"When I go out there I try not to be nervous. I just try to go out there and have fun like a kid on a playground," Pretty said. "Every match is fun to me. That's always been my philosophy."

The win is just the latest step on the ladder Pretty has been climbing the past five years. 

First, it was qualifying for the Ohio state tournament in 2006, then placing in 2007 and winning the Ohio 125-pound title in 2008. Pretty came to Campbellsville upon graduation from Elder High School, and broke onto the NAIA scene as a freshman in 2009 with an eighth-place, All-American finish at the 2009 NAIA National Championships.

"To this day I've been evolving. It never stops," Pretty said. "Now that I've beaten 133, I want to gain weight, get stronger and see how I can do in the other classes."

While Pretty is only the second national champion for the Tigers, joining Zach Flake from 2007, James sees more for the program in the near future, despite producing only one All-American this year. CU had three returning All-Americans fail to place this season.

"We're in a much better spot now to keep getting more champions," James said. "You'd like to see the whole team wrestle better, but it's nice to get a national champion. We have a young team. Our guys work so hard and we've got talented enough wrestlers that we should be able to get one every year."