Wrestling: Nickal leads Penn State past Ohio State for national title

Trailing Ohio State by 6 points entering the final round Saturday night, head coach Cael Sanderson said it was understood that the outcome would likely rest on the 184-pound bout between his Bo Nickal and Myles Martin of the Buckeyes. That it did.

"I was feeling a little bit for Bo," he said, "because we knew regardless of what happened we had to win that match."

In Penn State's four preceding bouts, the Nittany Lions had crowned three national champs. Zain Retherford got the ball rolling in what was his 94th consecutive victory, which finishes as a school record.

Ronnie Perry of Lock Haven kept it tight with Retherford for most of the match, but Retherford eventually prevailed, 6-2, boosted by 1 minute and 45 seconds of riding time. With his collegiate career coming to an end – and now joining Ed Ruth as the only three-time NCAA champs in program history – it was a bittersweet moment for the senior.

"I felt a lot of emotions today for sure," he said. "I know my heart was racing all last night and pretty much all today. So I took a walk in the sun and went and saw the lake a little bit, just to get my mind off of things. But definitely emotions are going and you've got to kind of relax. That's what makes this tournament different."

Afterward Retherford was awarded as the season's "Most Dominant Wrestler" by the NCAA.

Jason Nolf followed up Retherford's victory with one of his own by the same score. Compiling 1:31 of riding time, Nolf topped Hayden Hidlay of NC State, 6-2. The decision put the Nittany Lions ahead of the Buckeyes, but it was not yet clinched at that time.

After an injury held Nolf out for the last month of the regular season and limited him to only two matches at the conference tournament a couple weeks ago, he acknowledged how his hurt knee impacted his run to a second-straight national title.

"I definitely felt a little bit slower since I got injured, but I feel better now than I did before," he said. "Just overall, physically, I was a little bit slower. I think hesitant because I wanted to protect my knee. I could do everything that I used to, but I just wanted to protect my knee, not put myself in any bad situations to be out longer. Just finding opportunities to score. A couple of times I felt (Hidlay) reach in and post it and get the leg. And the other time I kind of passed his elbow by and got the leg. So I was just waiting for those opportunities. So a little bit different than my normal style, instead of going and getting it I have to be a little bit more patient so I don't get myself in those situations. But I think I did a really good job this week."

In a rematch of last year's 165-pound final, Penn State's Vincenzo Joseph faced Illinois' Isaiah Martinez once again. Similar to last season's, in which Joseph pinned Martinez with an inside trip, the Nittany Lion scored his initial points off a similar move. Although it didn't result in a pin this time, it lifted him to a 6-1 victory. Joseph earned an additional point off a penalty from an inadvertent head butt from Martinez.

It was their fifth career meeting with Joseph's only wins coming in the national final this year and last. In their most recent match, Martinez prevailed in the Big Ten final and Joseph built on that experience over the past two weeks to get revenge once against Saturday night.

"At Big Tens I felt like I was a little too relaxed," said Joseph. "This match I kind of wanted to come out aggressive, push the pace a little bit to make it work a little bit in my favor. That's what I did."

Penn State inched closer toward securing its crown after 165, but it fell short of repeating last year's unprecedented feat of crowning five consecutive individual champions.

In a thriller against Arizona State 174-pounder Zahid Valencia, Mark Hall wasn't able to overcome the back and forth. After a last-ditch cement mixer attempt as time was expiring Hall surrendered a third takedown of the bout to fall, 8-2, with 1:29 riding time.

In the bowels of Quicken Loans Arena after the match, although they were thrilled for the team championship and the collective success of their wrestlers, assistant coaches Cody Sanderson and Casey Cunningham couldn't avoid pangs of sorrow for Hall.

"We know what it feels like to be disappointed," said Cody Sanderson, who finished in second place twice during his athletic career at Iowa State. "We know what it feels like to not reach goals. Let's just hope those guys don't have to feel the same thing. Unfortunately we had a couple guys get where they wanted to get tonight and we had some guys put on some incredible performances and we get to call ourselves national champions again."

"We're happy, we're grateful that we win, but we have guys who don't accomplish their goals," added Cunningham who finished as a runner-up in 1998 for Central Michigan before wining a title in '99. "I know how hard Mark Hall wins and how good he is. We have four champions and he's not a champion. Nick Nevills (who finished seventh at 285) didn't accomplish what he wanted to accomplish. I think Nick Lee (who finished fifth at 141) had a great tournament. Again, we won. That's awesome but you just feel for the guys and you want to go back to work so they can accomplish their goals next year."

They'll do so without Retherford, but Penn State's seven other All-Americans return for at least one more year of eligibility. That includes Nickal, who capped this whole thing off.

In his ninth career meeting against Martin of OSU, Nickal prevailed amid fireworks. Two years ago, Martin pbeat Nickal in the NCAA 174-pound final, 11-9, by throwing him to his back. This time at 184, Martin hit an eerily similar move. However, Nickal countered by rolling through and planting Martin's shoulders to the mat for the fall in 2:30.

"I'm going to wrestle through every position," Nickal said. "I'm going to keep going, keep looking to score points, keep looking to put people on their backs – no matter what the situation, whether I'm up one or down by one, whatever the score is. I think that just comes with the mindset of just making the most of your opportunity and using all the time that you have."

Amid the post-match celebration, Nickal launched his headgear into the air, for which the officials deducted a team point. By that point, though, the team race was out of reach of the Buckeyes and the Nittany Lions had officially won its third consecutive crown and its seventh in the past eight years.

Nickal could barely contain the excitement.

"That's what I want," he said. "I want to be out there with the team title on the line and just be able to have the opportunity to go win it for our team. And that was what was the main focus in my mind at that point."

Afterward, Nickal was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. Sanderson was named Coach of the Year by the NWCA.

Officially, Penn State outscored the Buckeyes by seven points, 141.5-133.5. Ohio State was also deducted a team point after the celebration of heavyweight Kyle Snyder, who won the only individual championship for his team.

1. Penn State - 141.5

2. Ohio State - 133.5

3. Iowa - 97.0

T-4. Michigan - 80.0

T-4. Michigan - 80.0

133: Corey Keener, Sr. – unseeded – DNP

Rd. 1: No. 11 Dom Forys, Pittsburgh – LBF (4:57)

Cn. 1: Cam Sykora, North Dakota State – W, 9-7 dec.

Cn. 2: Rico Montoya, Northern Colorado – LBF (4:27)

141: Nick Lee, Fr. – No. 8 seed – All-American (5th Place)

Rd. 1: Ryan Diehl, Maryland – LBF (2:12)

Cn. 1: No. 9 Josh Alber, Northern Iowa – W, 7-3 dec.

Cn. 2: No. 10 Mason Smith, Central Michigan – W, 5-0 dec.

Cn. 3: No. 16 Cole Weaver, Indiana – W, 13-5 maj. dec.

Rd. 12: No. 12 Tyler Smith, Bucknell – W, 13-6 dec.

Cn. Q: SaDarien Perry, Eastern Michigan – W, 12-4 maj. dec.

Cn. Semi: No. 2 Jaydin Eirman, Missouri – L, 4-12 maj. dec.

5th Place: No. 5 Kevin Jack, North Carolina State – W, 9-7 (SV) dec.

149: Zain Retherford, Sr. – No. 1 seed – four-time All-American – CHAMPION

Rd. 1: Kyle Springer, Eastern Michigan – W, 16-1 TF (7:00)

Rd. 2: No. 16 Alfred Bannister, Maryland – WBF (2:29)

Qtrs: No. 8 Boo Lewallen, Oklahoma State – W, 20-2 TF (5:00)

Semis: No. 4 Troy Heilmann, North Carolina – W, 10-4 dec.

Finals: No. 15 Ronnie Perry, Lock Haven – W, 6-2 dec.

157: Jason Nolf, Jr. – No. 3 seed – three-time All-American – CHAMPION

Rd. 1: Colin Heffernan, Central Michigan – W, 22-7 TF (7:00)

Rd. 2: No. 14 Andrew Crone, Wisconsin – W, 6-1 dec.

Qtrs: No. 6 Michael Kemerer, Iowa – W, 6-2 dec.

Semis: No. 7 Micah Jordan, Ohio State – W, 16-0 TF (4:28)

Finals: No. 1 Hayden Hidlay, North Carolina State – W, 6-2 dec.

165: Vincenzo Joseph, So. – No. 3 seed – two-time All-American – CHAMPION

Rd. 1: Jonathan Schleifer, Princeton – W, 15-4 maj. dec.

Rd. 2: No. 14 Branson Ashworth, Wyoming – W, 3-1 dec.

Qtrs: No. 11 Isaiah White, Nebraska – W, 4-2 (SV2)

Semis: No. 2 David McFadden, Virginia Tech – W, 3-1 dec.

Finals: No. 1 Isaiah Martinez, Illinois – W, 6-1 dec.

174: Mark Hall, So. – No. 2 seed – two-time All-American – Runner-Up

Rd. 1: Austin Rose, Drexel – W, 12-2 maj. dec.

Rd. 2: No. 15 Dylan Lydy, Purdue – W, 21-3 (TF; 6:54)

Qtrs: No. 7 Taylor Lujan, Northern Iowa – W, 6-2 dec.

Semis: No. 3 Daniel Lewis, Missouri – WBF (6:22)

Finals: No. 1 Zahid Valencia, Arizona State – L, 2-8 dec.

184: Bo Nickal, Jr. – No. 1 seed – three-time All-American – CHAMPION

Rd. 1: Martin Mueller, South Dakota State – W, 16-4 maj. dec.

Rd. 2: No. 16 Jordan Ellingwood, Central Michigan – W, 10-4 dec.

Qtrs: No. 9 Max Dean, Cornell – W, 13-7 dec.

Semis: No. 5 Domenic Abounader, Michigan – W, 6-3 dec.

Finals: No. 2 Myles Martin, Ohio State – WBF (2:29)

197: Shakur Rasheed, Jr. – No. 5 seed – All-American (7th Place)

Rd. 1: Sawyer Root, The Citadel – W, 13-5 maj. dec.

Rd. 2: Daniel Chaid, North Carolina – W, 14-3 maj. dec.

Qtrs: No. 4 Michael Macchiavello, North Carolina State – L, 4-5 dec.

Rd. 12: No. 7 Frank Mattiace, Penn – W, 6-5 dec.

Cn. Q: No. 1 Kollin Moore, Ohio State – L, 4-7 dec.

7th Place: No. 6 Willie Miklus, Missouri – W, 11-3 maj. dec.

285: Nick Nevills, Jr. – No. 3 seed – All-American (7th Place)

Rd. 1: Stephen Suglio, Kent State – WBF (5:24)

Rd. 2: No. 14 Michael Boykin, North Carolina State – W, 5-4 (TB2)

Qtrs: No. 6 Amar Dhesi, Oregon State – L, 2-4 dec.

Rd. 12: Jere Heino, Campbell – W, 6-1 dec.

Cn. Q: No. 5 Sam Stoll, Iowa – L, 1-3 (SV)

7th Place: No. 12 Youssif Hemida, Maryland – W, 7-5 dec.

**Courtesy of GoPSUSports.com