Nicholas Zeller-Singh is the new sports reporter for the Bainbridge Island Review and North Kitsap Herald, along with other Sound Publishing newspapers in Kitsap County.

Zeller-Singh lives on BI now, but recently graduated cum laude from Arizona State University with a bachelor’s degree in sports journalism and a minor in digital audience.

While in college he worked for Flo Sports, a digital media market, and wrote feature articles on the Pac-12 along with Arizona high school wrestling. He also worked in a digital audience lab at ASU. He was an intern for the San Francisco Examiner and was a writer for Arizona PBS/Cronkite News, where he wrote about topics such as auto racing, wheelchair football and gender barriers.

“We are fortunate to get someone like Nick right out of college,” editor Steve Powell said. “He’s already come up with some fascinating story ideas, and I look forward to him writing some this summer before heading into the busy prep season in the fall.”

Zeller-Singh grew up in Concord, CA and played safety and receiver for the Northgate High School football team in Walnut Creek. But he excelled in wrestling. After going 1-12 his freshman year at 105 pounds, he was 35-5 as a senior at 145 pounds and went to state.

The late Stuart Scott of ESPN was his role model, and he wanted to be a sportscaster; he did play by play of games when he was in school. But when he went to ASU he found out he liked the writing side better. “I was a lot more comfortable behind the camera,” he said, because he was able to connect more with people.

After growing up and going to college in big cities, Zeller-Singh said he’s excited about getting to know people and getting involved in Bainbridge. “It’s a whole different culture,” he said, adding he’s looking forward to “building bonds.”

Zeller-Singh replaces Mark Krulish on the staff.