Valentine’s head wrestling coach to be inducted into Nebraska Wrestling Hall of Fame

VALENTINE, Neb. – The Nebraska Scholastic Wrestling Coaches Association has announced its 2026 Hall of Fame class, and among the honorees is Valentine High School head wrestling coach Marcus Nelson.

Nelson is preparing to take six boys and six girls to the state wrestling tournament this week, each competing for a state title. While he continues to build success from the corner of the mat, his own wrestling accomplishments are now earning statewide recognition.

“He sees a lot of potential in each and every one of us. He wants us to do our very best and doesn’t want to see our season end after Districts,” wrestler Jekhi Williams said.

Nelson’s journey in the sport began early.

“I started wrestling when I was four years old. Basically I did it because I wanted to be with my older brother,” Nelson said. “I actually hated the sport up until 2nd grade.”

As he developed his technique and found success, wrestling became a defining part of his life. In high school, Nelson won three consecutive state championships.

“The coolest one of all of them was my Junior year. After I won that, it locked up the team title for us,” Nelson said.

After graduation, Nelson continued his wrestling career at Morningside University.

He credits much of his success not to an undefeated record, but to lessons learned in defeat.

“You have to improve every single week, and learn from your losses essentially. I never had a perfect season in high school. My coaches always had a really tough schedule set up for us, and we were able to build each week,” Nelson said.

It’s a mindset he now works to instill in his own athletes.

“You just come in here every day using that loss as fuel to get better,” Williams said.

While the Hall of Fame honor recognizes Nelson’s achievements on the mat, he remains focused on the wrestlers he now leads — helping them chase championships of their own.