ARLINGTON — A six-minute wrestling match can be compared to a 400-meter run, Arlington wrestling coach Rick Iversen said.

“Because when you’re done, there is no air left,” he said.

But what if it goes into overtime? By then there is no oxygen left in either opponent — just pure desire.

That’s what senior Jeremy Nygard had to endure to win his weight class in the semifinals in the recent Everett Classic Tournament, defeating Pasco’s Jake Covington 2-1.

He coasted through his first two matches before going into the semifinals in overtime.

There’s nothing quite like it, Iversen said.

“You watch that, and it almost stops your heart. He won everybody over,” Iversen said. “To watch an aptly exhausted kid to still perform, and to perform successfully.”

After winning the anti-climatic finale, he was voted the most “Outstanding Wrestler of the Tournament.” As a result, he is also the Marysville Globe-Arlington Times Athlete of the Week.

“After I got done wrestling in the finals, the Everett coach really complimented me and wished me good luck and said he would put my name in,” Nygard said. “I thought that was pretty cool.”

It was a grueling tournament all day for Nygard. Sitting between matches, which consisted of three-hour breaks sitting in the stands and staying warmed up.

“It was brutal on everyone and parents,” he said.

Nygard is expected to win state this year by his coaches. He placed in state both as a sophomore and a junior.

He’s only lost once in his senior season. He won’t know his true competition until he competes at the Matman Classic at Central Kitsap Jan. 16, he said.

Despite his achievements, he remains humble, Iversen said.

“You can get kids with work ethic so intense that they are not fun to be around,” Iversen said. “He remains to be fun around everyday.”

Because of his work ethic, humility and positive attitude, Iversen had no problem promoting Nygard to captain as a junior.

“His actions demanded it,” Iversen said. “Nobody could stay with him.”

“My selflessness comes from the team,” Nygard said. “You don’t focus on one person but bettering the team, and I was just brought up that way.”

After high school, he doesn’t want to continue wrestling because of the injuries he’s sustained. He’s a straight-A student and wants to pursue a medical career while studying at the University of Washington.

“I will cry at the banquet, when I say, ‘goodbye’ to him,'” Iversen said.