The road to college will be short for Williamston High School wrestler Nick Simmons.

About nine miles to be exact.

The three-time national champion, who has never lost a single match, announced Monday he will just hop on Grand River Avenue, head west and spend his college days at MSU.

“I’ve been good friends with the other wrestlers and the coaches, and that helped me make my decision,” he said. “I’ve known the Indiana coaches and wrestlers too, which made it a hard decision. But MSU has a top 10 program.”

MSU began recruiting Simmons before he was in high school and spent $25,000 to bring Olympic champion Alexis Vila from Cuba to coach at MSU next year, said Simmons’ father Scott Simmons.

The 27-year-old Vila is a two-time world champion.

Indiana has also spent years recruiting Nick Simmons, and also paid thousands to bring a new coach to its program, Scott Simmons said.

“They’ve had their eye on him since he was little,” he said.

But Sunday night, the Simmons family sat down and discussed the benefits and possibilities at each school. One reason they chose MSU was because the school was committed to finding a qualified summer club for Nick Simmons to compete in, Scott Simmons said.

Oklahoma and Minnesota had also offered him scholarships.

After competing for 13 years, Simmons boasts a high school record of 159-0 and a grade -point average above 3.0. His younger brother, junior Andy Simmons, is another undefeated Williamston wrestler, with a record of 109-0.

Nick Simmons made the decision to come to State with his brother, who plans on following his trail in two years.

“Hopefully when my brother gets here, and the other recruits MSU has coming, we can be national champs,” Simmons said.

A stellar work ethic and a focused attitude have been the driving forces behind his son’s success, Scott Simmons said.

“He is not a typical wrestler,” he said. “He has a very unorthodox style. It makes it hard for other wrestlers to compete against him.”

Andy Simmons said he didn’t have much concern about his brother’s decision, but said he would follow him wherever he went.

“It was cool with me,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s far away or close to home, I just want to go to the same school.”

MSU assistant coach Max Wegner said he wasn’t surprised to hear Nick Simmons’ decision.

“I knew it was us and Indiana,” he said. “I’m glad he’s going to State.”