When Michael and Nick Scherer were growing up, everything was a competition. Whether in sports or even eating, the Scherer boys were always trying to win.
“We had a certain amount of food, and when the food was gone, the food was gone,” Michael Scherer said. “So when you got a new plate, you were eating so you could get some more or else it was all gone. If you spent too much time talking, it’d be all gone.”
This fierce competition at home quickly carried over to athletics. Oldest brother Joey Scherer played football at the University of Pennsylvania, and Daniel, the second oldest, was a Pac-12 champion wrestler at Stanford. Now, both Michael and Nick are competing for Missouri. Michael, a junior, is the Tigers’ starting linebacker for the football team, while Nick is a freshman wrestler.
As the youngest child, Nick used his older brothers’ success as motivation.
“There’s a high bar academically and athletically, and looking up to them and seeing that high bar and wanting to meet it and wanting to surpass it and be better has really driven me for a long time,” he said.
Growing up, the Scherer house was nothing short of frantic. The boys drove away babysitters with constant roughhousing and games.
“We would go at it at the house,” Michael said. “A lot of broken furniture, a lot of wrestling matches, a lot of trips to the hospital … we were just competitive at anything.”
The furniture in the basement of the Scherer house is still torn up. Nick once broke the springs on an expensive couch mimicking WWE wrestlers and flinging himself off of the arm rest and onto the cushions. He also said he is responsible for his fair share of broken lamps.
Nick credits his brothers with toughening him up. Despite the injuries and broken furniture, he values his experiences playing at home.
“The house was very hectic, it was very crazy,” Nick said. “There were a lot of fights, but we had a ton of fun together growing up, and I really wouldn’t have had it any other way. It has shaped me a lot as a person.”
Michael and Nick were in high school together for one year. At Mary Institute and Country Day School in St. Louis, Michael was a senior when Nick was a freshman. That year, the brothers were teammates on the football team.
On the 2011 MICDS Rams team, Michael was an All-State linebacker and led the team to the State Championship game. Nick dressed for the varsity team and had fond memories of watching his brother from the sidelines.
“We had a lot of awesome guys on the team, but he was the (main) guy on that team,” Mike said. “And watching him and seeing how to be a leader and how to run a team … meant a lot to me. And I think it helped me a lot through high school with being a captain of the wrestling team, doing all that stuff and helping out a lot of other kids.”
In high school, Michael was also a formidable running back for the MICDS team and a standout basketball player. Nick played football and wrestled.
When Nick was deciding where to go to college, he was influenced by the opportunity to go to school with Michael.
“There were a lot of cool schools I checked out, but to be able to have Mikey with me, as I have most of my life, was really important,” he said.
Since Nick has been at school, the Scherer brothers have seen each other a number of times. The brothers have hung out at Michael’s house, which he shares with Mizzou center Evan Boehm.
Nick said Michael has been helpful in his transition from high school to college.
“Michael has been great,” Scherer said. “Michael has been helping me do what I want and find people to meet, places to go and that’s been very helpful.”
Nick is planning on attending every football game, and he said Michael will come to as many wrestling matches as possible.
Like Nick, Michael is also grateful for the impact his brothers have had on him. He credits his brothers with helping him grow as a person and athlete.
“My brothers have helped me with everything,” Scherer said. “My brothers are the reason I’m here today.”