Sal Hernandez, Senior Recruiting Coordinator

Northern Illinois University

[email protected]

(312) 638-4841

As a high school wrestler, I had great natural talent and was highly motivated to compete at any weight class. During my high school tenure, I was successfully able to assemble three winning records. Unfortunately, due to an injury, I was not able to complete the tail end of my junior year and senior year. For as much as I rehabbed, my high school coaches advised me not to pursue wrestling at the collegiate level. Following their trusted advice, I enrolled at Northern Illinois University. Still having that competitive drive, at NIU, I met other wrestlers who still had the desire to compete. We revived the wrestling club and had weekly practice and went to monthly tournaments. I met other wrestlers at these tournaments, who, like myself, had the potential to wrestle at the DII or DIII levels but did not know those schools existed. When I was in high school, I only knew of the big-time schools but would have gladly jumped at the opportunity to go DII or DIII if I knew they existed.

My favorite part of being on the NCSA team is working with an organization that improves people’s lives by giving them opportunities to pay for an education through sports. My favorite memory of being a part of the NCSA team is when I received my first “thank you” email for helping shed light on the recruiting process for a family. I hope to improve as many lives as possible here with NCSA.