by By Dan Ninham (Contributor)
Tyce “Hikanega” Neadeau is enrolled with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. He is also Red Lake Band of Ojibwe and Hispanic. He is a graduating senior at Swain County High School in Bryson City, NC.
Neadeau was the 2023 North Carolina Heavyweight Wrestling Champion. He was also All Conference and All Regional. He was named the Most Outstanding Conference Wrestler of the Year and was a two-time state placer. His won-loss record senior year was 52-7 and 115-41 in his varsity career.
His tribal core values enabled him to reach for the stars on and off the mat. He said, “Cherokee people always work hard and never give up and are humble about their accomplishments.”
“My individual goal was to become a state champion in wrestling and I have reached my goal,” said Neadeau. “I went to lots of tournaments in many states and big wrestling camps all around North Carolina.”
“My main mentor is my dad Roger Neadeau Jr. because he pushed me to be my best and always worked out with me,” said Neadeau. “I just made sure I got the best outcome possible at everything I did whether I accomplished my goal or came short.”
Father and son would wrestle each other year-around for the son to get better. Tyce is 6’1 and 250 lbs. In high school, Roger wrestled at 6’3 and 215 lbs. and was a California state wrestling qualifier from Oxnard, CA. He was a two-time all-conference offensive guard for Moorpark College (CA) in the class of 1999 and gained forty more lbs. for his college playing weight. He was recruited to play football at San Jose State and played his junior season.
“Ever since Tyce was young, I knew he was going to be a gifted athlete,” said dad Roger Neadeau Jr. “I wanted him to learn to believe in himself. Being shy, he never wanted to join any teams and I never forced athletics on him.”
“One year, I signed him up for football and that was probably the worst experience he could have as being his first sport. The coaching was terrible and they never taught Tyce anything about the game. He just sat on the sidelines day in and day out. I never made him play football again,” added Roger.
A couple years later Roger asked Tyce if he was going to wrestle because he was going to be an assistant coach.
“I could see that he was hesitant because he never wrestled,” said Roger. “His very first exhibition match, he wrestled an experienced kid that took him down over and over. I told him that he needed to work on the basics and that he would get better over time.”
Throughout his high school career, Tyce wrestled in many off season matches. Roger said, “Once he started winning, I had him wrestle tougher competition. It was tough for him. He would continue to get better, so I would find tougher competition. I wrestled with him a lot. We spent many hours on the mat together. At school, at home, at different clinics and camps. Sometimes I was the only one his size, so we would train, do live drills and wrestle.”
“Tyce would ask questions and soak up the knowledge and techniques that I was teaching him. I knew there was plenty of wrestling to learn and things to work on. I would take Tyce to different coaches and we would travel about two hours one way, but Tyce learned more and more. He would push himself against great training partners,” added Roger.
According to Roger, Tyce would not face the same levels of competition that he faced at some national tournaments or even the training sessions. “There were times when Tyce would be over confident and not mentally be prepared to wrestle his next match,” said Roger. “Then he would be humbled with a defeat when both he and I knew that he was the better wrestler. We would talk and make sure that he was prepared for his next match. When prepared, Tyce knew that he was tough to beat.”
Champions are made in the off-season and also when finding time to put in quality work in limited time away from the focused practice sessions.
“Tyce would spend time training on his own and would lift weights and do conditioning,” said Roger. “Tyce would push himself without being asked. He got tired of the losing feelings. He felt he worked too hard to lose more matches. He did not want to be out wrestled or out muscled as he had in the past.”
“Tyce knew going into this past season he was going to be one of the best in the state. This confidence carried on through the season and he knew he had to stay humble because one can lose at any time without the right mindset. Although he did suffer some defeats, he only had one loss to another North Carolinian,” added Roger.
Tyce would not suffer another defeat the rest of the season while remaining humble.
“Tyce is a great young man that has done things right,” said Tony Cochran, varsity wrestling assistant coach. “He worked hard towards his goal of becoming a State Champion and although he had some setbacks during the season he remained constant in his work ethic and attitude.”
Coach Cochran added, “I ended up in the corner of many of his matches. We as a coaching staff are unique in the fact that all of our kids seem very comfortable with any of us on the coaching staff in his corner. The one event that Tyce would only let me do though is wrap his shoulder before every practice and any matches.”
“Tyce is very coachable and many times when I spoke with Tyce it wasn’t about technique within the match but adversity within those matches. He always responded with a smile and acceptance about what was being said. He was one of our leaders and as that leader he always showed that he was willing to be led himself,” added Coach Cochran.
Coach Cochran shared a story about one of his star athletes. He said, “When Tyce started with us you could tell that in a year or so he was going to be special on the mat. His determination and work ethic always pushed him to be one of the hardest workers in the room. During his junior season he split time with another heavyweight at times during our dual season. When Tyce was on the mat he gave every effort to win but the times he wasn’t on the mat stuck out to me more. He was the wrestler that even if he wasn’t on the mat he was cheering on his teammates to perform to the best of their ability. He was always available to give help and pushed the other wrestlers to be the best they could be.”
“His senior year he had some very tough matches against some very tough competition. After one of his losses at the Holy Angels tournament I looked at him and said this doesn’t change what we are working for. I had seen losses affect different wrestlers in different ways and for some it derailed what they wanted, not Tyce. He looked at me, nodded his head and said ‘yes Sir’. He handled the adversity of that loss and instead of it crumbling him he used it for motivation and it never made him waver from his goal.”
Adam Jaimez is the head wrestling coach at Swain Co. High School. He has held this position for the last 16 years.
“I met Tyce back in middle school when his wrestling journey started with us,” said Coach Adam. “He was a very shy individual and was even quieter to have around to be honest. I never really knew what he was thinking when we were at practices and/or matches. He kept his emotions in check and just came to practice. We’ve been together every year since the seventh grade.”
“I guess I’ve never really viewed myself as a mentor to Tyce,” said Coach Adam. “I’ve just tried to be the very best coach I could be towards him and help him be the best version of himself that he could be. I will say that our relationship is one that was hardened in the trenches together, as I would say any meaningful relationships that are worth their salt are. There has to be a trust that is developed between coach and athlete if anything great is to ever manifest itself into existence.”
“Having Tyce understand that I was willing to meet him where he was at the moment and give him the hope that he was capable of and more if he was willing to work hard. There would be no guarantees that it will lead to more victories or state championships,” added Coach Adam.
“My hope and belief is that every time Tyce took the mat, he took it without ever having to worry or fear walking back to his corner where I was because he knew there was not going to be anything negative spoken, his efforts would be recognized and we would speak truths to each other at those times,” said Coach Adam. “Wrestling is such a brutal sport but we love it, yet in that same vein there’s few things out there that will leave a sting of pain like losing a wrestling match.”
“There are moments of unrivaled vulnerability in our sport, so it’s important for an athlete to know they are loved no matter the outcome. The byproduct of a relationship built like this is an amazing one to see and even more special when you get to have one with your athletes. I hope in addition to his great athletic abilities, he was successful because he got to experience these things from me,” added Coach Adam.
Tyce placed third at the state wrestling tournament as a junior. He became hungrier to be a state champion and had one more year to get it.
“Tyce came to the realization that he was the only person that could directly dictate his success on the mat,” said Coach Adam. “He operated with a freedom that I quite hadn’t seen up until that point, and I believe he truly understood that so much more clearly than ever before. After that 3rd place match, we spoke to this and he acknowledged it as well.”
“There were some losses this year along the way to winning his State Championship, but there was never any wavering from his belief that he was going to be a State Champion,” said Coach Adam.
Awesome, we are proud of your accomplishment!