Troy Nickerson has heard many times that he hasn’t changed a lot since his heralded days as a prep star wrestler at Chenango Forks, N.Y., or from his national championship/All-American moments at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., 15 years ago.

“I’m told that I will appreciate it at some point,” laughed the 38-year-old Nickerson, shortly before he began his next coaching chapter this season at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.

But even Nickerson admits time has flown since he became the first New York prep to win five state championships in 2005 or featured a four-time All-American career in 2009 with a national title as a junior and compiled a 97-8 career mark at 125 pounds while wearing the red singlet with the big C on his chest.

“It doesn’t seem like that long ago,” said Nickerson, who also finished second as a true freshman, third as a sophomore and fourth as a senior for the Big Red. “But now when I’m recruiting kids, many weren’t even alive when I was competing. That puts it into perspective a little bit.”

What makes Nickerson’s story even more complete is that he has returned to his home Empire state to take on his next challenge after spending 11 years as the head coach at Northern Colorado.

“Home is where you are,” said Nickerson, who, with his wife Allie, are the parents of two boys, Gavin (age 8) and Asher (age 4). “We really enjoyed our time in Colorado, but it doesn’t hurt to be close to family. My wife and kids love West Point and being a little closer to my family enables me to spend more time with them.”

Among those who have seen Nickerson literally grow up in this sport is his current assistant coach Scott Green, who has served as an associate head coach for the past four years at Army after an 11-year tenure heading up the well-known Wyoming Seminary in Northeastern Pennsylvania, where his teams won two National Prep Championships.

Green also founded the former Shamrock Wrestling Club, located in Binghamton, N.Y, where Nickerson trained as a child.

“Scott was my kid’s club coach when I was growing up,” recalled Troy. “I’ve known him for 30 years.”

“One of the first things we did when he got here was to look back at old scrapbooks of photos when he was young,” recalled Scott. “He’s always been pretty driven. We knew early on that he had that special mentality that was going to lead to his success. Troy was a cut above and probably the best wrestler in New York state history.”

What makes this reconnection better is that Scott’s wife, Jennifer, was once Troy’s seventh-grade homeroom teacher and now teaches Troy’s son Asher at the post’s school.

“It’s funny how things work out and bring back the band together in a sense,” Troy said. “Coming from the same system, we have the same mindset with what it takes for this level.”

The college wrestling world has changed since Nickerson’s All-American days and he admits he’s had to adjust to understanding the mindset and talents of today’s college wrestlers.

“I think it has changed a lot,” Nickerson said. “We are big on development and making sure we are developing these student-athletes. For us, sometimes less is more. More than ever, you are seeing high school athletes beating college All-Americans or making Senior-level World teams and winning medals. The talent level is there. In a sense, we are more like managers than coaches by helping them continue to develop on and off the mat.”

Nickerson, who grew up three hours northwest of West Point, also knows the historic nature of Army West Point wrestling.

“For me to be able to do it at a point like West Point is special and which is a place I’ve had an affinity for a long time,” said Nickerson, who became the 10th all-time coach in Army history.. “It’s our country’s history and part of its birthplace. It’s not unfeasible to imagine George Washington riding his horse up and down the Hudson. I respect the values and traits that West Point instills. I think it’s the same skillset that it takes to win in the sport of wrestling.”

Taking over a program that features eight wrestlers with past NCAA resumes doesn’t hurt either. Nickerson would like to add to the Army legacy that has produced 20 All-Americans (including one champ Mike Natvig in both 1962 and 1963, and four runnerups; the last being Phillip Simpson in 2005).

“It’s a dream come true to be able to lead this program and help it continue to grow,” Nickerson said. “It’s already in a great spot. (Former) Coach (Kevin) Ward did a phenomenal job (between 2014 and 2025) and I have an administration behind me that wants to continue that rise. We believe that we can do that.

“This is a place I believe where we can win at the highest level. I don’t believe you can say that about a lot of programs. There are few where wrestling really matters. West Point is a place where they love wrestlers. They know wrestlers go on and make great officers in the United States Army. Wrestling produces more special op officers than the entire corps.”

This mindset is one reason Nickerson welcomed the idea of starting his career in a dual meet with highly-ranked Nebraska on Nov. 7. While it ended with a 33-3 loss, Nickerson believes the experience will help his Cadets down the road.

“Let’s see where we are at and test these guys at the highest level so that when they get to the national tournament, these are the types of matches that we need to win to be All-Americans,” Nickerson said.

Nickerson also believes his time in Greeley, Colo., over the past decade prepared him for this next challenge in West Point.

“It made me a better coach,” said Nickerson, who mentored 37 national qualifiers and six All-Americans, including the school’s first Division I national champion (Andrew Alirez) in 2023. “I’m a believer that everyone should coach at a mid-major school. The amount of time and effort that you need to put in to be successful is not easy.

“Everyone needs to see those struggles to have a better perspective on the other side. These are life-long relations; beyond college wrestling.”

That brotherhood was something Nickerson knew already existed at West Point.

“When I took the job, I called all of our Cadet athletes and I asked them all the same question: ‘tell me one thing that is going well.’ Everyone of them told me that we have a saying here. BHAW, which stands for brotherhood, heart, attitude and warrior.

“They said, ‘Our brotherhood culture at West Point is real.’ We can’t mess with that and it didn’t take long for me to see that in person in how close they are; they are really here for one another. That includes our alumni, everyone who has been part of Army wrestling.

“That is something that is becoming rare in college athletics today with the transfer portal and NIL. I think it is something that we can continue to capitalize.”