Wilson helped men’s wrestling program transition from NCAA ranks by becoming an NCWA Grand National champion

Andrew Wilson helped the Flames win their first two Mid-Atlantic Conference championships and led them to back-to-back third-place finishes at the NCWA Grand Nationals with his runner-up and championship finishes during his final two seasons at Liberty. (Photo by Joel Coleman)

Wilson helped men’s wrestling program transition from NCAA ranks by becoming an NCWA Grand National champion

2/12/2024 12:42:00 PM | Men's Wrestling

The Alaska native who also was a star football player and swimmer throughout high school, caught the eye of Liberty Head Coach Jesse Castro after winning the high school national championship in Virginia Beach after his junior season.

Andrew-Wilson-Grand-National-Champion — Wilson (center) beams as he stands atop the NCWA Grand National Championships podium after capturing the 235-pound gold medal.

Recruited to Liberty University's NCAA Division I program, Andrew Wilson ('13) remained on the team after it was reclassified to the NCWA level for the 2011-12 season and went on to become the third NCWA Grand National champion in program history as a 235-pound senior in 2012-13.

"At that time, 50 percent of the team left the program, transferred out, but he held to his commitment," Flames Head Coach Jesse Castro said of Wilson, who helped the Flames to their second consecutive third-place showing at the national tournament after finishing that season with a 27-2 record. "Being that he was a holdover from the (NCAA) Division I team, he automatically garnered a level of respect from the other athletes. He was a high-level recruit a few years earlier, as a high school champion. And he retained a lot of respect from me because of his willingness to hold the line."

Andrew-Wilson-head-shot — Wilson was recruited as an NCAA DI athlete

Born and raised in Alaska, where he also played football and swam in high school, Wilson will be one of three inductees into the 10th Club Sports Hall of Fame class on Friday afternoon in the Montview Alumni Ballroom.

Castro, who will serve as Wilson's presenter at the induction ceremony, first recruited him at a high school national championship meet in Virginia Beach in his junior season, after he finished runner-up at his Alaska high school state meet. He wound up winning the national title that year before capping his high school career as an Alaska state champion, and accepting Castro's recruitment offer to Liberty.

Wilson said Castro was an inspiration throughout his career at Liberty.

"He was a model of perseverance, and helped me want to do well in wrestling," Wilson said. "He set a good foundation for becoming a man… He was great, very kind, and cared about the athletes' character and well-being, not just how good they were as wrestlers. He was more about character development."
Castro said Wilson's competitive yet calm demeanor served him well on and off the mat.

"He was well-liked by everybody on the team," he recalled. "He was not real boisterous, but had a quiet leadership quality to him. He led by his example of his work ethic, for sure. He was very consistent, and a smart kid, too, very intelligent, which has helped him in his business career."

Wilson red-shirted his junior year, competing behind Josh Pelletier for the starting heavyweight spot, and turned to his father — who also wrestled and played football in high school — for encouragement to stick with the program.

"I almost quit that year, but had a long talk with my dad, and I got remotivated and ended up finishing my junior season," said Wilson, who also credited Flames Assistant Coach Joe Pantaleo, a former two-time NCAA runner-up at Michigan and grad assistant at Iowa, for sharpening his technique. "It started to click my junior year."

The shift from the NCAA to the NCWA ranks was another setback, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

"It was tough going from NCAA Division I to Club Sports and I had a lot of back problems that first year," Wilson said. "I definitely got distracted my first year and had to refocus. I worked on flexibility in my hips, trained harder, and got better."

Andrew-Wilson-national-champion — Wilon went 27-2 in winning the 235-pound title in 2013.

In 2011-12, Wilson led Liberty to its first NCWA National Duals championship before placing second at heavyweight at the NCWA Grand Nationals, compiling a 26-7 record. He was also a two-time Mid-Atlantic Conference (MAC) champion to help the Flames capture their first two MAC Tournament team titles in 2012 and 2013. (The Flames have added nine more in a row and will host that NCWA Grand National qualifying event again on March 3 at the LaHaye Multipurpose Center.)

He earned 2012-13 Club Sports Male Athlete of the Year honors after winning the NCWA Grand National in Allen, Texas, in dramatic fashion, defeating the 2011 champion from the University of Central Florida in the semifinals and Lindenwood-Belleville's Dustin Fullerton, the 2012 champion, 3-2 in the 235-pound final.

For his career, Wilson finished 82-35, including 29-26 at the NCAA Division I ranks — at 197 pounds and heavyweight, respectively, in the Flames' last two years as an NCAA Division I program in 2008-09 and 2009-10.

After pursuing a degree in engineering his first three years at Liberty, Wilson completed his B.S. in Business Administration: Finance in 2013. After graduating, he has spent the past 10 years in the financial services industry as a financial advisor for New York Life's Eagle Strategy and with Merrill Lynch, affiliated with Bank of America.

Wilson, now 34, won't be available for the induction ceremony as he is in the process of moving to Arizona to work in financial services for New York Life and be closer to his three children: Marty, 8, Mason, 6, and Shiloh, 3.

"There are a lot of things I'll miss about Alaska, like river fishing for salmon in the summer months, but not that it's really cold and dark in the winter," he said. "After Christmas, it's a lot of darkness, so I'm looking forward to the same amount of sunshine (in Arizona.) It will be the other extreme, with a desert climate."

Wilson has recorded a video acceptance speech to be played on Friday after Castro's introduction.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer