It would have been understandable if Nate Boyd got frustrated with a college recruiting process that went slower than is the norm for most high-level wrestlers.
“I didn’t start (hearing from) schools until later than normal and I honestly wanted to wrestle in college so I was a little doubtful on if I’d be able to make that room come true,” said Boyd, a three-sport standout at Lyndhurst. “It was definitely stressful in the beginning stages of the school year.
“I knew that maybe I didn’t have as much exposure as all the other wrestlers, but I knew I was good enough. So whatever school took the chance on me is the school that’s going to have a good wrestler in whatever weight class I choose.”
While slower than Boyd may have hoped, that ultimate goal of wrestling in college was achieved when, in April, he committed to continue his career at Bloomsburg University, a Division 1 program out of Pennsylvania.
While Bloomsburg was a late entry into the recruiting process for Boyd, who wrestled primarily at 126 pounds, the school made a strong impression on him when he got to visit following the conclusion of the high school wrestling season.
“It was just the campus, the coaches, the facilities, the rooms. It was all just a good fit for me,” said Boyd about Bloomsburg, which first reached out in late February, right before the start of the state individual tournament. “I took a liking to what I saw and the coaches were really nice and I could see a future with them.”
By Boyd’s own admission, his path to Division 1 wrestling is an unconventional one.
Boyd’s knowledge of wrestling was limited to pro wrestling until the sixth grade he was encouraged by his good friend and football teammate AJ DiGiovanni to give wrestling a try.
“AJ was like, ‘you should try wrestling,’” Boyd said. “”I really just did it for fun to hang out with my friends and I ended up being not too shabby.”
According to Boyd, it wasn’t until eighth grade when he started having success in youth tournaments that he started to realize he might have a bright future in the sport.
After winning 17 matches as a freshman, Boyd broke out as a sophomore when he went 21-10, took fifth place at the George Jockish Bergen County Wrestling Tournament then qualified for Regions. The past two seasons, Boyd wrestled primarily at 126 pounds, where he went 49-25 and once again qualified for Regions both years.
For his career with the Lyndhurst-North Arlington co-op team, Boyd went 87-49.
In addition to wrestling, Boyd was a two-year starter at both wide receiver and cornerback for the Golden Bears. As a junior, he led Lyndhurst with three interceptions. Boyd, who played earlier this month in the annual Bergen County All-Star Game, finished his career with 73 tackles and four total touchdowns to help lead the Bears to consecutive state tournament appearances.
In the spring, Boyd sprinted for Lyndhurst’s track team while still doing wrestling practices multiple days a week.
While Boyd’s multi-sport experience has resulted in him having less mat experience than some of his peers, he does feel it has helped give him a more unique set of skills he takes with him when he wrestles.
“It’s a gift and a curse because obviously everyone that’s wrestling in the next level, they train and do tournaments all year round and I necessarily don’t get to train as much of them because I have other other sports,” said Boyd. “But I definitely learned things that correlate (to wrestling) like in both footwork and being light on my feet. It translates over, so in a way I’m training in a different way than wrestling. I feel like it helps.”
Unlike past summers when he was in New Jersey getting ready for football, Boyd will be reporting to Bloomsburg in the next two weeks for early workouts.
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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)