Bemidji's Nate Schwinghammer has found a home in the ring after boxing in national tournament

Jun. 1—BEMIDJI — On May 11, Nate Schwinghammer was preparing for one of the biggest fights of his young boxing career.

He never expected to be in that position four years ago.

As a freshman at Bemidji State in 2022, Schwinghammer was a defensive end for the football team. He was looking for something fun to do outside of football when he discovered boxing at the Bemidji Boxing Club. He would see familiar faces, like former Bemidji High School resource officer Joe Lorenzi, but the environment and people were mostly new to him.

As a former wrestler for the Lumberjacks, combat sports have been in his blood. Boxing just seemed like a perfect fit.

“I just started boxing because I thought it would be fun,” he said. “Me and my dad will always watch MMA together. And then I just saw boxing, and boxing was one of the only things in Bemidji to do that kind of had something to do with fighting. So I just started trying it.”

A bad back injury forced him to rethink his future in football. Boxing was an easy solution to fill his competitive void.

Not only did he enjoy the sport, but Schwinghammer became good at it. At 198 pounds, Schwinghammer won the 2026 Upper Midwest Golden Gloves Championship, beating out competition from Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.

It brought him to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the Golden Gloves of America National Championship on May 11, the premier amateur boxing tournament.

Schwinghammer entered the opening 198-pound match 11-2, set to face John Purnell of Washington, D.C. Schwinghammer gave it his all, but lost to Purnell, who made it all the way to the semifinals.

Despite the loss, the experience was something Schwinghammer will never forget. He got to meet boxers from all across the country, and he got to meet some of the great professionals, including Teofimo Lopez and Christy Martin, who had a movie made about her career just last year.

Still, his best boxing memory to date would have to be one month earlier, at the Upper Midwest Golden Gloves of America Championship in Waite Park.

Three months after quitting football, Schwinghammer had his first official boxing match. It kick-started a love for a sport that he doesn’t see stopping anytime soon.

Schwinghammer is a competitor at heart, he said. Anything he does, he likes to be the best he can be. Boxing has helped the 22-year-old scratch his competitive itch after his football career came to a close.

“It just gives you something to work for,” he said. “I feel like, as guys, you always need something to work towards or you just kind of feel lost, you know what I mean? You can work for it. That’s what it’s done for me.”

It also became a good way for him to stay active. As a defensive end for the Beavers, Schwinghammer weighed as much as 275 pounds. Now, he fights in the 198-pound weight class.

“I lost six pounds in one of my fights,” he said, “and it was only around 10 minutes long.”

This year, he competed in the Upper Midwest Golden Gloves of America Championship, one of his first competitive boxing tournaments.

With the new experience came nerves. His first match was against Eduardo Cardona, a fighter who had over 50 fights under his belt, much more than Schwinghammer.

“He was really good, and I’ve always wanted to fight him, but we never really lined up to fight,” Schwinghammer said of Cardona. “It was a lot of fun.”

Schwinghammer lost the first round, but came back in rounds two and three to win the match. For his efforts, he received a championship belt — not a plastic one that you can get in the toy section, but a real-deal belt made of leather to signify his victory.

After his loss at nationals this month, his career record sits at 11-3. Getting back to the national event next year is a goal he can works towards.

Until then, Schwinghammer hopes to go into project management for construction after graduating from BSU.

But boxing will still be a part of his life.

“I just really liked (boxing) after my first time,” he detailed. “It was awesome. I just stuck with it and kept boxing, and probably will for the rest of my life, to be honest.”