Two years ago, Nick Suriano put his life on hold to chase an Olympic dream.
A national collegiate champion in wrestling, Suriano took a year off from competing for Rutgers to prepare for the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo. After the Games were postponed for a year because of the coronavirus pandemic, Suriano doubled down, skipping another year of college and moving to Phoenix from his home in New Jersey to join a special training group.
For eight months, he thought of little besides maintaining his health and claiming a place on the United States team by winning at the Olympic trials.