“My brother taught me to kick in 4th or 5th grade,” said second-year varsity kicker Nick Gruesen.
Gruesen, a junior at NDA, is the starting kicker for the varsity football team.
He takes after his brother Andrew Gruesen, a 2018 graduate, who also kicked for the Tritons.
Gruesen said he has attended camps to tune up his skills but the biggest part of kicking is the mental game. He says you really have to just focus in while kicking and tell yourself, “I’ve done this a million times.”
This season, Gruesen attempted zero field goals because, as he put it, he worked behind a very talented team.
His longest field goal in practice was a 50-yarder, and his extra-point average was 92% this year.
Gruesen also plays hockey and lacrosse for NDA and says he probably has the most fun in lacrosse.
He thinks it is very important to play sports because of the skills you learn and the people you get to know. He also said he is very glad his parents “held him under the water” with sports.
With one more year of school and football ahead of him, the kicker said, “I’d love to play football for college, but I don’t want to go there because of that.”
