A Long Journey

April 8, 1999

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State junior wrestler Nick Muzashvili has come along way in his four years at the university, both on the mat and off. His journey to MSU from his home in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia included a stop-over in Unadilla, N.Y., where he won a state championship as a senior at Unatego H.S. This year, he came up just two matches short of culminating his journey with an NCAA Championship.

Muzashvili finished third in the 197-pound weight class at the 1999 NCAA Championships in Happy Valley, Pa., earning the first All-America honors of his career and establishing himself as the man to beat in his weight class in 1999-2000. The graduation of the two wrestlers who finished ahead of Muzashvili in 1999 (NCAA Champion Tim Hartung of Minnesota and runner-up Lee Fullhart of Iowa) coupled with two victories at this year's NCAA Championships over previously undefeated Andrei Rodzianko of Pennsylvania, has prompted InterMat Wrestling to rank Muzashvili as the No. 1 197-pounder in the nation heading into next season. But the modest 22-year-old puts little stock in being the top man at the beginning of the season.

"Ranking is nothing," says Muzashvili. "Of course that gives me a confidence boost, but I sill have a lot of work to do. It's not easy to stay in that category of wrestlers and if you start thinking about ranking it just adds to the distractions."

Despite downplaying the top ranking, Muzashvili has his sights set firmly on a NCAA Championship.

"My goal is to be the national champion," he says. "I know I have the potential and I have a good chance. I just need to keep my head on straight and keep wrestling hard."

Muzashvili definitely wrestled hard this past season, chalking up a 36-12 overall mark and leading the team with 12 dual meet wins. He also captured the Eagle Open tournament title and won 16 of his final 18 matches.

As a senior next season, Muzashvili will also assume an expanded leadership role on the team, along with fellow seniors Will Hill and Greg DeGrand, both of whom are also NCAA qualifiers. It is a role Muzashvili readily accepts and is excited to step into.

"Being an All-American puts you in that leadership position," says Muzashvili. "I've earned a lot of respect and my teammates are looking up to me. They want to watch me and learn what I'm doing to be successful, and that puts me in a position to lead them and teach them. It feels great."

But there was a time not so long ago when Muzashvili was the one looking for a teacher. He struggled through his redshirt year at Michigan State as an accomplished freestyle wrestler trying to adapt to the collegiate grappling style.

"Sometimes Nick was pretty scary," says Michigan State head coach Tom Minkel. "You'd just see him on the mat and wonder, 'What are you doing?' But he learned gradually what to do to succeed at this level and he's really improved the past two years."

Muzashvili faced off against former 190-pound Big Ten Champion and two-time All-American Brian Picklo and MSU's all-time winningest wrestler Erich Harvey in the wrestling room every day that season, and he credits them with much of his early development.

"The one thing they taught me was that improvement would come in time," said Muzashvili. "In high school I could handle anyone, but when I got to MSU it wasn't that way. I had to realize matches were going to be a lot closer in college. And those guys had no mercy on me, which made it even more difficult."

The experience of that redshirt season, along with a 17-7 campaign freshman campaign spent backing up Picklo and Harvey, prepared Muzashvili well for his first season as a starter in 1997-98, when he posted a 23-20 mark and came within one match of earning All-America status.

"It was great to be around guys like that", said Muzashvili. "I felt like 'Hey, if I can go with these guys I can go with anybody out there.' And that gave me a ton of confidence."

That continuous building of confidence has taken Muzashvili from a confused young wrestler to a mature All-American who has personal as well as team goals in his future plans.

"As a senior it's going to be my job to make sure the whole team has their heads on straight," says Muzashvili. "I think we have a great shot at the NCAAs next year. It would be an amazing turnaround to go from No. 22 in the country to No. 1, but it's a possibility."

Considering how far Muzashvili has come over the past four years, it seems possible he will be able to accomplish anything he puts his mind to.

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