For Love of the Mat

Babak Nejadmaghaddam could have stayed in Sweden and studied dentistry. Instead, he chose to come to the United States to see how far his wrestling career could take him.

“I thought about going to dental school,” Nejadmaghaddam said, “but I couldn’t do that and still have time do what I wanted to do in wrestling. Dentists make a lot of money in Sweden, but I chose to do my sport. It was a love of wrestling.”

He says he has no regrets.

Nejadmaghaddam, who was born and raised in Gothenburg, Sweden after his parents moved from Iran because of the unrest in their country, has become one of Cal State Fullerton’s top wrestlers. He is competing this season at 197 pounds and hopes to qualify for the NCAA championships for the third consecutive year.

Last season as a junior, Nejadmaghaddam went 20-7 and was runner-up at the Pacific 10 Conference championships. However, he was eliminated after two matches in the NCAA meet at St. Louis.

He was fourth in the Pac-10 as a sophomore and finished 15-10 after winning one of three matches in the NCAA meet at Penn State.

Nejadmaghaddam also might have made it to the NCAAs in 1998 if he had not injured his back and neck in an automobile accident two weeks before the Pac-10 championships.

A fifth-year senior, Nejadmaghaddam is unbeaten this season in eight matches.

“I was disappointed with the way I wrestled in the NCAAs last season,” he said. “For the last two years, my timing wasn’t good. I was burned out at that point of the season and wasn’t ready to go. I didn’t peak at the right time. This year, I want to be at my best for the conference meet and hopefully the nationals.”

Nejadmaghaddam competed with the Swedish junior national team while he was growing up. He attracted the attention of former U.S. Olympic freestyle Coach Joe Seay, who encouraged him to try wrestling on a U.S. college team.

Nejadmaghaddam said he first considered Arizona State, but the Sun Devils had no scholarship money available. He also considered Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, but said he chose Fullerton because of its coach, Ardeshir Asgari.

“I thought I would get good coaching at Fullerton,” Nejadmaghaddam said.

Fullerton could offer only minimal athletic aid at the time, but Nejadmaghaddam said he took out a student loan from the Swedish government.

Nejadmaghaddam spent his first season at Fullerton on the sidelines because of an injured hamstring.

“It was probably just as well because I had to make the adjustment from freestyle to college wrestling,” he said. “It felt like I was in kindergarten again as a wrestler. Some of the things I was good at in freestyle, I couldn’t use with the college rules. I had to start all over again. It’s taken a while, but I feel real comfortable this year.”

Nejadmaghaddam, who traveled extensively in Europe with junior wrestling, said he has enjoyed his time in the United States.

“I’ve learned a lot here,” he said. “I wanted to experience a different culture and I wanted to get away from the snow and cold of Sweden for a while. I like traveling and I think it helps make you a more complete person. But my girlfriend lives in Norway and I don’t see her as much as I would like.”

Nejadmaghaddam said his family traveled back and forth between Sweden and Iran for several years. Eventually, he decided to stay in Sweden with an older sister when his parents returned to Iran.

Nejadmaghaddam began wrestling in Sweden when he was 13 and has been devoted to the sport ever since. Asgari said he has made considerable improvement since joining the Titans.

“More than anything, he had to adjust to collegiate-style wrestling,” Asgari said. “He has improved his endurance a lot. He can go seven minutes now without getting tired. When he came to us, he was used to wrestling for five minutes under the freestyle rules.

“He also was nervous at first because of the different rules, and that nervousness took away from his ability. He’s more of an all-around wrestler now. Before, he didn’t have the technique and he didn’t have the confidence.”

Asgari believes Nejadmaghaddam might rank among the top 10 nationally in his weight division this season, if he continues to improve.

“It’s really a matter of how much he wants it,” Asgari said. “He has the ability. He’s physically stronger and he moves much better than he used to.”

Nejadmaghaddam has also avoided injuries, which has aided his development the last couple of years.

“The first couple of years, he got injured a lot because he was competing against guys who were better than he was. He’s done a lot of weight training since then and that has improved his body.”

Asgari said he has been impressed by Nejadmaghaddam’s work ethic. “A lot of wrestlers take the summer off, but Babak doesn’t,” Asgari said. “He usually goes home for the summer, but he still works out a lot there.”

Teammate David Rodriguez, a sophomore from La Puente, said he respects Nejadmaghaddam’s dedication to the sport.

“He’s one of our captains and I look up to him,” Rodriguez said. “He’s helped me a lot. He watches my matches and then he tells me things that might help me.”

Nejadmaghaddam said he expects to earn his undergraduate degree in physical therapy after the next semester.

“My dream job would be to work for a professional team and help develop a program for those athletes,” he said.