Snacks

This week's Snacks come from Nico Megaludis: 3X Pennsylvania State Champion (170-1) and recipient of the Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award. He wrestled at Penn State, where he was a 4X NCAA All-American (3X Finalist) and the 2016 NCAA National Champion.

Below are some excerpts from our conversation, along with key takeaways and tips that can be applied to improve yourself as a Coach, Athlete, or wrestling Parent.

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Origin Story Tip: Mindset shapes the journey. From an early age, Nico expected to win—and that belief stuck. Even when competition got tougher, his internal standard stayed high. That mindset of confidence and expectation helped guide him throughout his career.

"My dad, Dan, just wrestled in high school. Then he went into bodybuilding and all that sort of stuff. After college, he fell in love with the sport again and started traveling—like with Cary Kolat. My dad and him, they knew each other, so my dad would travel to the U.S. Open, Vegas, all those sorts of things.

He really followed Penn State when Cary was competing. Then that just evolved—he became a fan and really loved the sport. I think he even dabbled in a couple old man tournaments to try it out again. There was a yellow mat in my parents’ old home—I don’t know, probably only 10 by 10 or something pretty small.

He just had me on it as a kid, and I loved it from the beginning. I was always kind of into being strong, I think. My dad was a bodybuilder. I’d see Samson in the Bible, his strength—all those things.

As a kid, I just wanted to be strong, you know? Then this sport—once I got into it—I fell in love with it from the start. I still remember when I started...

But I was probably five years old. I won my first five or six matches. I remember sitting in the car, on this road, and I remember the exact visual. I thought, “I’m never gonna lose.”

It was in my head—I was 5-0. Then, of course, the next tournament I took second. I lost in overtime. I still remember the match—bits and pieces of it. My dad almost had to take me to the hospital, put it that way. I was having an asthma attack after crying.

At that point, I think he was like, “Oh boy, what did I get myself into?” And yeah, things just went from there...

I went to Tulsa Nationals when I was eight. I remember I was always good at the local tournaments—I would win and stuff. But I remember I got third and I was like, “Man, I’m pretty good.” That was a good tournament. So that probably kicked it off...

That was my first big accomplishment that stood out to me. But I think I just expected to win, to be honest with you. When I was five years old, I’m like, “I’m gonna win everything.”

Parent Tip: Show support, not pressure. After tough matches, avoid yelling or critiquing in the heat of the moment—your kid is already feeling it. Let them lead the conversation when they're ready. Instead of forcing the journey, create opportunities—take them to big tournaments, expose them to high-level wrestling, and let their passion grow from within.

"Show your kid love. If you walk off the mat—I see these parents yelling and screaming—and again, I understand emotions can get involved. But imagine the kid when they lose. They’re already probably not happy, right?

And then you double that by having the parent yelling at them. I’m not saying for parents to be soft—we don’t want soft kids. But you can do it with love and maybe wait. I know for me, if I lost and my dad wanted to sit down and talk to me...

He would wait. That’s where you know your child better than anyone. If he wants to talk right after, talk. But you don’t need to be yelling. If he needs time—if he needs a half hour, an hour—go do it.

At the end of the day, he’s the one on the mat—or she. They’re the one on the mat. So you’ve got to respect what they’re going through. They’re putting themselves out in the fire and at war, and having that appreciation for them...

Going in, putting their toes on the line—mano a mano. So those things matter. And I just think, too, if you want them to be good, and they want to do it, I think surrounding themselves with the best people helps.

Like watching YouTube with the kid and watching Burroughs, or Dake, or whoever—you know, all these guys. Seeing that and maybe even taking them to a national tournament or a senior-level tournament so they can see it...

And say, “All right, I want to be there someday.” Because I think that was one of the things that made me good. My dad did take me to the Olympic Trials and a couple other tournaments to see those guys.

“All right, I want to be here.” So I think that’s just an extra thing as well."

Coaching Tip: Try to bring some joy into the wrestling room. Wrestling is tough, but it shouldn’t always feel miserable. When athletes enjoy the process, they’re more likely to stay in the sport, improve, and pass on a healthier mindset to the next generation.

"I was very fortunate. My dad would do whatever it took to get a good coach around me. Sonny Abe, who’s an Olympian for Japan and national champ at Penn State, helped me probably from the time I was seven or eight years old.

There’s Isaac Greeley, who wrestled at UPJ and was really good there. Jody Strittmatter came in more during my high school years. And then, of course, my dad would have Kolat come to our house. When I was young, he would do camps.

And they were all different. Every single one of them had different philosophies. It’s tailored to every kid’s uniqueness. Every kid’s different—that’s where coaching is hard.

I’ve never done full-time coaching, but I can imagine coaching a college team with 30 guys. One of them thinks one way, and another is completely different. You have to tailor to what their needs are and what they feed off, because they’re just different human beings...

So I think when a coach can pay attention to the small and simple things—like before I step on the mat—and say, “Hey, how are you going to utilize every single second?” When a coach can break it down that way and help bring joy to the sport, I think that helps.

10-15 years ago—the sport used to be all about “wrestling is tough.” And yes, it is the toughest sport, not denying that. But it’s also very enjoyable.

Getting that point across is important. I think wrestling has changed for the good in that way...

People always ask me why there aren’t many Olympic champs whose sons are really good. Not many. There are a few that come to mind—but I think it’s about how the old-school mentality was.

The old-school mindset was: this sport’s gotta suck. It’s gotta be tough, tough, tough. We can’t enjoy it. Now I see a different shift in mentality.

I bet in 15 years there’s going to be a lot of guys whose sons are crushing it. A little different shift in mentality."

Athlete Tip: Wrestling success doesn’t come from training alone. Keep every part of your life in order—schoolwork, nutrition, sleep, mindset, and faith. When those areas align, it frees you to perform at your best. Don’t just aim to wrestle well; aim to live well.

"Yeah, I think it's just everything you do—the schoolwork, the nutrition, the lifestyle, your choices, my faith—all of that is huge. It all co-mingles together. Yes, you get those outliers that go out and party and drink and then can step on the mat. That is so rare.

There have been those guys. I couldn’t be one of them. So I think it’s how you live your life—living with enjoyment and fulfillment. You get to wake up in the morning, you get to eat, you get to go to wrestling practice, you have a family that’s taking care of you.

So I think looking at the lens of everything through joy, and just every aspect of your life kind of dialing in to be better—that doesn’t mean you have to be perfect with your diet or your sleep. If you go to bed one night at 12:00, so what?

If you’re doing the right things, you’re getting good grades—that kind of translates. I mean, I got a 3.6 in college. Am I the brightest guy in the room? No. I had to study.

But I didn’t want it to interfere with my wrestling. I didn’t want to have to stay up till 2:00 a.m. to finish a paper and then have that hurt my wrestling because I’m up late or stressing.

So yeah, to simplify it—all aspects of your life, they co-mingle together. They’re not mutually exclusive.

Negative Impact Tip: Constantly comparing yourself to others—especially through social media—can chip away at your confidence, joy, and focus. It shifts your mindset from gratitude to lack, and from inspiration to jealousy. Instead of using others' success as motivation, you start measuring your worth by what you don’t have. That’s a fast track to dissatisfaction and distraction from your own path. Stay focused on what you bring to the table and the gifts you were built with.

"I think right now, I see a lot of comparing, just because of social media. When I say comparing, it's guys looking at other people and saying, “Oh, you got this, you got that,” or “You won this title, I don't like you.” Having a selfish mindset—like this world owes them something.

If social media didn’t exist, the comparing and the depression would be so much less. Yeah, growing social media does do great things, of course. I think the biggest issue in this world is you see someone living a certain way and think:

“Oh, I don't have that. I don’t have that.” You look at what you don’t have instead of what you do. I think it's that way not just in wrestling—it’s everything.

You’re never going to be satisfied. There’s always going to be something someone else has that maybe you don’t. But then, you have something that God gave you—you were designed and created this way—that they don’t have.

I would say that. And when you look at these guys winning titles, you're not comparing in that sense. You're using it as motivation, dreaming, and visualizing so you can move forward...

When I say comparing, it’s looking at the things you don’t have that someone else does. And I think that’s the biggest problem in the sport and this world right now."

Wrestling Growth Tip: Don’t complain about paying to watch wrestling—supporting the sport financially helps it grow. Fans investing in events, subscriptions, and content allows wrestlers to get paid, events to expand, and the sport to gain more exposure. Just like other professional sports, wrestling needs financial backing to create more opportunities and reach a broader audience.

"Yeah, I think a few things here. From your kid’s perspective—especially if they want to compete at a high level—take them to the Tulsa Nationals. Take them to be in that arena. Have them view the arena, the guys running out to the Parade of Champions.

Seeing that and envisioning it will grow our sport. There’ll be more and more better wrestlers just by being in that arena. You go there and then you come back to your state tournament and think, "I was just at the Tulsa Nationals in this huge arena. This is just a state tournament."

So I think that's one thing. I think two is—just being honest—stop complaining that you’ve got to pay $20 to watch a FloWrestling match. It's a different age. Guys need to be paid.

If we're going to grow the sport, money isn't everything, but it does give options. Look at a UFC event—it's $70, $80, $90 to watch five fights. And people complain about paying for wrestling because of an old-school mentality.

That mindset needs to go too. It’ll help grow the sport. Like I said, I do this for a living—I deal with people’s money. It doesn’t create happiness, but it gives you options. And it gives wrestling the option to grow bigger.

So that’s another thing. And then the third is, if there had to be a third thing: like I alluded to with Tulsa, and not being selfish about paying $20 to an event—I would say get them around the best guys.

Look at these high school kids now. Jax just won my weight. I know Jax very well; he’s trained with me many times. But these high school kids are ridiculous now because they’ve been around some of the best wrestlers at a young, early age.

They’ve been to RTCs. There are so many opportunities now to be around these people that are role models. So get your kids around that—around those people.

Because it’s very easy to do now compared to 20 years ago. I’m 33. Twenty years ago, I was 13 years old. I wasn’t able to wrestle with Division I national champions or senior-level guys.

It just wasn’t around. And now there’s so much opportunity. That’s why I think America is so good and why these 17-year-old kids are beating the best guys in the world on the senior level."

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