Nicholas Gil readily admits being blown away when he walked into the Madison Square Garden to compete at the NCAA Tournament as a plebe. The Illinois native wasn’t mentally prepared to perform in front of a packed house at the fabled venue and promptly lost two straight matches.
“My freshman year it was an awesome atmosphere and a real eye-opening experience to wrestle on that stage. I would say the whole environment was overwhelming,” Gil said.
Gil returned to the NCAA Championship meet as a junior with a completely different mindset. He was no longer awe-struck by the sellout crowd at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland and wound up winning two matches.