Hiking To The Top: Modjeska - Santiago - Saddleback

NIKOLAS D. NELSON HIGH SCHOOL - A three-year letterman in football, he was Tesoro’s Athlete of the Year his senior season. He was also named his team’s Offensive Player of the Year and was a first-team All-Pacific Coast League selection and a second-team All-Orange County selection that same year, when he passed for 2,200 yards and had 24 touchdowns against just eight interceptions in completing 69 percent of his passes. He was also first-team All-Pacific Coast league and second-team All - Orange County as a junior. Under head coach Jim O’Connell, Tesoro went 20-5 with Nelson at the helm in his junior and senior seasons, winning the CIF Championship in the latter. JUNIOR COLLEGE (2005, 2006) - NAMED TO THE SUPER PREP JUCO 100 TEAM, HE WAS THE NO. 76 OVERALL RANKED PLAYER AND THE SEVENTH QUARTERBACK; J.C. GRIDWIRE RANKED HIM THE NO. 12 SIGNAL CALLER IN THE JUCO RANKS. He was Saddleback’s Offensive Player of the Year and a first-team All-Mission Conference selection as a sophomore, when he completed 157-of-251 passes for 2,241 yards. He had 18 touchdowns against nine interceptions in completing 62.5 percent of his passes to go with a 154.1 passer rating. His single game high was 274 yards (with 2 TDs) against Allan Hancock, as he had seven 200 plus passing games. He was ＂activated＂ from a possible redshirt three games into his freshman season, coming off the bench to throw for 1,232 yards and 14 touchdowns with seven interceptions. He also played baseball as a freshman, batting .290 as a starting outfielder. Under coach Mark McElroy, Saddleback went 11-1, reaching the semifinals of the regional playoffs, and won the Mission Conference his sophomore year; the Gauchos were 7-4 his freshman season, winning the U.S. Bank Beach Bowl in Santa Monica over Mt. San Jacinto College. Nickolas graduated from the university of Colorado with a degree in sociology (2008)