Standout wrestler Seth Nevills commits to Penn State

Contributed Photo – Clovis heavyweight wrestler Seth Nevills (middle) committed to Penn State and will be joining brother Nick (right) and NCAA champion Jason Nolf. Seth won the FloNationals heavyweight championship in Pennsylvania to close out his season.

Well on his way to perhaps the most decorated high school wrestling career in the history of California, Clovis’ Seth Nevills has committed to Penn State, currently the most celebrated and prominent program in the country.

The highly-recruited heavyweight is undefeated in his three years at Clovis High with an eye-popping record of 127-0 and three CIF state titles. This includes a perfect-pin season of 37-0 this year.

Nevills was an intricate part of the Cougars 2014 state championship team. Buchanan has won the last two state titles with Clovis finishing second both years.

Penn State has won the six of the past seven NCAA Division I wrestling titles and Nevills will be joining brother Nick, who will be a senior heavyweight at Happy Valley. 

“I’ve been to Penn state a couple of times during the summers and I fell in love with it – it’s an awesome place with amazing people in it,” said Nevills who’s also a standout offensive lineman on the football team. “Also, Nick is there so that made me feel more comfortable with the commitment and decision to go there, and I couldn’t be happier to be going to Penn State.”

Recently, Nevills traveled to complete at the FloNationals at the Kovalchick Complex in Pennsylvania and defeated Brendan Furman by an 8-0 decision.

He was coached by brother Nick and current Penn State wrestler and NCAA champion Jason Nolf at the tournament.

“It was great to have them in my corner because it gives me a look at how I’m going to be coached at the next level and it was pretty awesome,” said Seth, who has a goal of four NCAA championships and Olympic dreams. “To cap off my season like that was incredible. I felt like I needed to go test my ability somewhere and Flo was the best place to do that.”

Seth is the youngest of four much decorated wrestling brothers, all Clovis High graduates. Oldest Zach will be graduating from Stanford and AJ, is a freshman who will transfer to help restart Fresno State’s wrestling program after a grey shirt year at Penn State.

And for parents Wayne and Kerri, they couldn’t be happier about the opportunities for their youngest son.

“Nick absolutely loves the college, his team and the coaching staff and we believe that Seth will have the same experience,” said Wayne. “What better place to go to? The culture and the standards of the team and coaching staff are outstanding and we really couldn’t ask for any place better than Penn State’s wrestling program.”

Even though Penn State is still over a year away (in the meantime Seth has a chance to become the third four-time California state champ in 2018), the Nevills family will start a new chapter in their life with three sons competing in college on each side of the country.

”We plan to travel as much as we can to see Nick and then Seth compete,” said Wayne. “We will still have AJ competing here for Fresno State so we will have to strategically divide our time.”

Seth understands the importance of having the support of this loved ones: “My family has given love and support to my choice and it makes me feel better about it knowing that they agree with it and support it.”

Paul Meadors is a man of many talents. He is a elementary school teacher, Junior High athletic director, and basketball coach in Traver, CA, in addition to serving as the Sports Editor for the Clovis Roundup. He is also the author of the humorous book “Letters to eBay,” and he has recorded a piano album of his own compositions titled “Surviving the Storm.” He lives in Fresno with wife Lori and daughters Georgie, Alex and Ruthie.