By Christopher Tremblay

Norwood’s Nate Hsu got involved in wrestling when a friend of his, whose dad was a wrestling coach, coaxed him into joining the team some seven years ago. In addition to his friend continuously prodding him to join the sport, Hsu had an older brother (Ryan) who at the time was already wrestling. Ryan is now a junior, wrestling at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Worcester, and has helped his younger brother with his moves on the mat.

Being three years apart, Hsu now realizes how special it was to be able to wrestle for one season with his older brother representing Norwood.

“I didn’t realize it at the time how lucky I was to be wrestling with him on the same team,” Hsu said. “It didn’t feel special at the time, but now I cherish that season with him.”

Although he had already been wrestling with the Norwood varsity team during their practices for two years when he was in middle school, Hsu was able to find his way onto Coach Billy McDermott’s varsity squad as a freshman. 

“Wrestling with the high school while I was in the middle school was definitely tough, I was not ready for it at the time,” Hsu said. “Luckily, I had my brother looking out for me.”

According to McDermott, Hsu will be shooting for his 100th win on the mat for Norwood this season as a senior; something that he most likely would have already accomplished if not for Covid interrupting his freshman campaign.

“Right now, he has 80 wins and will become the first kid under the current coaching administration to become a 100-win athlete,” McDermott said. “If not for Covid, where he went 7-4, he’d already be above 100 wins. He is a very dedicated athlete and loves what he is doing. He has been awarded Most Improved and Unsung Hero for Norwood and is very fun to watch.”

The senior noted that getting to 100 wins would surely be a huge accomplishment in his wrestling career with Norwood, but also noted that there have been a lot of good wrestlers to have gone through the program prior to his arriving that deserve more recognition than him. Being 20 wins away from eclipsing 100, Hsu believes that he should be able to get to the number about mid-season.

Hsu was also named a two-time captain for Norwood, as well as a two-time Sectional Champion.  As a freshman, he was able to finish eighth in the State Tournament, the following year he moved up to fourth place, and last year was the runner up in the 145-pound weight class. 

“Finishing as high as I did in the States as a freshman gave me a lot of confidence, but I wanted more, it just wasn’t good enough for me,” Hsu said. “I wrestled hard in the off seasons to get ready for the next season.”

Hsu went on to say that although it was a big accomplishment to be wrestling in the State Championship meet last year, he was unprepared.

“Honestly, last year I was not ready for that,” Hsu said. “Being on the biggest wrestling stage with a lot of people in attendance with all eyes on you was a bit intimidating.”

Now that he knows what it is like to have all eyes on you and only you as you wrestle, he is ready to give it another shot. His main priority this season will be to get back to the States and earn his way to the Championship Meet once again, but this time forging out a different ending.

This past year he has been working with the Metro West Wrestling Club in hope of taking his game to the next level. 

“Wrestling with Metro West has definitely helped me improve my game as I was going up against some very talented individuals,” Hsu said. “I’m hoping that it will give me the necessary momentum to grab that State Championship this year.”