It’s difficult to measure what young Coltin Fought, ranked No. 30 in the nation, has achieved as a true freshman this year. Coming from Bloomsburg, Pa., Fought has already established himself as one of the greatest wrestlers the Pack has ever produced. With a 25-9 record for the year, nine of them through pin-falls, Fought has already ensured his legacy will forever remain with the Pack, as only two other freshman have ever recorded more wins than Fought has in their respective rookie campaigns. 

However, Fought did not expect this success when first coming to State. 

“I didn’t expect to make the adjustment to college wrestling as quick as I did,” Fought said. “But I have great coaches and just my training and being able to make a statement as a freshman — it feels great.”

Focus and the determination to succeed are prominent in Fought’s attitude towards wrestling.

“I’d say I have a hard work ethic,” Fought said. “I take my training very seriously, and I am here for school and wrestling. I want to do well in the academic world as well as wrestling.”

Coach Jordan said he did not expect Fought to have the kind of impact he has had already.

“He is a tough kid. His high school coach was an All-American in college, [and he] comes from a great family,” Jordan said. “To say that he would end up being top-3 all-time freshman in State’s history, no. I wouldn’t put that kind of pressure on anybody coming in.”

Jordan felt a lot of his present success has to do with his high school experiences and the environment he was brought up in.

“He has got a great feel for the sport… he has a tremendous amount of experience,” Jordan said. “In Pennsylvania where he comes from, he probably wrestled 50 matches a year. 45 of those are going to be competitive. You take a guy from the Southeast and he wrestles the same 50 matches, he may only have five competitive matches all year long.”

“He would cut off his arm to win the match, because that’s what he grew up with. That’s the community.”

Jordan felt wrestlers like Fought were unique, and that he was already prepared to wrestle on the big stage.

“I call guys like him ‘add water,'” Jordan said. “You don’t have to do a lot of coaching, just add water. They are already ready-made. Just got to stir it up a little bit. He is going to have a great career here.”

Senior Quinton Godley, ranked No. 22 in the nation in the 174-pound category, had a strong impression of Fought ever since the first day.

“My first impression was that he had a little P.A . [Pennsylvania] swag,” Godley said. “I knew he was a great wrestler, so from that day I knew he was going to be a competitor and would help the team a lot. I was excited to have him on board.”

Despite Fought having an aura of seriousness around him, in reality, Godley thought him a fun person to be around.

“He is a cool person… when I spent time with him, I realized how funny he is,” Godley said. “He is great to hang out with outside of wrestling. He is probably one of the funniest freshman on the team. 

“He is just a good guy.”

Despite his initial success, Fought refuses to get carried away and has his eyes set on a greater goal.

“I am excited, but I try not to let my head swell up too big,” Fought said. “I just try to remember that I was recruited and I have a job to do every time I come into the room. I want to be a national champion, keep winning for the Wolfpack , put some points on the board whenever I can and help build a good team in the next couple of years.”

Catch Coltin Fought and the Wolfpack in action at the ACC wrestling championships on March 3 in Chapel Hill.