Nik Turner has the motivation to post a championship performance to cap his Oklahoma City University career.
Turner, a senior from Norman, Okla., gets his opportunity in the NAIA Championships on March 1-3 in Des Moines, Iowa.
“I lost in the semifinals two years in a row, so I think that is all the motivation a guy really needs,” Turner said. “I just want to keep working hard, keep taking my shots and keep taking people down.”
Turner is 31-3 this season with seven pins and 12 major decisions. Turner, ranked No. 1 at 157 pounds, recently won the 157-pound title in the NAIA Central Qualifying Group Tournament on Feb. 18 and is this week’s Super Star of the week.
“The rankings don’t mean that much,” Turner said. “It’s nice to get some recognition, but for the most part I just go out there and do what I normally do.”
Heading into the NAIA Championships, Turner says he does not plan on changing his approach to matches.
“If you have been successful up to this point, then you should probably continue to do the things that you’ve been doing,” Turner said. “Sometimes you might take a little bit different strategy. Like in the past couple of years, I might have shut down a little bit when I should have still been attacking and it cost me, but not this time.”
Turner sat out last season as a redshirt and did not enjoy his experience.
“At the beginning it wasn’t much different, because when you redshirt in wrestling you still go to open tournaments,” Turner said. “For duals it was a little different. It was cool before weigh-ins because I could drink whatever I wanted, but after weigh-ins, it wasn’t fun because I really wanted to be out there wrestling.”
As a senior, Turner has made some highlights over the years.
“We beat UCO my freshman year and my senior year, so that is always nice because they are our cross-town rival,” Turner said. “Also the first time I got all-American and just the memories of the long bus rides and hanging out with the team.”
Turner majors in business administration, and says he came to it in a different way.
“Trial and error,” Turner said. “I just took a bunch of classes and finally decided on that.”
Turner has been so focused on wrestling that he isn’t sure what he wants to do with his major.
“I guess I’ll probably get a job at some point,” Turner joked. “That would probably be a good idea.”
More on Nik:
Favorite athlete: Anderson Silva
Sporting event i would like to see someday: Olympics
Favorite sports venue: Chesapeake Energy Arena
Career plans: Entrepreneur
Reason I picked OCU: To win a national championship
