You do not always have to be the most vocal person in the room to be recognized. Actions tend to speak louder than words and for Nick Simester, the 2021 Roscoe Eades recipient, this is what paved his way to success as an athlete and as an individual throughout his high school career. Simester was a part of the Golden Warrior football program for all four years of high school and a part of the wrestling program for three years. Throughout his time on both teams, he excelled at being a role model and teammate. To continue his football journey, Simester will play at Illinois Wesleyan University beginning in the fall of 2021. “I’m excited to meet new people and make new friendships as well as play alongside new teammates. The next level of competition is going to be a hard challenge and I’m looking forward to facing it. I want to work and see how much better I can get and how much I can improve,” Semester shared. Throughout his high school career, Simester’s efforts were noticed in everything he achieved. Playing football for all four years of high school earned Simester the honors of two-time All-Conference first team, first team all-area, and first team all-state. Head football coach Jon Schlemmer recognized the leadership and devotion he saw within Simester on and off the field. “I would say Nick was more of a leader by example rather than a vocal leader. His peers respected him for the way he put his nose down and worked. Never complained, just worked harder,” Schlemmer said. Semester was not only admired by his coaches but his teammates as well. “Nick was always the first one on the field and the last to leave it. He never shorted himself in any drill and made hustle plays a norm all season. Nick never placed himself above the underclassmen for messing up drills but instead encouraged them to be better and showed them work ethic. Nick is an ideal candidate because of his outstanding achievements in the Sterling football program and excellence in the classroom,” teammate Nathan Ottens ’21 said. Simester achieved greatness not only on the field but on the mat as well earning him the team-voted Varsity Pride Desire Hustle award and all-conference first team during his junior season of wrestling. Even with much success, Simester continued to strive for growth as an athlete in everything he did. Turner Garcia ’18 had the opportunity to watch Nick grow as an athlete from the perspective of both a teammate and a coach. “From the moment we stepped into the wrestling room together, I knew he was a great kid that would be successful in whatever he did. He worked hard every single day to get better. By the end of his sophomore year, he was an extremely talented wrestler. Even when he started having a lot of success, he still worked harder than everyone in the wrestling room. He always would push himself to be the best he could be,” said Garcia. After receiving the Roscoe Eades Award for 2021 Simester felt “extremely grateful and honored to receive this award. It came with amazement in my head that I was able to even be considered for this award and I hoped that I could uphold the reputation of this award. Sterling High School has given me so many amazing memories and opportunities during my attendance and I’m happy I did what I could to make my mark.”