On and off the gridiron, Austin Nissen keeps busy

Trying to keep up with Austen Nissen can be a difficult proposition.
        “I don’t like sitting still very long,” he said.
        Nissen, who turns 18 on Nov. 21, is the starting left tackle on Eastwood’s unbeaten football team. The Eagles went 10-0 during the regular season, won the Northern Buckeye Conference championship and won their Division V playoff opener last Saturday, 28-17, over Blanchard Valley Conference champion Liberty-Benton.
        Eastwood played Oak Harbor (11-0) in a regional semifinal on Saturday at Lake High School.
        Nissen, who carries a 3.8 GPA and is a member of the National Honor Society, is also a team captain.
        “We’re not exactly the biggest team, like two years ago, but we have a lot of heart,” said the 6-foot, 238-pound Nissen. “The line always blocks as well as we can for the running backs, and they hit the holes fast. We have pretty good leadership; there are quite a few seniors on our football team. They’re stepping up and the younger guys are stepping up and filling some holes. Everyone is working hard to make the team the best we can be.”
        Nissen took over as the starting left tackle midway through his junior season and has been a rock there ever since. Eastwood coach Craig Rutherford said Nissen was the Eagles’ sixth lineman a year ago before he was thrust into a starting role due to an injury to the starter. Nissen was one of three returning starting offensive linemen entering this season along with junior guards Max Buchman and Blake Landis.
        “Austin’s a guy who continues to make jumps week-to-week,” Rutherford said. “He’s playing the best football that he’s played right now. When a team gets multiple seniors who are doing that, you have a chance to be pretty special. He’s a National Honor Society guy, so you know he’s going to be one of the smartest guys out there. He’s always going to know his responsibility.”
        Nissen competed at 220 pounds on the Eagles’ wrestling team last season, but he also keeps busy with non-sports activities. Nissen serves as president of the Eastwood chapter of the FFA, he competes on the school’s equestrian team, and he was a member of the robotics team.
        “That was a new experience this year,” Nissen said. “Coach Rutherford teaches robotics class at Eastwood and I was like, what the heck, I’ll take it my senior year and see what it’s about. For our first year, I think we did pretty well. There were some elementary school kids and some were in middle school. I was the only high school kid on the team.”
        Nissen said Eastwood’s FFA chapter has more than 60 members, and he added that one of the main reasons he transferred to Eastwood from Rossford schools in the eighth grade was to join the FFA.
        “There are more rural kids (here) and I like to be hands-on and work on a farm,” Nissen said. “It gives me something to do. We have four (quarter horses) and our own hayfield. This is my first year as president. My sophomore year I was treasurer and my junior year I was vice president. President was something to go for, and I wanted to be a leader and set an example for the younger kids. The FFA president will speak at meetings, speak at our banquet and try to be involved as much as you can. It’s mostly setting an example so that people have someone to look up to.”
        Rutherford said Nissen’s proclivity to be a leader translates to the football team.
        “He is basically everything that’s good about a high school student-athlete,” the coach said. “He will be a first-team All-NBC pick this season and he is an unbelievable example for the younger guys. He does a great job of encouraging them and holding them accountable, and that’s not easy for a high school kid.”
        Nissen also competed for Eastwood’s equestrian team that won a state championship on Oct. 6 at the Fulton County Fairgrounds in Wauseon. Three districts were represented, and Eastwood was in District 2.
        “We show at the Wood County Fairgrounds and we compete with other teams our size,” Nissen said. “There are three divisions and we are in Division I. We had 15 riders from our school. I’ve been riding for nine years. My dad (Mark) grew up on a horse farm and had already been around it. I’ve been showing horses for quite a while. It’s a fun hobby.”
        Nissen said he got a new horse a couple years ago and named her Remi. The horse, he said, is “more of a ranch-style horse.”
        “Previously, I had a quarter horse,” Nissen said. “That’s where you show the horse and make it look as pretty as you can. With ranch-style, (the judges) don’t care how it looks. They care about functionality. They care about patterns and controlling different speeds. A ranch horse will round up cattle and stuff like that. I’m not a trainer, so my dad puts a lot of work into her and I put work into her.”
        Nissen’s older sister, Lauren, 22, graduated from the University of Findlay last spring. Nissen said he plans to attend Owens Community College after high school and learn to become a welder. He said he’s not sure if he wants to live on a farm.
        “I don’t have all the details figured out yet,” he said.