All while wrestling for his dad, Paul Clough, who had been Youngsville High School’s head coach, but who passed away unexpectedly in March 2022 before being able to see his son wrestle his first college match.

“We were very close,” said Collin. “That’s all we did.”

Clough has wrestled the past three seasons at NCAA Division II Gannon University and will graduate in May with a degree in accounting.

“He really wanted me to wrestle in college,” said Collin, who wants to live with the same mantra his dad would tell him to wrestle with — “No regrets.”

Submitted photo Collin Clough is pictured with his mother, Jennifer.

Not wrestling as a freshman is understandable.

“I had a full schedule of classes, ROTC and my dad died,” said Collin. “I don’t think everybody knows the story, not everybody on the team.”

Everything was different from that moment on.

“Collin had to become a man way too early,” said his mom, Jennifer. “The summer after Paul passed, we had to work on our log home so we didn’t have to lose our insurance. We had no clue how to do any of these things. Collin had to step up and figure it out. We started in July and (we were) still working in November when he went back to school, so he came home every weekend and still did good at school, ROTC and wrestling. Collin would do anything to help anybody. He’s good at trying to figure things out. I’m so proud of him.”

Collin had a lot to juggle during his freshman year at Gannon and that was before his father died.

“Freshman year was more so just not knowing how (wrestling would) work with my schedule,” said Collin. “And then over Thanksgiving break, my dad was talking about how he thought I was already better than I was last year and asked, ‘don’t you want to see what happens when you actually have some better practice partners to push you?’ He asked me, ‘do you not miss it that much?’ I was on the fence (about wrestling), mainly because I had a girlfriend at the time taking up a lot of my time, but also I was a little scared. I was almost convinced to talk to the coaches, like he said. Then, when he died, I knew I had to do it for him and it allowed me to stay close with him.”

Collin said he thinks about his father every day, and it helps him get through a sport much more physically demanding in college.

“I really wasn’t hurt at all in high school,” he said. “It’s definitely become easier both emotionally and physically. I remember my first preseason run, I was hurting when I came back. Now every preseason run I have finished first in my group and made it look easy. I’m also gaining my endurance back wrestling-wise. However, when people say it sucks getting old, I am definitely feeling that because I never feel 100% anymore; I’m always aching. Emotionally, it is easier. After that first college match and win, I felt like I wanted to cry from joy because I knew he would be proud and doing it for him was working out. Now I’ve been there, so it’s more natural. One thing that hasn’t gotten easier, though, is wanting to discuss the outcomes with him or wanting his opinion on certain things I do, like making a tough decision or something being hard and just wanting him to tell me to keep pushing.”

It’s how he grew up — traveling with his father, hanging out at hotels with his father, constructive criticism he would listen to again in a second, memories of his father nearly crying when Collin “pushed through” to the Northwest Regional 2A Tournament for the first time.

“Now that I’m a senior, I feel I’m doing it for him, too, but also for me,” said Collin. “Even with a harder schedule, I feel I started it, so I should see it through and keep pushing.”

He continues to heed his father’s advice: “Just keep at it; you’ll never regret trying hard,” said Collin.

It’s wonderful, strange and difficult for Jennifer — a gamut of emotions while watching Collin wrestle.

“It’s a little of all those seeing him wrestle in college without Paul being there to coach him or do their little thing before each match where Paul would do the hand smacking and smacking head gear for good luck,” she said. “Collin didn’t wrestle his first year because he wasn’t sure how well he’d fit it all in. Paul didn’t force him to, but was secretly hoping he would; that’s why he had resigned from being a coach so he’d be able to watch Collin. Then, since Collin decided not to wrestle and Sheffield needed someone to fill the assistant coach position, he said yes. After Paul passed, I told Collin, ‘you know your dad was really hoping to see you wrestle in college; that’s why he quit coaching.’ So Collin decided to give it a shot and is managing well. He loves when a whole bunch of people come to watch him wrestle. That’s why I’ve live-streamed his matches that are far away that people can’t get to.”

Collin has grown to love being on the team, even if it’s just because “everywhere you go on campus, people say hi,” he said.

It’s also something he’s proud he has accomplished along with ROTC, and making the dean’s list. He’s been named a PSAC Scholar-Athlete and D2ADA Academic Award Winner the past two years.

He says he’d be a different person if he didn’t start wrestling all the way back to the fifth grade.

“‘If you want to be any good, you’re going to have to have discipline,'” Collin said his father told him, and now he knows that it wasn’t just about wrestling.

He knows his dad would be proud.

Collin is looking forward to the summer off, getting a job, and focusing more on lifting weights and exercising on his own terms.

But he also wants to coach someday.

“I was hoping before to coach after college with him and maybe some of my high school wrestling friends,” said Collin. “However, even more so after the funeral — just hearing all the stories people told us and how he impacted them has inspired me because I want to do good for people and lead them to become their best selves and just inspire people to have fun.”

Like his father did for him.