After five years and four titles, the collegiate wrestling careers of Penn State seniors Jason Nolf and Bo Nickal come down to a final three days at the NCAA Wresting Championships in Pittsburgh.
These two have combined to win 227 times in 233 tries. Nolf's next bonus-point victory will be his 100th, and his next fall will be his 60th. It's likely both of those things could happen in his opening match Thursday afternoon against Ben Anderson of Duke or Alex Klucker of Lock Haven. That would be 100 bonus-point wins among 113 career victories, for nearly a jaw-dropping 89 percent.
Nickal, with 115 wins in 118 tries, is three falls behind Nolf's total of 59, but his style is more dynamic and 45 of his 56 pins have come in the first period, which is always a fan favorite.
But while that super duo won't be looking to pad statistics this weekend, they are well aware that bonus points are what has helped Penn State win seven of the last eight NCAA titles. The Nittany Lions are taking nine wrestlers to Pittsburgh in pursuit of their fourth straight crown and are basically overwhelming favorites with seven wrestlers seeded among the top three.
And it's a homecoming for Nolf, who wrestled scholastically for Kittanning, which is less than 60 miles away from the city.
"It's gonna be cool being in Pittsburgh because I grew up an hour outside of Pittsburgh and I'm gonna have a lot of family and friends and fans from home," Nolf said. "I'm not looking at it as anything different than it is, just an opportunity to go compete and get it done."
If Nolf and Nickal each get it done – and they are seeded No. 1 at their respective weight classes of 157 and 197 – they'll become just the third and fourth Penn State wrestlers ever to win three NCAA titles.
"You only get to wrestle at the national tournament four times if you're lucky," NIckal said. "This will be my fourth time and that's it. So I just want to make the most of it and I hope that I can go out there and focus on giving 100 percent of my effort and enjoying it. At the end of the day that's all I can ask of myself and that's what I'm going to do."
Penn State coach Cael Sanderson is running out of superlatives for the pair of aces.
"They're both just beyond words and extremely special, and guys -- in my opinion -- who will be remembered for as long as college wrestling exists," Sanderson said. "I think the two of them are two of the best who have ever stepped on the mat."
He didn't mean Penn State's mat; that was a generalization for the rich history of college wrestling overall. And he said they're more than ready for the next level. "I fully expect both of them to be really world title contenders this year," Sanderson said. "Obviously, they have to go do that, but if Jason Nolf and Bo Nickal both won world championships next fall, I wouldn't be surprised by that."
But first things first, right? There's another NCAA title to win and the Lions are fresh off winning their first Big Ten crown since 2016. "It's just a weekend of opportunity for us," Sanderson said. "I think our team's wrestled very well this year and they've set things up, but it's all about the finish.
"Finishing strong and getting what they want. As a coach I'm excited to see how the team's going to respond, I'm just excited for the opportunity and grateful we have a lot of great people and a great team to go with Pittsburgh with."
The nationals are not only the next tournament for Penn State, they are the last in a season that saw Penn State finish unbeaten in dual meets for the fourth straight year. That's history, though, Sanderson said.
"What we do this weekend is a completely different day, another story. It's going to be up to each individual to go do that again and wrestle with gratitude again and continue to try to be better than they were the day before," he said.
Penn State won last year's NCAAs by eight points over Ohio State, thanks to Nickal's spectacular first-period fall over the Buckeyes' Myles Martin in the 184-pound finals. The Lions won by 36.5 points in 2017 and by 25.5 in 2016. If things go well this week, it's possible the Lions' past winning margins could be eclipsed.
Ohio State, the only school with 10 qualifiers, has its eyes on the top prize, as does Oklahoma State. Challenges will be plenty and Sanderson knows the Lions need to get off to a better start than last season's event in Cleveland when their first two wrestlers were pinned in the first round.
"A tournament is a tournament and it's our job as a staff to make sure they don't get overwhelmed and make a bigger deal out of this than it really is," Sanderson said. "It's still just a sport; it's still just wrestling. But still important enough where we want to go in there and have a great performance."
Aiming to do just that, and joining Nolf and Nickal, are freshman Roman Bravo-Young at 133, sophomore Nick Lee at 141, freshman Brady Berge at 149, junior Vincenzo Joseph at 165, junior Mark Hall at 174 and seniors Shakur Rasheed and Anthony Cassar at 184 and 285. The latter pair has applied for a medical redshirt to receive an extra year of eligibility and Sanderson said the answer on that should come soon.
Here is a weight-by-weight NCAA preview:
125 Pounds
PENN STATE: No entry.
TOP CONTENDERS: Sebastian Rivera, Northwestern; Nick Piccininni, Oklahoma State; Spencer Lee, Iowa; Ronnie Bresser, Oregon State.
133
PENN STATE: Bravo-Young is the 10-seed in a weight class that's incredibly deep and strong. His first-round foe is Mario Guillen (17-3) of Ohio. His second-round opponent most likely will be Austin DeSanto, who beat him 12-8 at the Big Tens. "I want to win. I like my draw. I go against someone that I lost to in the second round at Big Tens. That motivates me. I’m excited,'' Bravo-Young said.
TOP CONTENDERS: Daton Fix, Oklahoma State; Stevan Micic, Michigan; Nick Suriano, Rutgers; Mickey Phillippi, Pitt.
141
PENN STATE: Lee is the 3-seed and will meet Big Ten foe Nate Limmex (18-15) of Purdue. He placed fifth last season as a freshman. "I just know what to expect. Last year was my first time around and I was pretty nervous," Lee said.
TOP CONTENDERS: Yianni Diakhomihalis, Cornell; Joey McKenna, Ohio State; Lee; Jaydin Eierman, Missouri.
149
PENN STATE: Berge is a 12-seed and is set to face Khristian Olivas (21-11) of Fresno State. "But after that (Big Ten) tournament I just feel like I've got to be myself and if I'm not myself, I'm not going to compete as well as I want to. So, I'm just going to be myself," Berge said.
TOP CONTENDERS: Anthony Ashnault, Rutgers; Micah Jordan, Ohio State; Mitch Finesilver, Duke; Brock Mauller, Missouri; Matt Kolodzik, Princeton.
157
PENN STATE: Nolf's first-round foe will come from a pigtail bout between Duke's Anderson (8-14) and Lock Haven's Klucker (21-9).
TOP CONTENDERS: Nolf, Nolf, Nolf and then Hayden Hidlay of NC State, Alec Pantaleo of Michigan and Tyler Berger of Nebraska
165
PENN STATE: Two-time defending champion Joseph has yet to win a Big Ten title, but thus far the trade-off has been quite worth it. Joseph, from Pittsburgh Central Catholic, will meet Evan Delong (16-13) of Clarion. "You know, I've always thought it'd be cool to wrestle in that arena back at home and getting the opportunity to do that is just amazing and like I said I'm looking forward to it," Joseph said. "It’s gonna be a pretty cool atmosphere, I think."
TOP CONTENDERS (and there are a lot of them): Alex Marinelli, Iowa; Evan Wick, Wisconsin; Josh Shields, Arizona State; Chance Marsteller, Lock Haven; Logan Massa, Michigan; Isaiah White, Nebraska; Mekhi Lewis, Virginia Tech, and, of course, Joseph.
174
PENN STATE: Hall, the 2017 champ and 2018 runner-up, is seeded No. 1 on the strength of his 4-0 dual meet victory over Arizona State's Zahid Valencia, the 2018 champ. Hall's first-round foe is either Devin Kane (15-13) of North Carolina or Jake Covaciu (17-12) of Indiana. "I'm ready for anything. You see 1 seeds and 2 seeds go down that first day, so if you don't come ready to wrestle, it can be some trouble," Hall said.
TOP CONTENDERS: Hall; Daniel Lewis, Missouri; Valencia; Myles Amine, Michigan.
184
PENN STATE: Rasheed is the 2-seed; Princeton's Kevin Parker (22-11) is his first-round foe. "The ultimate goal is to win a national title. That’s what I’m focused on doing," Rasheed said. "I’m going to go out there and leave it all out there and hope the result comes in my favor, which I 100 percent believe it will."
TOP CONTENDERS: Myles Martin, Ohio State; Rasheed; Zach Zavatsky, Virginia Tech; Emery Parker, Illinois; Nick Reenan, NC State; Ryan Preisch, Lehigh; Max Dean, Cornell; Tyler Venz, Nebraska; Drew Foster, Northern Iowa.
197
PENN STATE: Two-time champ Nickal is a bigger favorite than even teammate Nolf. First-round foe is either Rod Jones (20-18) of Chattanooga or Ethan Laird (19-11) of Rider.
TOP CONTENDERS: Nickal; Kollin Moore, Ohio State; Patrick Brucki, Princeton; Willie Miklus (three-time A-A), Missouri.
285
PENN STATE: Second-seeded Cassar opens against Zack Parker (15-12) of Ohio. "I would like to wrestle them both (Steveson and White) to leave no doubt I'm the best heavyweight in the nation," Cassar said. "With these kinds of seedings it looks like that may happen and I'm grateful for that. If it doesn't, I just want to be the champ either way."
TOP CONTENDERS: Derek White, Oklahoma State; Cassar; Gable Steveson, Minnesota; Jordan Wood, Lehigh; Amar Dhesi, Oregon State; Demetrius Thomas, Pitt.
ESPNU and ESPN will show each session. ESPNU will handle the daylight starting times of noon Thursday and 11 a.m. Friday and Saturday. ESPN will air in prime time the sessions starting at 7 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday and 7 p.m. Saturday.
