Head Coach Marty Nichols ’90 is described by his team as reserved and extremely knowledgeable when he coaches the No. 4-ranked wrestling team in the country.

“He knows what it means to be a Bomber,” 125-pound senior tri-captain Jon Gregory said.

Nichols makes sure his wrestlers are always ready before they go on the mat to compete, but he is not the typical yelling coach. He keeps the intensity in check and is constantly there to assist his athletes if they need it.

“We’re just trying to get them prepared physically and mentally like the ways that we were [when I wrestled], and it’s a state of mind,” Nichols said.

It is this type of coaching, easy and quiet, that his wrestlers — who are poised for a national title run — have responded to.

Nichols, who performed at nationals when he was a student, knows what it takes to be a champion. As a junior in 1989, he won 32 bouts, had a 13–2 dual-match record, finished fifth at nationals and was recognized as an All-American for the second straight year in the 150-pound class. Not only was that a phenomenal season individually, but it was also the first year the Ithaca College wrestling team was crowned national champions.

His senior year saw even greater accolades — 32 wins, first place at the Ithaca Invitational and second place at the state championships, and the Blue and Gold defended their national title.

“It’s obviously an experience that you never forget,” Nichols said. “You wish you could bottle something like that up and you could have it at anytime. When you’re actually competing at the time and going through that whole process, you just think that that’s something that can happen every year.”

After graduation, he worked around the Ithaca area during the early 1990s, taking on different coaching positions.

In 1996, with the recommendation from his current assistant and local wrestling legend Dave Auble, Nichols was named head coach for the Bombers. In his first season, he took a team that was 0–8 the year before to 7–5, earning him NCAA Rookie Coach of the Year.

Since then, Nichols has turned the program into a powerhouse featuring some of the best wrestlers in the country.

“I never even qualified for states in high school, and then three years later I was an All-American,” senior tri-captain Chad Winowich said. “That’s got a lot to do with Nichols.”

Nichols said the current team has wrestlers just as good, if not better, than the teams he was on. Gregory said the stories Nichols has are often used as motivational tools.

“The thing that really shows you how much he loves this program is how much he talks about former wrestlers and the work ethic and the ideals that they had,” Gregory said. “When he talks about those guys he lays the ground work for what’s expected of us and really makes it a special thing to be part of the tradition that we have here.”

To reach the goal of nationals, the Bombers will have to do well at the Empire Conference Championship on Feb. 20. Nichols said if they don’t reach nationals, he will put a failed goal like that in perspective if his team follows the Bombers’ mantra:  Prepare and compete to the best of your ability.

“If it’s a great tournament and we prepared and everything goes great and another team’s better than us, then we can still feel good about ourselves that we did everything we could to win,” Nichols said.