Nelson was born on November 14, 1987, in
Chisago City, Minnesota to Mark and Laurie Nelson. He was raised in
St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin. He did not play volleyball in high school at
St. Croix Falls High School, but did play basketball, baseball and cross country, earning MVP honors three times for the basketball team. Nelson is a 2011 graduate of
Ball State University, where he graduated summa cum laude with a finance and accounting degree. He earned a Master of Business Administration from Kentucky in May 2018 and is married to his husband, Mark Hemberger. Nelson started college at the
University of Minnesota, where he played for their men's club team. Eventually, Nelson played three seasons of
NCAA Division I men's volleyball as a
middle blocker for
Ball State University. In his final season in 2011, he was named to the
AVCA All-America Second Team. ==Coaching career==