Licari to continue career at Olivet

By PAUL COSTANZO, Times Herald -(Original here)

Nick Licari was contemplating not wrestling in college.

But in the end, the thought of abandoning the sport didn’t sit well with the Anchor Bay graduate.
“I kept thinking about saying no, but then I kept thinking that I can’t because wrestling was always a part of my life,” Licari said. “I could see myself getting antsy to wrestle again.”

Licari will continue his wrestling career at Olivet College. He plans to take classes at Macomb Community College in the fall before transferring to Olivet in January and joining the team. He will major in special education.

“It’s a little away from home, but it’s still close,” Licari said. “Overall, it’s just a better fit for me to go there and wrestle.”

Licari was named All-Blue Water Area each of the past two years. He placed third in the state at 171 pounds in Division 1 last season, finishing 44-8.

One of his strengths is his ability on top, where he utilizes leg rides better than most his size. That style should translate well at the next level.

“A lot of high school wrestlers have a hard transition in college because everybody is ‘Take ‘em down, let ‘em go,’” Olivet Coach Brandon Brissette said. “College becomes so defensive that if you can get a takedown and ride somebody, it’s easier to transition.

“He’s already got a lot of the mat skills, and he’s going to have to continue to work on his feet. It’s nice when you see a kid that he’s going to transition a lot faster.”

Another reason Licari chose Olivet was of Brisette, who is entering his first year at the school. He was an assistant at Heidelberg University and was recruiting Licari there as well.

“He’s a cool guy,” Licari said. “He seems really dedicated to what he’s doing. He called me up and asked me to come on a visit and said that if I wasn’t going to come wrestle for him, he still appreciated me coming on the visit.

“He was real nice, and he just wanted me to be happy.”
Licari joins a handful of area wrestlers at Olivet, including Armada’s Evan Cusumano, Marysville’s Jim Neal and Richmond’s Justin Jaynes and Sean Misko.