Shearer Ready For New Challenge

Jordan Shearer is a junior from Fargo, North Dakota, who's in his fourth season with the Nebraska wrestling program. Although he has one more season of eligibility, he will compete in his final home meet Saturday and be recognized with the senior class at Nebraska’s final home dual of the season against Stanford. A 4.0 student and Big Ten Conference distinguished scholar, Shearer has been accepted to medical school and will continue his academic career after graduation. Shearer, who has a 7-7 record this season at 149 pounds, discussed his decision and talked about his Husker wrestling career in this question-and-answer session with Brian Rosenthal.

BR: How bittersweet will Saturday be for you, knowing you could still compete another season?

Jordan: “You know, it was kind of a difficult decision to decide to go on to medical school and continue my academic career. But I put a lot of thought into it, talked to my parents about it, and it’s just the right decision for me, based off of many factors. Looking back on it now, it’s going to be bittersweet because it’s my last time ever competing at Devaney. That’s something I know I’ll miss. I don’t really understand the value of it right now, but I know it’s going to be something that I’ll always look back on and cherish.”

BR: How long have you known you would take this route? Has this been your plan all along, or is it something that suddenly you realized you could do?

Jordan: “I came in thinking I would redshirt my first year so I knew I had the opportunity to go five years here. I have always known I’ve wanted to do medicine or a career in the health field, so I took MCAT, my entrance exam for medical school, and I had taken all the prerequisites, so I just decided to apply this past fall to medical school, and I interviewed and got in. So I had this decision to make, do I go to medical school or do I ask for a letter of deferral and wait another year? Just the timing of it all pointed to the fact that I’m personally ready to move on to medical school.”

BR: What kind of medicine do you want to study and where are you going to medical school?

Jordan: “I’m going to school at the University of North Dakota, which is about an hour from where I’m originally from. The school is located in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and I’m from Fargo, which is just south of the school. As far as the type of medicine, I can’t rule anything out, but if I had to choose right now, it would be a specialty in surgery of some sort, namely in orthopedic surgery. I tore my ACL my senior year of high school wrestling, so the process of going through that surgery and rehab and everything with the orthopedic doctor I saw back home, it kind of stuck with me I guess. That’s an area of interest, but I don’t completely know until I experience that.”

BR: You’re a 4.0 student. That’s no easy feat. How difficult is it to balance sports and academics at the collegiate level, and how do you manage?

Jordan: “I think it’s a very difficult thing. I don’t want to sound prideful or anything, saying that nobody else can do it, but yeah, it is difficult. But at the same time, I like it, because with athletics and academics, it’s like there’s two separate spears. When I’m a student here, I’m focusing on my academics, I’m going to class, I’m studying. Just about the time I get worn out with school for the day, practice comes around and I get to focus on the sport I love, which is wrestling. You’re busy, but you’re not ever worn out from one thing.”

BR: On the mat, what were your expectations going into this season, and have you met them?

Jordan: “My expectations for myself were just to compete, have fun and give 100 percent every single match, every single practice. One of the things I wanted to emphasize for myself was just to have fun. You’re under no pressure. I feel like that’s one thing that’s kind of helped me open up a little bit, wrestle more freely. I’m having fun.”

BR: What’s been your most memorable experience as a Nebraska wrestler?

Jordan: “I would say probably this year, the Minnesota dual. I got one of my first good collegiate wrestling wins against Tommy Thorn (ranked No. 19). That dual for us didn’t start out great, but I was able to go out and wrestle well and wrestle hard, and get a win for our team. Kind of being able to give us the momentum to finish strong in that dual is kind of a special experience.”

BR: Did you play other sports in high school?

Jordan: “No, I didn’t play other sports in high school, but I raced BMX bikes up until seventh grade. It’s more of a summer sport, especially in North Dakota; the weather up there isn’t great so we have a limited time to do that in the summer. My brother and I started around the same time. We were both really active little kids, so my dad put us in wrestling, and after wrestling season was over we did the bike racing. I liked that a lot. After seventh grade, I focused on wrestling year-round."

BR: You won six state titles in high school, meaning North Dakota allows seventh and eighth graders to compete at state?

Jordan: “There are select states around the country that allow you to compete in seventh and eighth grade as a high school athlete. I think Minnesota and South Dakota are the same way. Going into seventh grade, really, I was fortunate to be a full 103 pounds at the time. I just tried out, got the starting spot. And I had great coaches and teammates who helped me improve throughout the year."

BR: After you won one title, did you set your goals for six titles or have any idea that was possible?

Jordan: “I knew it was a possibility to win six, but I had to take it one year at a time. Really, when it comes down to it, it’s one match at a time. Every year, everybody starts on the same level. Nobody is a state champ that year. Each year you have to go earn it. Come my senior year, I had won five, so it was a possibility but I tried not to think about it. I slowed it down, thought about one match at a time. I don’t really reflect on that too much because I’m still competing, but as I’m older I’ll realize how special that was.”

Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal.