NORFOLK, Va. – The 2007 NCAA Qualifier Nick Pullano answers questions on what he has been doing since graduating with a psychology degree in 2008.
Q: Where are you working after graduating with a psychology degree?
Professionally, I distribute medical devices for Trilliant Surgical a company out of Houston. I met the VP of the company while working one of Steve’s clinics back in 2012 and it landed me a great job. I manage Virginia with some territory in 3 other states. Austin Coburn (Class of ’16) works for me and I just brought on two additional hires this month.
As far as my psych degree, I ultimately use it either to explain to people the phenomenon of déjà vu or how they’re misusing the term “sociopath.” That’s pretty much the extent of my place in the psychology world.
Q: What was the best part about working with ODU Wrestling after being an athlete?
Seeing people I cared so much about reach their goals and getting to be a part of it. Going with Kyle Hutter while he was still competing on the senior level to some of those events was a lot of fun. Then just on a personal level, seeing one of my best friends, Chris Brown become an All-American was exciting. Tristan Warner and Billy Curling qualifying for their first NCAA tournaments was really rewarding to me because I knew how much it meant to them and what they had put in just to get there. Curling had blown his MCL out 7 weeks before the CAA tournament and we really thought he was done, probably one of the gutsiest things I’ve seen.
Q: What’s the best thing you learned in the wrestling room that you use in daily life now?
Steve (he coached me in high school as well) would always say “have a plan for every practice.” Which I’d think “Well, you tell us what to work on every day, so that doesn’t make sense.” But then as I got older I realized he wanted us to take ownership of our developments as athletes. If that meant staying after to work on something technically or just focusing on getting our conditioning up, there was always something to actively improve.
I use that principle in my business every day- identify what I need to do to grow and get after it.
Q: Being an NCAA qualifier, what’s the best advice you can give to an ODU wrestler to achieve their goals?
Please understand that in 5 years you are done forever. It seems like your wrestling career is going to never end, which is understandable because you’ve done it your whole life. But it’s going to be over before you know it and you have the rest of your life to think about what you would have done differently as an athlete. So put everything into it, especially in the off season.
Q: What’s your favorite memory from ODU?
Finally breaking through and qualifying for the NCAA tournament my junior year. It was a tremendous relief. In high school, I had lost in the state semis as a junior, the finals as a senior, then failed to advance out of the CAA’s my first two years at ODU. To finally be to go into the stands and hug my parents after achieving a post season goal was very special. All 4 coaches that year (Martin, Dixon, Lee Pritts and Jon Sioredas) invested so much in me athletically and personally; I loved sharing that moment with them.