Indiana senior wrestler Nick Willham earned All-American honors with a sixth-place finish at the U23 USA Wrestling World Team Trials over the weekend. Willham competed in the Freestyle Division as part of the 92-kg weight class.
Willham won his first two matches against Bucknell University senior Mason McCready and Hofstra University freshman Nikolas Miller without giving up a point. He defeated McCready 6-0 and Miller 10-0.
Willham faced North Carolina State University sophomore Christian Knop in the round of 16 and won 3-1. He then advanced to the quarterfinals, where he defeated Michigan junior Bobby Striggow 7-1.
Cornell University junior Jacob Cardenas overtook Willham in the semifinals by a score of 5-1 to send the Indiana wrestler into the consolation bracket. Willham lost his next two matches to Penn State freshman Jack Davis in the consolation semifinals and West Virginia University sophomore Austin Cooley in the fifth-place match.
Willham was one of ten Hoosiers to compete in the World Team Trials over the weekend, but the only one to finish in the top eight. Juniors Nico Bolivar, Luke Baughman, Derek Gilcher, Nick South, Drayton Harris and Isiah Levitz and seniors Cayden Rooks, Graham Rooks and Jacob Bullock also participated from Indiana.
