Why Nebraska you ask? Good question. I used to ask myself the same question everyday. Then the Gold started coming. I was only a one time state champ in high school. I didn't place till my 3rd time at the state tournament. I finished 2nd my Junior year, losing in the state finals to NCAA Champion Frank Molinaro at 125 pounds. That's right, I weighed 125 pounds. I wasn't always a beast. I actually weighed 99 pounds as a freshman in high school and wrestled 103. I continued to grow though, going 112 as a Sophomore, 125 as a Junior, and 135 as a Senior. I wasn't a big time recruit in High School. I never finished a season undefeated. I wasn't getting a bunch of phone calls or letters from colleges, but I did have a great connection. A high school teammate of mine named Vince Jones started wrestling the same time as me. Vince was an All-American for Nebraska at 184 in 2009. Me and Vince, as well as our families grew close through years of traveling and competing together. As we arrived to high school it was clear who was the better wrestler. He was a 2x State Champ, nationally ranked, and my best friend. Vince was a year older than me and received a full scholarship to Nebraska in 2005. I wanted to follow him to school and hopefully be teammates again, but I would have to do some more winning first. Vince would always tell Nebraska's head coach, Mark Manning, how much potential I had and how great a wrestler I would become. But NCAA team titles weren't built on potential, they were built on winning, today, so Manning was very cautious. There was only one other large D1 school showing interest in me, and that was the Indiana Hoosiers. As my senior year arrived, I knew I had a lot of work to do to earn a scholarship. There was a lot of pressure, but I never lost focus on where I wanted to be, that was Nebraska. I finished the season 34-2, winning a state title in New Jersey at 135 pounds. After all this, I was still relatively unknown and college coaches weren't exactly knocking my door down. I was still raw. Fast, but unskilled. Lean, but no muscles. Too big a risk. That was until I won Senior Nationals, a tournament held for the best seniors around the nation. The best of the best competed here. Some greats that were there included, Anthony Robles, Bubba Jenkins, Jon Reader and Lance Palmer. I beat 4 state champs on my way to that title! That big investment was looking a little safer now. They weren't just interested in me because of Vince anymore, they actually thought I was a stud! I took a recruiting trip to Lincoln, Nebraska in April of my senior year and loved the campus and coaching staff. Not only were they interested in winning, but they wanted to develop me into a great young man. Jordan Burroughs, a kid from Sicklerville, NJ, was going to college, and it was free! I was excited to be apart of a great tradition, to get the chance to receive a degree while training to be the best, and compete side by side again with my best friend Vince Jones. I had no idea where the future would lead, but I knew I was going to leave my mark somehow. I signed a letter of intent to the University of Nebraska a couple days after my visit, and the rest is history.

- Jordan