emotion.
Speaker 1 (50:06):
And a lot of these guys.
Speaker 2 (50:08):
Are sending text messages to each other every single morning,
and they come back and tell me how much of
a difference that's made in their day, and how much
better they feel that someone is checking in on them
every single day, and just what a positive ray that
that can be in the world.
Speaker 1 (50:31):
Nick Slack, We're here with your battle every step of
the way. Man, You've been been a great friend over
the years. Who do you just randomly just give a
ride to the airport too? On the way to South
This guy gave me a ride to the airport on
my way to see my then girlfriend now my wife. Like,
where are you going South Africa? Oh sounds cool, No problem,
Like you know, first of all, you know you help it,
he he help you move. It's a type of friend
(50:53):
of you is you know, gives you ride of the airport,
helps you move. Nick Slack, I.
Speaker 2 (50:56):
Would say everyone, stay tuned. I've got some big things
that come out in the next couple of months. Uh,
you can maybe keep it in your back pocket. Support
will be coming then. I really think we're gonna do
a lot of great things in this world. Keep keep
the faith, guys. Like I said, I know everyone's going
through something. Stay positive. I think you'll beat it. One
(51:19):
percent improvement every day. Do it anyway.
Speaker 1 (51:26):
The Short Time Wrestling podcast has been outfitted by Compound
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