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Action Sports Spotlight - Troy Nickerson

By Brendan O'Reilly
July 20, 2010 Updated Jul 20, 2010 at 3:29 PM EDT

"Busted shoulder and all, Troy Nickerson of Cornell. He's now added to his storied career an NCAA title."
A five-time New York State champion and three-time college All-American, national champion was the only title missing next to the name Troy Nickerson...
And he finally earned it with one arm, after injuring the same shoulder that kept him off the mat for all of 2008.
Troy spent this past summer doing what any wounded warrior would do, he got healthy.
"I went down to South Carolina, had a specialist do it, did a fantastic job, shoulder feels great so far."
But this off-season wasn't without heartbreak.
Troy's father and biggest fan, Bob, lost his battle to cancer shortly after watching his son's greatest moment.
Inner strength has never been lacking for Troy, strength he'll call on as he enters the season ranked number one in the country.
"I'm kind of king of the mountain and everybody's going to be gunning for me and just taking, improving on my wins from last year, trying to get more falls, more major decisions."
As the Big Red's elder statesman, Troy says his final year will also be one of reflection, both on and off the mat.
"I know I've done a lot of growing myself as I've been here over the past five years. Our team right now, we're regrouping again. We're young, we're healthy and we've got a lot of fire."
But no one's fire burns stronger than Troy's as he hopes to add to his already giant legacy in Red.
In Ithaca, Justin Horowitz, Action Sports.

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