By Alex Gura and Judd Liebman

With a pin in the first two minutes and a victory on Feb. 20, Nick Treuer ’10 became the first Wolverine in five years to win the CIF individual wrestling championship. In the 152 pound weight class, Treuer, the co-captain of the wrestling team, went into the match as the second seed and defeated the first seed, Dan Busch of Corona Del Mar, with a textbook takedown.

“It was a pretty normal match and he did not do anything that I had not encountered yet,” Treuer said.

The double elimination tournament, which took place at Whittier High School, placed Treuer against 32 high school wrestlers in his weight class from all over the Southern Section. Leaving no room for error, Treuer dominated his opponents, Coach Gary Bairos said.

“Nick destroyed the field. I haven’t seen a performance like that from a Harvard-Westlake wrestler in a long time,” Bairos said.

His performance even impressed his opponents, including Busch.

“[Busch] walked off the mat looking at Treuer like he was some kind of god,” said teammate Steven Ring ’12.

Treuer’s experience extends to middle school, when he started wrestling in seventh grade just for fun. By ninth grade Treuer was on varsity, practicing every day, year-round. By 12th grade, Treuer had become even more serious about his sport.

“In the beginning I just wanted to do the best that I could do. [Winning CIF] became a realistic goal at the beginning of my senior year,” Treuer said.

Treuer had been performing well the whole season and was primed for his victory, Ring said. He said Treuer has not missed a practice in two years and had a great performance in the semifinals, pinning three opponents and winning by more than ten points. Both his teammates and his coach thought Treuer would win the championship. Though Treuer is shy and quiet, he is a dedicated athlete, Ring said.

Audrius Barzdukas, head of the upper school athletics department, also thought that Treuer was the right choice.

“Nick is an extremely hard worker… [he] is a model student athlete. [Winning CIF] couldn’t have happened to, or be made to happen by, a better person,” Barzdukas said.