Wrestling: Nauman sets example for Panthers

When Tyler Nauman arrived at Pitt, the wrestling team was mostly focused on winning individual… When Tyler Nauman arrived at Pitt, the wrestling team was mostly focused on winning individual matches rather than trying to succeed as a team.

But five years later, the Panthers have become a dominant squad in the Eastern Wrestling League — winning three straight conference championships — and individual accolades have followed the team’s awards.

“It is definitely better now than when I got here,” Nauman said. “I could have bought into the ways the program was — that was not really caring if everyone won or not — but that wasn’t me. I wanted to win from start to finish.”

Nauman, a redshirt senior, and the other upperclassmen helped shift the direction of Pitt’s program. The progress is evidenced by a group of underclassmen that put winning duals and the conference before individual performances.

“The older guys have set the standard that, although wrestling may be somewhat of an individual sport, everyone on the team still has a job to do,” sophomore Shelton Mack said. “That has been shown by us wrestling well and winning EWL titles.”

Nauman helped shift the team’s focus, and he’s also worked to expand the abilities of his teammates. A talented mat wrestler, Nauman has helped underclassmen develop that skill in practice.

“As I come to the end of my career, one of the biggest things I’ve left my teammates is a better feel for wrestling on the mat,” he said. “When I got here, we never wrestled on the mat and always practiced on our feet.”

Nauman’s impact will be displayed for years to come on the EWL Championship banners hanging from the rafters of the Fitzgerald Field House — the home arena where Nauman and the senior class suffered just one loss.

“Being a part of Pitt winning three straight EWL titles was amazing,” Nauman said. “I never would have thought that that was going to happen when I got to Pitt. It means the world to me, because I’ve never been on a championship-caliber team.”

At Middletown Area High School in Middletown, Pa., Nauman broke the school records for wins (156) and pins (75). He placed in the top 10 all four years at the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Championships and was an All-State wrestler his entire career.

Nauman was already accustomed to winning when he first set foot in the wrestling room at Pitt.

“I always want to win,” Nauman said. “My lifelong goal has always been to be a national champion — after that, a multiple All-American. Those goals have never changed. As the years went by and I became an All-American, it proved to me that I could reach those goals.”

The redshirt senior placed fifth at 141 pounds during his redshirt sophomore year at Pitt and earned his first All-American status. He reached his goal of becoming a multiple All-American with a top-eight finish at the NCAA Championships.

He’s the only current Panther to hold All-American status. Other Pitt wrestlers, including junior Anthony Zanetta, want to become All-Americans this season and will turn to Nauman for leadership.

“Tyler’s a veteran,” Zanetta said. “He has seen it all, and he knows what it takes to win at nationals. He is someone to look to for guidance this time of the year.”

Nauman will graduate this spring with a degree in communication, because wrestling conflicted with his desire to become a teacher.

When he arrived at Pitt, Nauman wanted to be an education major. But Pitt’s  program includes a fifth year that consists of student teaching, which wouldn’t have been possible to complete while wrestling. He took all the teaching prerequisites and plans to pursue teaching in graduate school while hopefully becoming a graduate assistant for wrestling.

“I want to stay at Pitt,” Nauman said. “But it currently won’t allow wrestling to have a graduate assistant.”

Although graduate school might take him away from Pittsburgh, the standard at Pitt has been raised by Nauman and the wrestling team’s other seniors. The Panthers finished the regular season ranked No. 9 — their first top-10 finish in 49 years.

Despite his not being named a captain by the coaches, Nauman’s teammates said he leads through example.

“I look up to all the seniors, regardless of if they’re captains or not,” Mack said. “They work hard and push everyone else. The older guys help prepare me for the postseason by keeping me relaxed and helping me to stay focused.”