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Penn State Wrestling Wins NCAA Championship, Claims 4 Individual Titles

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By

Anthony Colucci

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By Anthony Colucci and Geoff Rushton

The wild, back-and-forth NCAA Championship weekend between Penn State and Ohio State ended in favor of the Nittany Lions.

Penn State clinched the team title — its seventh in eight years — with a fall by Bo Nickal over Ohio State’s Myles Martin in the 184 pound final. 

Late in the first period Martin got in for a takedown and momentarily had Nickal on his back. But Nickal quickly muscled a reversal and pinned Martin at 2:29 for his second consecutive national title.

‘That’s what we do at Penn State,’ Nickal said after the win. ‘You come to Penn State, you win big matches, you win team titles.’

 

 


In addition to Nickal, Zain Retherford, Jason Nolf, and Vincenzo Joseph all won their finals matches Saturday night. Mark Hall dropped a tough 8-2 decision to Arizona State’s Zahid Valencia to take second at 174 pounds.

In his final collegiate match, Retherford took on No. 15 seed Ronnie Perry of Lock Haven, who made a surprising run to the 149 pound final. Retherford took a 4-1 lead in the first period, and though the Nittany Lion remained in control for the rest of the match, Perry managed to limit him to an escape and a riding time point the rest of the way.

Retherford’s 6-2 decision was his 94th consecutive win and made him Penn State’s second three-time national champion, joining Ed Ruth.

 

 


Nolf, the No. 3 seed, completed his comeback from a late January knee injury with his second consecutive title at 157. Facing No. 1 seed Hayden Hidlay of NC State. Nolf followed a similar route as Retherford, taking a 5-1 lead into the third period and securing a riding time point for a 6-2 victory and his second consecutive title.

The 165-pound title bout was a rematch of last year’s that saw Joseph stun Illinois’ top-seeded Isaiah Martinez with a pin. Martinez got a measure of revenge two weeks ago with a 4-1 decision in the Big Ten championship match, and looked to set the pace early on in the national title bout. But Joseph got a late first period throw for a takedown and two near fall points for an early 4-0 lead.

Joseph thwarted Martinez the rest of the way, allowing only an escape point for a 6-1 decision and his second consecutive national title.

Hall fell to top-seeded Zahid Valencia of Arizona State in an 8-2 decision.

Valencia and Hall, two of the most athletic and scoring-happy wrestlers in the nation, put on a show of scrambles for seven minutes. Valencia however held the upper hand throughout the bout. After Hall escaped to tie the score 2-2 to begin the second period, Valencia pulled away with six straight points to earn his first national title and avenge last season’s semifinal loss.

Earlier on Saturday, Penn State picked up some key points in the medal round. After an opening round loss by fall, freshman Nick Lee finished a terrific tournament run winning third place at 141. Shakur Rasheed and Nick Nevills, meanwhile, both placed seventh at 197 and heavyweight, respectively.

Penn State’s eight All-Americans tied a program record set in 1987.

A big Friday night performance by Penn State, which won five semifinals matches, catapulted the Nittany Lions past the Buckeyes in the team race, overcoming a double-digit deficit to open a double-digit lead of their own.

After Saturday morning’s medal round, the Buckeyes took a six-point lead. But Penn State had five wrestlers in the finals to Ohio State’s two and the Nittany Lions took care of business. Nolf’s win put Penn State ahead in the team standings before Nickal’s victory put it out of reach. Buckeye Kyle Snyder defeated Michigan’s Adam Coon in the heavyweight final to finalize the team score with Penn State at 141.5 and Ohio State at 134.5