University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Athletics

A three-time national champion, Nazar Kulchytskyy is one of just 16 wrestlers to win three or more titles at the NCAA Division III Championship.
 
Competing for the Titans from 2011 to 2014, Kulchytskyy compiled a remarkable 142-5 record with 67 pins while losing to an NCAA Division III opponent just once. His victory and pin totals are both UW-Oshkosh career records and rank as the fifth- and fourth-highest totals in WIAC history, respectively.
 
A Sosnivka, Ukraine, native, Kulchytskyy began wrestling at a young age, winning five national titles and collecting a bronze medal at the 2008 European Cadets Wrestling Championships in Latvia before emigrating to the United States with his parents and settling down in Prairie du Chien, Wis.
 
After graduating from Prairie du Chien High School, Kulchytskyy enrolled at UW-Oshkosh and made his debut wrestling for the Titans in 2011. Kulchytskyy won all 12 of his 157-pound matches, including seven by fall, before suffering a season-ending injury.
 
Kulchytskyy recovered from his injury and registered a 45-2 record with 17 pins the next season. He won 34 consecutive matches from November 12, 2011 to February 3, 2012, before losing 9-4 to Orlando Ponce of Augsburg University (Minn.) on February 10.
 
Kulchytskyy claimed the 157-pound title at the 2012 WIAC Championship and the first of three straight WIAC Wrestler of the Year Awards. He won all four of his contests at the NCAA Championship, including a 10-9 victory over Ponce in the title match. The victory allowed Kulchytskyy to become the first NCAA champion in UW-Oshkosh wrestling history.
 
Kulchytskyy won 44 of his 45 matches, including 22 by fall, in 2013 to earn NCAA Wrestler of the Year honors by D3wrestle.com. He won all four contests in the 165-pound category at the NCAA Championship, including a 5-3 victory over The College of New Jersey's John Darling in the title bout, to end the season with 39 consecutive victories. Kulchytskyy advanced to the final with a 7-2 win over Joey Favia of Stevens Institute of Technology (N.Y.). The victory over Favia was the 100th career win for Kulchytskyy.
 
Kulchytskyy returned to 157-pound competition during the 2014 season and posted a 41-2 record with 22 pins. Kulchytskyy increased his winning streak on the mat to a school-record 45 contests before suffering a 5-2 setback to Isaac Jordan of NCAA Division I University of Wisconsin on November 16, 2013.
 
The WIAC went to a team dual format for its championship competition during the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Thus, no individual champions were crowned for those two seasons. Kulchytskyy did win his third WIAC Wrestler of the Year Award and was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the Meet at the 2014 WIAC Team Championship.
 
Kulchytskyy was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the 2014 NCAA West Regional after winning all four matches, including three by fall. Kulchytskyy stuck Carson French of Pacific University (Ore.) to the mat in 13 seconds during the tournament for the quickest pin of his career.
 
Kulchytskyy then won all five of his matches, including a pin in 4:20 of Coe College's (Iowa) Dimitri Boyer in the title bout, to be a three-time champion at the NCAA Championship. He was named the Most Dominant Wrestler at the 2014 NCAA Championship and received a pair of National Wrestler of the Year Awards.
 
Kulchytskyy helped UW-Oshkosh finish 14th in the team competition at the NCAA Championship in 2012, 17th in 2013 and 10th in 2014. The national finish for the Titans in 2014 was their highest since 1982.
 
A seven-time WIAC Athlete of the Week selection, Kulchytskyy was a member of the league’s Scholastic Honor Roll three times. He was named a Scholar All-American by the National Wrestling Coaches Association in 2014.
 
After graduating from UW-Oshkosh in 2014, Kulchytskyy trained and competed at the Wisconsin Regional Training Center until 2019 and the Minnesota Regional Training Center in 2020. He won World Cup crowns with the Titan Mercury Wrestling Club in 2016 and Team USA in 2018. Kulchytskyy was a member of the USA National Freestyle Team and ranked as high as 11th internationally.
 
Kulchytskyy, who was inducted into the National Wrestling Coaches Association NCAA Division III Hall of Fame in 2024, lives in Sun Prairie with his wife Katie.
 
Kulchytskyy founded the Team Nazar Training Center in 2020 and now operates wrestling facilities in Madison, Mauston and Neenah.