Indiana University Athletics
Faith, Preparation Drive Jackson Up National Rankings
1/14/2016 3:00:00 PM | Wrestling
By: Sam Beishuizen | Twitter
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Before every match, Nate Jackson takes a knee, bows his head and prays.
It's a routine the redshirt junior developed just before his undefeated senior season of high school. He says the brief prayer calms his nerves and clears his mind before the start of each match.
"I always pray, 'Lord give me strength,'" Jackson said. "And 'Have your way.'"
Jackson, ranked sixth in the country at 174 pounds, is open about his faith and the strength it gives him both on and off the mat. He enters Friday's dual against Maryland fresh off an upset victory against No. 1 Bo Nickal of Penn State last Sunday and is eying a return trip to the NCAA Championships in March.
A veteran anchor in a youth-heavy lineup, Jackson is 22-2 this season and has made a steady climb up the national rankings. Though, it's hard to tell from talking with him because of the way he downplays his own accomplishments, like being named the Big Ten's Wrestler of the Week on Monday.
"For him to get that shows that he did something really pretty special," head coach Duane Goldman said. "He's got a lot of God-given talent. He's a tremendous athlete, so it's always nice to have that, but he's a humble kid. He's a quick learner. He's very receptive to what the coaches have to say. On top of that, being the athlete that he is, the things we show him, he can do. So he's about to incorporate that into his wrestling."
It's in that aspect that Jackson has been able to separate himself. At the level he's wrestling, Jackson stressed the importance of needing to study opponents and take advantage of any small weakness they have knowing they'll be doing the same against him.
Against top-ranked Nickal, for example, Jackson spent the week working on technical strategies to combat a double-overhead throw that the Penn State wrestler had been using week after week to defeat his opponents.
When it came, Jackson was ready for it. Then he put the move in his mental Rolodex from the weekend and was ready to move on to Maryland by Monday morning, knowing there aren't many weeks off in the Big Ten where nine of the 14 teams reside in the USA Today/NCWA Coaches top-25 poll.
"I've been through the Big Ten schedule enough to know that there are ups and downs," Jackson said. "I know there are highs and lows. The important thing is always moving forward. There are some things I can take away from that match; I pulled it out and won. That was great. But at the same time, there's some things I need to correct for the next time I wrestle that wrestler and just moving forward."
Jackson said he's learned to maintain long-term vision over the course of the season. Everything he does builds into the NCAA Tournament, where he looks to build on a 3-2 record from a year ago.
In that sense, every match is another experiment which is why he doesn't see his national ranking as a target on his back or a reason to feel like other wrestlers are gunning for him. If he loses, Jackson said, that's another opportunity to learn and move forward with whatever plan God has for him.
"These competitions are important obviously, but the long-run is more important," he said. "If I stumble here or there, as long as I'm learning the lessons I need to know before Big Tens and NCAA's, I feel like that's more rewarding."
It all stems back to faith. Jackson wrestles stress free believing that whatever happens is all part of a greater plan. It's what fuels him and keeps him coming back into the gym to train and push himself to improve on last year's NCAA Tournament results.
"Talent is one thing, but then the ability to get it out of yourself and do something with it is another," Goldman said. "We've all known tremendous athletes, whether it's middle school or high school, without work ethic or whatever. Nate has both. With his strength and his faith, he believes he can accomplish anything. I think it helps him keep his mind right and helps him be grounded where he can keep going forward."
Going forward for Jackson means preparing for Maryland the same way he prepared for Penn State last week. He'll keep repeating the process over and over again throughout the rest of the regular season and into the postseason come March.
Jackson said he feels like he's in a strong position after having success in last year's NCAA Tournament and climbing up the rankings already this year. Whatever comes next will come.
By the end of the season, he just might have his own way.
"I can compete with (top-ranked) guys and I can be one of the tough guys, the top guys," Jackson said. "I saw that bar, and I know that I'm not far from it. I think just seeing the bar lets you know whether you can jump over it or not. So we'll see."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Before every match, Nate Jackson takes a knee, bows his head and prays.
It's a routine the redshirt junior developed just before his undefeated senior season of high school. He says the brief prayer calms his nerves and clears his mind before the start of each match.
"I always pray, 'Lord give me strength,'" Jackson said. "And 'Have your way.'"
Jackson, ranked sixth in the country at 174 pounds, is open about his faith and the strength it gives him both on and off the mat. He enters Friday's dual against Maryland fresh off an upset victory against No. 1 Bo Nickal of Penn State last Sunday and is eying a return trip to the NCAA Championships in March.
A veteran anchor in a youth-heavy lineup, Jackson is 22-2 this season and has made a steady climb up the national rankings. Though, it's hard to tell from talking with him because of the way he downplays his own accomplishments, like being named the Big Ten's Wrestler of the Week on Monday.
"For him to get that shows that he did something really pretty special," head coach Duane Goldman said. "He's got a lot of God-given talent. He's a tremendous athlete, so it's always nice to have that, but he's a humble kid. He's a quick learner. He's very receptive to what the coaches have to say. On top of that, being the athlete that he is, the things we show him, he can do. So he's about to incorporate that into his wrestling."
It's in that aspect that Jackson has been able to separate himself. At the level he's wrestling, Jackson stressed the importance of needing to study opponents and take advantage of any small weakness they have knowing they'll be doing the same against him.
Against top-ranked Nickal, for example, Jackson spent the week working on technical strategies to combat a double-overhead throw that the Penn State wrestler had been using week after week to defeat his opponents.
When it came, Jackson was ready for it. Then he put the move in his mental Rolodex from the weekend and was ready to move on to Maryland by Monday morning, knowing there aren't many weeks off in the Big Ten where nine of the 14 teams reside in the USA Today/NCWA Coaches top-25 poll.
"I've been through the Big Ten schedule enough to know that there are ups and downs," Jackson said. "I know there are highs and lows. The important thing is always moving forward. There are some things I can take away from that match; I pulled it out and won. That was great. But at the same time, there's some things I need to correct for the next time I wrestle that wrestler and just moving forward."
Jackson said he's learned to maintain long-term vision over the course of the season. Everything he does builds into the NCAA Tournament, where he looks to build on a 3-2 record from a year ago.
In that sense, every match is another experiment which is why he doesn't see his national ranking as a target on his back or a reason to feel like other wrestlers are gunning for him. If he loses, Jackson said, that's another opportunity to learn and move forward with whatever plan God has for him.
"These competitions are important obviously, but the long-run is more important," he said. "If I stumble here or there, as long as I'm learning the lessons I need to know before Big Tens and NCAA's, I feel like that's more rewarding."
It all stems back to faith. Jackson wrestles stress free believing that whatever happens is all part of a greater plan. It's what fuels him and keeps him coming back into the gym to train and push himself to improve on last year's NCAA Tournament results.
"Talent is one thing, but then the ability to get it out of yourself and do something with it is another," Goldman said. "We've all known tremendous athletes, whether it's middle school or high school, without work ethic or whatever. Nate has both. With his strength and his faith, he believes he can accomplish anything. I think it helps him keep his mind right and helps him be grounded where he can keep going forward."
Going forward for Jackson means preparing for Maryland the same way he prepared for Penn State last week. He'll keep repeating the process over and over again throughout the rest of the regular season and into the postseason come March.
Jackson said he feels like he's in a strong position after having success in last year's NCAA Tournament and climbing up the rankings already this year. Whatever comes next will come.
By the end of the season, he just might have his own way.
"I can compete with (top-ranked) guys and I can be one of the tough guys, the top guys," Jackson said. "I saw that bar, and I know that I'm not far from it. I think just seeing the bar lets you know whether you can jump over it or not. So we'll see."
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