Nicholas “Nick” Guerriero is no stranger to the small town feel that comes from attending Barton College. The third year senior is from a small town called Shelby, North Carolina, which is located less than an hour outside of Charolette. Transitioning from Shelby to Wilson was not a drastic change for him, “Coming to Barton I feel like I stayed in that element.” said Guerriero.
Guerriero is currently wrapping up with his bachelors degree and is majoring in Exercise Science, where he has plans to pursue a job with physical therapy. However, before that happens, Nick plans on attending an in state school to earn a masters or doctorate degree. “Going into my masters or doctorate or whatever I decide to choose, I want the school that I go to to be a big school.” said Guerriero.
Since arriving to Barton in the fall of 2018, Nick has been apart of the dominate Barton College Swim team and was able to help them to two Conference Carolinas Championship seasons (2019, 2020). The 6’1 senior is a scholarship swimmer that competes in the long distance freestyle and breast stroke for the Bulldogs. Not only does Nick get it done in the pool, but he is also also getting it done in the classroom by earning multiple deans list.
As for Esports, Nick competes on the League of Legends team, where he has been apart of the program since the start of it in 2019. “I love that people take it competitively and that they are always trying to improve.” said Guerriero.
Nick was first introduced to video games when he begin playing Motorcross Maddness, which is an early 2000’s racing game that featured races like baja, stunts, enduro, supercross, and motorcross. Nick’s mom could be considered the pioneer of streaming because of the massive amounts of CD’s they have stored at his home from when he was younger. “My mom used to love filming us. So we have just boxes of boxes of CD’s from where she would film us playing video games.” said Guerriero.
Since 2013 and season 2, Nick has had a huge passion for League of Legends. First being introduced to the game when he bought a laptop to play video games with his brother who did not have the urge as much to play League. However, he has used this game as an escape from reality and time to spend with friends. “Not something I revolve around, but it is something that I love doing that relaxes me.” said Guerriero.
Outside of Esports, Nick enjoys being social and meeting new people. “I’ve always been a social person.” said Guerriero. Also admitting that this pandemic has been a struggle for him when trying to enjoy something like meeting new people.
As nothing is set in stone beyond graduating this spring for the senior swimmer, “I’m just trying to take opportunities as they come,” said Guerriero. “I’m trying to go into something, whatever it is, and build upon it.”
By: Jakob Ryan