Nick Simmons Set for MSU Hall of Fame Induction
6/30/2025
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Alongside four other standout student-athletes and one iconic coach, Michigan State wrestling alum Nick Simmons has been selected for induction into the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Celebration will take place on Friday, Sept. 12. There will also be a special recognition of the 2025 MSU Athletics Hall of Fame Class during the Michigan State-Youngstown State football game at Spartan Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 13. The MSU Athletics Hall of Fame, located in the Clara Bell Smith Student-Athlete Academic Center, opened on Oct. 1, 1999, and displays plaques of the 187 previous inductees. The charter class of 30 former Spartan student-athletes, coaches and administrators was inducted in 1992.
Nick Simmons
Wrestling (2001-07)
Williamston, Mich.
Known for his suffocating top wrestling, signature spladle and pinning prowess, Nick Simmons is one of the most decorated wrestlers in Michigan State program history. His induction into the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame marks the 11th Spartan wrestler and 13th member of the wrestling program at MSU to be inducted.
“It’s a great honor to be inducted into the Michigan State Hall of Fame,” said Simmons. “When I received the call from J Batt just a week into the job, I was kind of curious what it could be about, but it’s a special honor to join an elite group of former Spartan wrestlers in the Hall of Fame.”
With a career record of 138-20, Simmons finished his collegiate career with the second-most wins in Spartan history. Simmons still has a stranglehold on Michigan State’s all-time pins mark with 46, breaking the previous record of 45 set by Jim Mason that stood from 1984 to 2007, and no Spartan has come close since. His 46th pin came during his last home dual at Jenison Field House, in the final bout of the night. Of his 20 career losses, 12 came during his redshirt freshman season after which he’d finish his career going 109-8.
Simmons was a four-time NCAA All-American where he placed as high as third in 2007. He became the first four-time All-American at Michigan State since Pat Milkovich in 1976 and remains the most recent Spartan to do so. His 18 career victories at the NCAA Championships match Milkovich for the all-time program record. He earned the top overall NCAA seed at 125 pounds in 2006 and 133 pounds in 2007. In 2004-05, Simmons was named the George Alderton Male Athlete of the Year at MSU.
“I had a lot of really good people around me between all of the great coaches and teammates,” said Simmons. “Obviously, I would wrestle with my brother Andy a lot, but Chris Williams was one of my main training partners who would later become one of my coaches. We had a bunch of good guys, Ryan L’Amoreaux, the Frutigers, the Tromblys and Franklin Gomez, who came in during my last two years.”
Simmons was a three-time Big Ten champion winning titles at 125 in 2005 and 2006, before bumping up to 133 and placing first in 2007. In 2003 he took third at 125, battling back through two All-Americans in the consolation bracket. The Big Ten is widely considered to be the most dominant conference in college wrestling, with Simmons defeating NCAA All-Americans on eight occasions during his conference tournament runs. In 2005, Simmons defeated two-time NCAA Champion Joe Dubuque of Indiana in the semifinals.
“It’s not easy to win three times, especially in the Big Ten, let alone getting on the podium at all,” said Simmons.
His senior level freestyle wrestling career spanned from 2004 to 2015, including the 2003-04 season in which he took an Olympic redshirt en route to earning gold for the United States at the 2004 Pan American Championships in Guatemala City at 55kg. Simmons served as an Olympic alternate in both 2008 and 2012. He placed second at the U.S. Olympic Trials ahead of the 2012 Olympics. His international career culminated with a fifth-place finish at the 2011 World Championships in Istanbul.
One of his most notable career moments came at the 2012 Olympic Trials where he defeated 2008 Olympic gold medalist and future UFC Flyweight and Bantamweight Champion, Henry Cejudo, in a best-of-three semifinals (3-0, 5-9, 5-2).
Simmons’ achievements at Williamston High School were a thing of folklore that spread throughout the wrestling community nationwide. Opposing wrestlers across the country caught wind of a kid from Michigan who was pinning everyone in his path, and for the most part, that’s what Simmons did. His 211-0 record is the fourth-best undefeated streak in state history, and he owns three of the top five pinning seasons all time. His 57 pins in both 1998-99 and 1999-00 are tied for the all-time single season best. During his 57-0 sophomore season, Simmons pinned 54 consecutive opponents, which smashed the previous MHSAA record of 37. In 1999, he was awarded the Junior Schalles Award presented to the nation’s best high school pinner.
He graduated from Williamston in 2001 owning the MHSAA record for career pins (178) and now sits third all time. Simmons was the ninth four-time state champion in MHSAA history.
Simmons has continued to give back to the sport following the conclusion of his competitive career, running the Simmons Academy of Wrestling in Lansing alongside his brother Andy since 2017. When Simmons took the call from Batt, he had just gotten back into the United States after coaching one of his students to a gold medal in Greco Roman wrestling at the U17 Pan American Championships.
“In wrestling, you learn a lot about life,” said Simmons. “Whether it’s youth, middle school, high school, college, international, your dedication and sacrifice determine what you’re going to get out of it. If you’re willing to work hard and put the time in, you’ll get something that you want. In our sport, you can’t cut corners and cheat.”
Simmons was previously inducted into the Greater Lansing Area Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.
