This Broward high school wrestler is on track to break the state record for victories
Somerset Academy wrestler Nick Benton was a freshman when he tagged along with a teammate, visiting a recruiter from a Division III university. That recruiter gave Benton an application form.
Benton discarded it.
“[Somerset coach Joe Blasucci] told me to throw it away,” Benton explained. “He told me I was going Division I. He believed in me more than I believed in myself at the time.”
Three years later, Benton has that Division I scholarship. He signed with Northern Illinois University last month after also weighing offers from Virginia and Campbell, and that is a significant accomplishment. South Florida doesn’t produce many Division I wrestlers — usually just one or two per year and sometimes zero.
In addition, Benton, a 17-year-old senior, is also on track to graduate as the all-time wins leader among Florida wrestlers and also No. 2 nationally.
The state record and the No. 2 national standing is now held by Oklahoma State freshman Brevin Balmeceda, who went 331-18 with four state titles during a career spent mostly at South Dade, where he wrestled for his father, legendary coach Victor Balmeceda.
Benton, who has been racking up varsity wins since the seventh grade, started this season with a 284-40 record. Considering he went 55-7 as a freshman, 71-3 as a sophomore and 65-2 as a junior, he will shatter Balmeceda’s record with what for him would be a “normal” season.
“Brevin’s an amazing wrestler,” Benton said. “He always beat me. It would feel good to beat him at something.”
HUMBLE ORIGINS
Blasucci is in his ninth season coaching Somerset. After his first season, he met Benton, who was in the fifth grade and relatively new to wrestling.
“He came to our club team, and he was a chubby little guy at the time,” Blasucci said. “He wasn’t all that — he’d win every other match, maybe less.”
But Benton, the oldest of two children, learned his athletic craft from his father, Chance, who is an English teacher at American High and a former wrestling and football coach.
Nick played a lot of sports growing up, including football, baseball and soccer. He chose wrestling because the sport seemed to best suit his aggressive nature.
“It’s a grunt sport,” Chance Benton said, “and I could see that my son was tough enough.”
Nick Benton, who is 6-foot, has been wrestling in the 220-pound class this season. But for the first two years of his high school career, he wrestled at 126 pounds or less.
And even though he is much bigger now, he still wrestles with the energy, skill and quickness of a much smaller kid.
“That’s what makes him successful,” Blasucci said. “That’s what makes him different.”
MISSING PIECE
Northern Illinois coach Ryan Ludwig won’t disagree.
Ludwig first saw Benton in 2018, when the wrestler won a prestigious national tournament, the Michigan Grappler.
“We liked the way he competed,” Ludwig said. “We appreciated his athleticism. He’s fast on his feet, and he knows how to wrestle.
“After we started digging into his academic profile, we found that he excels in every area.”
Benton, who has a 3.4 grade-point average and plans on becoming a physical therapist, has just about everything … except a state title.
Competing in Class 1A and often against national power Lake Highland Prep wrestlers, Benton finished fourth in the state as a freshman, third as a sophomore and second last season.
The irony is that Benton is nearing the Florida record for wins and has won four national tournaments — two in Iowa, one in Las Vegas and the one in Michigan — and he has yet to prevail in a state final.
Benton hopes to change that this season, and he is planning to stand atop the first-place podium on March 7 at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee.
“I just want to win a state title,” Benton said. “If I had only one win all season, that would be fine as long as it was in the state final.”
This story was originally published December 16, 2019 at 12:57 PM.