Wrestling: Five to represent Penn State in NCAA finals Saturday night

ST. LOUIS – After two full days of the NCAA Wrestling Championships, Penn State is in the control of the team race by more than 30 points. After a perfect semifinal round, it will have five wrestlers competing in the championship round Saturday night (8 p.m./ESPN).

It's likely that even before the finals take place that the team race will be clinched, as only Ohio State and Oklahoma State are still mathematically in contention to dethrone the Nittany Lions, who have 121 total points. Second-place Ohio State (89.5) has just two finalists with four remaining in the consolations, while Oklahoma State (86.0) have just one finalist with seven remaining in the consolations.

With Nick Nevills securing a place at heavyweight, becoming the sixth All-American for PSU in 2017, PSU has six competitors who will wrestle at least one more time Saturday.

These five will be vying for an individual championship:

SEMIFINAL RESULT Retherford pinned Iowa's Brandon Sorensen, who was the fifth seed, in 2 minutes and 36 seconds. It was his Retherford's second win over Sorensen on the season after winning in sudden-victory overtime in Carver-Hawkeye Arena in January, 9-8. It was their fourth career meeting, including a 10-1 major decision for Retherford in last year's NCAA final.

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHUP The PSU junior draws third-seeded Lavion Mayes of Missouri, who topped seventh-seeded Max Thomsen, 4-2, in the semifinal. It will be the first career meeting between Retherford and Mayes.

IN HIS OWN WORDS "To be honest, I watched both of those matches (against Sorensen) right before this match in my hotel room," said Retherford. "Seeing what I did well and didn't do well, correcting the mistakes, but, yeah, I felt great in my NCAA finals match last year, and I took a couple of points from that into that match. Mainly the way I approached the match. I felt way too emotionally drained during the season when we first wrestled. Last year in the finals I wrestled free, like I like to wrestle, and I think I had more fun that way."

IN HIS OPPONENT'S WORDS "I only have this last match now in a Missouri singlet and thinking about it is sobering," said Mayes. "I can't compete collegiately anymore after this. So in this moment right now winning the national title is going to be more important. If you hit me up in three or four years I will be like, yeah, that was a fun time in my life, but I've got two little kids now, and I'm trying to pay bills and I got taxes and it's whatever you put into it. Right now I'm putting a lot into it, so hopefully I find a way not to be disappointed after this weekend."

SEMIFINAL RESULT Nolf won by major decision against fourth-seeded Tyler Berger of Nebraska, 13-5. It was their second meeting of the season after the PSU sophomore won in the dual meet, 15-7.

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHUP In what will be the second consecutive appearance in the 157-pound NCAA final, Nolf draws third-seeded Joey Lavallee of Missouri. It'll be their first career meeting.

IN HIS OWN WORDS "I'd just like to thank all the fans and everything out there, my family, and my girlfriend for supporting me through all this," said Nolf. "I'm not done yet. My goal isn't to make it to the national finals; it's to win. So that's what I'm here for, and I'm just looking forward to that."

IN HIS OPPONENT'S WORDS "He (Lavallee's father) has been a big role model, big influence," Lavallee said. "He's the first one that got me into wrestling, and pretty much I was born to be a wrestler. And my dad would take me, when I was like a little baby, he'd take me into the high school room and I've just been born and raised in the wrestling room."

SEMIFINAL RESULT In his first career meeting against Michigan's Logan Massa, Joseph scored the first takedown but it didn't come until the second period. Tied 2-2 heading into the third, Joseph escaped to take a 3-2 lead before tacking on a takedown with fewer than 30 seconds remaining to win, 5-4, afte a stall warning went against Joseph and Massa escaped.

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHUP The PSU redshirt freshman faces two-time NCAA champion Isaiah Martinez of Illinois, who jumped from 157 to 165 this season. It'll be their third meeting of the season and Martinez has been victorious in both. He won, 5-2, in the February dual meet before topping Joseph, 8-5, at the Big Ten Championships. They're the only losses that Joseph has yet to this season.

IN HIS OWN WORDS "I feel pretty good right now," said Joseph. "I feel like I wrestled tough so far. Another big match tomorrow night, but looking forward to it, and the way our team has been wrestling, I think we have a good shot of holding onto the first place lead."

IN HIS OPPONENT'S WORDS "The great thing about Vincenzo is he goes out there and he shoots and he wrestles a lot," said Martinez. "So he's really the only wrestler – him and Massa – who goes out there and tries to wrestle me, so they`re always good matches. I had a feeling Vincenzo was going to beat him. He`s been looking good recently. His tendencies are to keep shooting until the other guy can't defend himself anymore, but that works right into my plan. I have great re-shots, and I don't wear out like those other guys, so I'm excited. Another Penn State guy in the finals [after beating Nolf last year], and it should be a brawl."

SEMIFINAL RESULT Knotted 1-1 against top-seed Zahid Valencia of Arizona State, Hall surrendered a takedown in the third period. Upon instant replay review, however, the officials ruled that Valencia had tugged on Hall's head gear, a technical violation, and they overturned the takedown and awarded a penalty to point to Hall. With fewer than 30 seconds remaining, Hall scored the bout's only scored takedown to win, 4-3.

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHUP Hall faces third-seeded Bo Jordan of Ohio State, who bested Hall in the Big Ten final two weeks ago, 6-4, in sudden-victory overtime. It was their only meeting of the season.

IN HIS OWN WORDS "That was rough for me, losing that match (at Big Tens to Jordan), but at the same time, it was probably the best thing that could have happened to me," said Hall. "It's not like I was holding an undefeated record going in. I wasn't having any pressure on me, you know. You get on a big stage like that, that's where I compete my best, and that match, it definitely did not show. I've looked at my Big Ten second-place medal every day, and yeah, I'm just excited to be a part of the special thing Penn State has got going on right now."

IN HIS OPPONENT'S WORDS "It'll be exciting," said Jordan. "Got Mark Hall. He's really good. He was all over my legs last time, too. I'm sure he was working to get better, and I've been, too, so it'll be really fun to compete against him tomorrow and get after it, so I'm sure he's looking forward to it as well."

SEMIFINAL RESULT Nickal pinned third-seeded Sammy Brooks of Iowa in 1 minute and 2 seconds. It was the second fall for Nickal over Brooks on the season, as the first came in :38 in the January dual meet.

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHUP Nickal squares off against top-seeded Gabe Dean of Cornell, who has been the national champion of the 184-pound weight class the last two seasons. It'll be their first career matchup.

IN HIS OWN WORDS "I don't really feel like a win or a loss defines me," said Nickal. "It's not going to make or break me as a person. I'm just going to be who I am each and every day. Just because you win or lose on a wrestling mat doesn't mean that you're a different person after the loss. I just keep going, and it's life, you know. Some things aren't going to go your way. Just got to keep moving forward.

IN HIS OPPONENT'S WORDS "(Nickal) is very dangerous," Dean said. "As a senior, having the opportunity to compete for your last national title, I think it's pretty awesome that you get to face a great competitor, and I'm just really looking forward to the challenge that awaits me. …

"It's just another match at the end of the day. Two people get out of bed the same way, put on their clothes the same way, go to work the same way, just wrestling another match, and that's all it is. It's a lot of fun, you know, with all (the conversations about it being his last match) are really just distractions from the task at hand, and I'm just going to prepare the best way I can and wrestle the best I can. I can't control the rest. I'm just grateful for the opportunity, and looking forward to it."

1. Penn State - 121.0

2. Ohio State - 89.5

3. Oklahoma State - 86.0

4. Missouri - 81.5

5. Iowa - 74.0

141: Jimmy Gulibon, Sr.

Rd. 1: vs. No. 13 Javier Gasca, Michigan State – W, 18-3 (TF; 7:00)

Rd. 2: vs. No. 4 Matt Kolodzik, Princeton – L, 3-6 dec.

Con 2: vs. Timmy Box, Northern Colorado - W, 14-5 maj. dec

Con 3: vs. No. 12 Luke Pletcher, Ohio State - W, 11-4 dec.

Con 4: No. 2 Kevin Jack, North Carolina State - L, 4-6, dec.

149: No. 1 Zain Retherford, Jr. - ALL-AMERICAN

Rd. 1: vs. Joshua Maruca, Arizona State – W, 18-2 (TF; 4:55)

Rd. 2: vs. No. 16 Jordan Laster, Princeton – W, 16-0 (TF; 5:43)

Qtrs: vs. Alex Kocer, South Dakota State - W, 18-2 (TF; 5:13)

Semis: No. 5 Brandon Sorensen, Iowa - WBF (2:37)

NEXT - Finals: No. 3 Lavion Mayes, Missouri

157: No. 1 Jason Nolf, So. - ALL-AMERICAN

Rd. 1: vs. Thomas Bullard, North Carolina St. – W, 22-7 (TF; 7:00)

Rd. 2: vs. No. 16 Victor Lopez, Bucknell – W, 24-9 (TF; 7:00)

Qtrs: vs. B.J. Clagon, Rider - WBF (4:06)

Semis: No. 4 Tyler Berger, Nebraska - W, 13-5 maj. dec.

NEXT - Finals: No. 3 Joey Levallee, Missouri

165: No. 3 Vincenzo Joseph, Fr. - ALL-AMERICAN

Rd. 1: vs. Keaton Subjeck, Stanford – W, 5-1 dec.

Rd. 2: vs. No. 14 Branson Ashworth, Wyoming – W, 12-4 maj. dec.

Qtrs: vs. No. 6 Daniel Lewis, Missouri - W, 6-5 dec.

Semis: No. 2 Logan Massa, Michigan - W, 5-4 dec.

NEXT - Finals: No. 1 Isaiah Martinez, Illinois

174: No. 5 Mark Hall, Fr. - ALL-AMERICAN

Rd. 1: vs. David Kocer, South Dakota State – W, 8-2 dec.

Rd. 2: vs. Jadaen Bernstein, Navy – W, 16-0 (TF; 2:20)

Qtrs: vs. No. 4 Zach Epperly, Virginia Tech - W, 10-2 maj. dec.

Semis: No. 1 Zahid Valencia, Arizona State - W, 4-3 dec.

NEXT - Finals: No. 3 Bo Jordan, Ohio State

184: No. 2 Bo Nickal, So. - ALL-AMERICAN

Rd. 1: vs. Mitch Sliga, Northwestern – W, 15-0 (TF; 3:20)

Rd. 2: vs. No. 15 Steven Schneider, Binghamton – WBF (5:33)

Qtrs: vs. No. 7 TJ Dudley, Nebraska - WBF (4:33)

Semis: No. 3 Sammy Brooks, Iowa - WBF (1:02)

NEXT - Finals: No. 1 Gabe Dean, Cornell

197: No. 5 Matt McCutcheon, Jr.

Rd. 1: vs. Christian Brunner, Purdue – WBF (1:53)

Rd. 2: vs. No. 12 Frank Mattiace, Penn – W, 6-3 dec.

Qtrs: vs. No. 4 Jared Haught, Virginia Tech - L, 3-7 dec.

Con. 4 - No. 7 Aaron Studebaker, Nebraska - L, 2-13 maj. dec

285: No. 5 Nick Nevills, So. - ALL-AMERICAN

Rd. 1: vs. Doug Vollaro, Lehigh – W, 4-2 dec.

Rd. 2: vs. No. 12 William Miller, Edinboro – W, 6-2 dec.

Qtrs: No. 4 Jacob Kasper, Duke - L, 1-3 dec.

Con. 4: No. 15 Ryan Solomon, Pitt - W, 2-0 dec.

Con Qtrs: No. 8 Michael Kroells, Minnesota - W, 6-4 dec.

NEXT - Con Semis: No. 3 Ty Walz, Virginia Tech