Parents: desiree and eric nagao
Major: LABOR AND HUMAN RESOURCES
CAREER NOTES:
Athletic: All-American (2023)...Big Ten Runner-Up as a redshirt freshman (losing to Penn State’s Roman Bravo-Young in finals).
Academic: Academic All-Big Ten (2023, 2024)...Big Ten Distinguished Scholar (2024)...NWCA All-Academic.
2023-24 / SOPHOMORE SEASON:
Season: Battled injury and illness all season long, posting 17-7 overall record and earning second trip to NCAA Championships...Finished one win shy of becoming two-time All-American with close loss in blood round...Had two falls, seven techs and four majors...Academic All-Big Ten and Big Ten Distinguished Scholar.
Black Knight (11/19): Won 133 title in Penn State debut, going 4-0 and pinning #33 Braden Basile of Army (0:57) in the finals. Lehigh (12/3): Dropped close 6-4 dec. to #5 Ryan Crookham in Rec Hall debut. Hofstra (12/10): Notched 21-6 tech fall over Ryan Arbeit (4:20). Oregon State (1/5): Majored #26 Gabe Whisenhunt 9-0 for road win. Indiana (1/14): Notched 19-4 tech (5:24) over Isaac Thornton. Michigan (1/19): Dropped tough sudden victory bout to #6 Dylan Ragusin when a non-control fall was awarded to the Wolverine at the 7:28 mark. Michigan State (1/21): Rolled to 18-3 tech fall over Andy Hampton. Iowa (2/9): Majored #20 Cullan Schreiver for road win. Rutgers (2/12): Tough 9-6 (sv) loss to #10 Dylan Shawver. Edinboro (2/25): Teched Eamonn Jimenez 18-3 (3:33).
Big Ten Championship (3/9-10): Went 4-1 to take third as the 5th seed with a pin and a major, beat #16 Jacob Van Dee of Nebraska twice, including a pin in third place bout.
NCAA Championships (3/21-23): Went 3-2 at NCAAs, finishing just one win shy of becoming a two-time All-American, including 16-1 tech fall win over #26 Kade Moore of Missouri and a 3-0 win over #16 Nick Bouzakis of Ohio State.
2022-23 / RED-SHIRT FRESHMAN SEASON:
Season: Posted a 22-6 overall record...Ended year with four majors, one tech and a pin...Big Ten Runner-Up (133)...All-American (5th in 2023).
Bison Open (11/12): Picked up first collegiate wins with 2-0 showing at Bison Open at North Dakota State plus a third victory over a non-collegiate foe. Binghamton (11/20): First dual meet win, an 8-2 victory over Ivan Garcia. Oklahoma State (12/4): Lost 10-3 to #4 Daton Fix in dual with the Cowboys. Southern Scuffle (1/1-2): Went 4-1 at Southern Scuffle, picking up wins over Bucknell’s Kurt Phipps and Iowa State’s Zach Redding in the process. Northwestern (1/7): Lost Big Ten debut 7-4 to #16 Chris Cannon. Nebraska (1/13): Rebounded with 4-2 (sv) win over Kyle Burwick for first conference dual victory. Michigan State (1/15): Posted 9-4 win over #11 Rayvon Foley. Wisconsin (2/11): Beat LaMont Taylor 5-1.
Big Ten Championships (3/4-5): Big Ten Runner-Up as a redshirt freshman...Majored IU’s Henry Porter 10-2 in opening round...Downed #7 Lucas Bird of Illinois 4-2 (sv) and #6 Jesse Mendez of Ohio State 6-4 (sv) to advance to finals....Lost tough 5-2 decision to #1 Roman Bravo-Young in title bout.
NCAA Championships (3/16-17): Earned All-America honors at first NCAA tournament, placing fifth with a 5-2 mark...Beat #25 Kurt Phipps of Bucknell with an 8-0 major...Pinned #9 Micky Phillippi of Pitt (2:50)...Lost 4-1 to #1 Roman Bravo-Young in quarterfinals...Majored #14 Zach Redding of Iowa State 12-0...Beat #5 Kai Orine of North Carolina State 5-4...Dropped 6-4 decision to #2 Daton Fix of Oregon State...Beat #13 Jesse Mendez of Ohio State in fifth-place bout.
2021-22 / REDSHIRT SEASON:
Season: Posted 8-3 mark during redshirt season...Won ISU Las Chance Open with 3-0 mark (all bonus point wins)...Advanced to Southern Scuffle Finals unattached, earning wins over two ranked wrestlers.
HIGH SCHOOL / PERSONAL:
Made U23 World Team at 61 kg, going 7-0 at World Team Trial...Placed 5th at U23 World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain. Collected 173 wins at Esperanza High School...Won two California state titles...Four-year letterman and four-year team captain...A Principal’s Honor Student...Majoring in Labor and Human Resources at Penn State...Son of Eric and Desiree Nagao...Has a younger brother, Joziah, and a younger sister, Shiloh.
NAGAO MATCH-BY-MATCH
2023-24
Date Wt. Result Opponent Place Rec
11/19 133 W, 15-0 Takeo Davis, Gardner Webb (TF; 3:40) BK 1-0
11/19 133 W, 13-1 Andrew Hampton, Michigan State (major) BK 2-0
11/19 133 W, 17-2 Devon Britton, Rutgers (TF; 6:53) BK 3-0
11/19 133 WBF #33 Braden Basile, Army (0:57) BK (st) 4-0
12/3 133 L, 4-6 #5 Ryan Crookham, Lehigh dual 4-1
12/10 133 W, 21-6 Ryan Arbeit, Hofstra (TF; 4:20) dual 5-1
1/5 133 W, 9-0 #26 Gabe Whisenhunt, Oregon State (maj.) dual 6-1
1/14 133 W, 19-4 Isaac Thornton, Indiana (TF; 5:24) dual 7-1
1/19 133 LBF (SV) #6 Dylan Ragusin, Michigan (7:28, SV) dual 7-2
1/21 133 W, 18-3 Andy Hampton, Michigan State (TF; 3:21) dual 8-2
2/2 133 L, 7-13 #12 Nic Bouzakis, Ohio State dual 8-3
2/9 133 W, 12-0 #20 Cullan Schreiver, Iowa (major) dual 9-3
2/12 133 L, 6-9 (sv) #10 Dylan Shawver, Rutgers dual 9-4
2/25 133 W, 18-3 Eamonn Jimenez, Edinboro (TF; 3:33) dual 10-4
3/9 133 W, 11-0 Andrew Hampton, Michigan State (major) B1G 11-4
3/9 133 W, 4-3 #16 Jacob Van Dee, Nebraska B1G 12-4
3/9 133 L, 3-6 #5 Dylan Ragusin, Michigan B1G 12-5
3/10 133 W, 9-5 #17 Braxton Brown, Maryland B1G 13-5
3/10 133 WBF #`16 Jacob Van Dee, Nebraska (1:51) B1G (3rd) 14-5
3/21 133 L, 5-12 #23 Marlon Yarbrough, Virginia NCAA 14-6
3/21 133 W, 16-1 #26 Kade Moore, Missouri (TF; 5:00) NCAA 15-6
3/22 133 W, 5-1 #24 Julian Chlebove, Arizona State NCAA 16-6
3/22 133 W, 3-0 #16 Nick Bouzakis, Ohio State NCAA 17-6
3/22 133 L, 4-11 #3 Kai Orine, North Carolina State NCAA 17-7
2022-23
Date Wt. Result Opponent Place Rec
11/12 133 W, 8-0 McGwire Midkiff, North Dakota St. (maj.) NDSU 1-0
11/12 133 W, 4-0 Fernando Barreto, North Daktoa State NDSU 2-0
11/20 133 W, 8-2 Ivan Garcia, Binghamton dual 3-0
11/27 133 W, 6-2 Derrick Cardinal, South Dakota State dual 4-0
12/4 133 L, 3-10 #4 Daton Fix, Oklahoma State dual 4-1
12/9 133 W, 4-2 McGwire Midkiff, North Dakota State dual 5-1
12/11 133 W, 10-0 Ethan Rotundo, Cal Poly (major) dual 6-1
12/11 133 W, 19-3 Ben Lindley, Lindenwood (TF; 4:42) dual 7-1
1/1 133 W, 9-3 Todd Carter,Gardner-Webb Scuf 8-1
1/1 133 LBF #22 Brayden Palmer, Chattanooga (2:36) Scuf 8-2
1/1 133 W, 10-3 Kurt Phipps, Bucknell Scuf 9-2
1/2 133 W, 6-1 Zach Redding, Iowa State Scuf 10-2
1/2 133 W, 6-3 Connor Brown, Missouri Scuf 11-2
1/7 133 L, 4-7 #16 Chris Cannon, Northwestern dual 11-3
1/13 133 W, 4-2 (sv) Kyle Burwick, Nebraska dual 12-3
1/15 133 W, 9-4 #11 Rayvon Foley, Michigan State dual 13-3
2/11 133 W, 5-1 LaMont Taylor, Wisconsin dual 14-3
3/4 133 W, 10-2 Henry Portner, Indiana B1G 15-3
3/4 133 W, 4-2 (sv) #7 Lucas Byrd, Illinois B1G 16-3
3/5 133 W, 6-4 (sv) #6 Jesse Mendez, Ohio State B1G 17-3
3/5 133 L, 2-5 #1 Roman Bravo-Young, Penn State B1G (2nd) 17-4
3/16 133 W, 8-0 #25 Kurt Phipps, Bucknell (major) NCAA 18-4
3/16 133 WBF #9 Micky Phillippi, Pittsburgh (2:50) NCAA 19-4
3/17 133 L, 1-4 #1 Roman Bravo-Young, Penn State NCAA 19-5
3/17 133 W, 12-0 #14 Zach Redding, Iowa State (major) NCAA 20-5
3/17 133 W, 5-4 #5 Kai Orine, North Carolina State NCAA 21-5
3/18 133 L, 4-6 #2 Daton Fix, Oklahoma State NCAA 21-6
3/18 133 W, 4-0 #13 Jesse Mendez, Ohio State NCAA (5th) 22-6
CAREER STATISTICS
Year Overall Duals (B1G) TRN (B1G/NCAA) F TF M PTS
*2021-22 Redshirt season
*2022-23 22-6 8-2 (3-1) 14-4 (3-1/5-2) 1-1 1-0 4-0 30
2023-24 17-7 6-4 (2-3) 11-3 (4-1/3-2) 2-1 7-0 4-1 28
Career 39-13 14-6 (5-4) 25-7 (7-2/8-4) 3-2 8-0 8-1 58
* at Minnesota