Jason Nickal may be a newer name among Centre County’s high school wrestling coaches, but for anyone with the slightest awareness of local mat endeavors, his name rings a bell. Or maybe a gong or two.
That’s because Jason is the father of Bo Nickal, the legendary Penn State alum who captured individual NCAA wrestling crowns in 2017, 2018 and 2019 and helped spark the Nittany Lions to team titles from 2016 to 2019. In due time, however, Jason may be as well known locally for his coaching as his son is for competing.
The senior Nickal is a craftsman of a coach who is known nationally for guiding Bo’s development prior to his arrival at Penn State and for successfully coaching high school teams in Colorado, Wyoming, Texas, New Mexico and Kentucky.
After moving to Happy Valley in 2023 with his wife, Sandy, the senior Nickal served as a State College High School assistant coach in 2023-24. He then became the Little Lions’ head coach prior to last season, prompting the school’s former athletic director, Chris Weakland, to say: “I felt like we hit the lottery.”
Having enjoyed an interview with both of Bo’s parents last January, I appreciated another in-depth conversation with Jason last week. As you’ll see below, I asked him about his progress with the State High team, the prospects of battling other Centre County schools, and his hopes for the Little Lions to become a power in Pennsylvania high school wrestling. (Last year, State College finished with a dual meet record of 5-4, but this year’s team is 7-3 after Tuesday’s 56-7 thumping of Williamsport. Adding to the future’s bright outlook is the success of the junior high team, now 9-4 and the champions of the 12-team Clearfield Square One Tournament.)
You’re now in your second year as State High’s head wrestling coach, and I’d like to hear your thoughts on progress that’s been made.
Nickal: One of the first things that I set out to do was to make sure that we had good communication between our youth wrestling program, our junior high wrestling program and our high school wrestling program. And that’s intact. By building that continuity, we’ll keep more of our youth and junior high kids wrestling up into high school, and that’s a big thing for me. I want as many kids wrestling as possible at all three levels. Right now, we have over 100 in the youth program, over 50 wrestling in the junior high program and over 40 wrestling in the high school program. So our numbers are all headed in the right direction.
I know that development at a younger age is really critical in wrestling, but why is that? A really good athlete can probably step into football in ninth or tenth grade without missing too much, so why is it harder to do that in wrestling?
Nickal: Yeah, you can step into track and field, and if you’re fast, you’re fast, right? On the football field, if you’re big and strong and you have some speed, you’re going to have success. But you’re correct in saying that wrestling is really a developmental sport. You don’t play wrestling. You’ve got to learn how to wrestle and it’s not a game like some other sports. It’s pretty unforgiving if you don’t know what you’re doing.
Maybe you won’t mind if I bring in Bo as an example. How old was he when he started wrestling and was he great from day one or did he have to go through a development process?
Nickal: Bo was in my wrestling room when I was coaching high school teams from really, really early on. We’re talking four or five years old, right? So he was at a huge advantage because his exposure came so early and he had a strong foundation watching me coach state champions and All Americans in high school. All he had to do was pay attention and buy in. And he did, so he was always pretty good. But he wasn’t really great until later on in his career.
Was there a particular factor that allowed him to move from good to great?
Nickal: I just think it was natural development. He was always on the tall and slender side in his build. A lot of times at the youth level and into junior high wrestling, the kids that are a little bit stronger and more mature have success early on. So Bo had to learn technique to combat those mature, strong kids. In his eighth grade year, he was 103 pounds. And in ninth grade, he was 125 pounds. But then, in his senior year, he was bouncing between 172 and 182 pounds. So first he learned the technical side, and then later the physical came along. By then, he was a big guy wrestling with little guy technique and a fast pace. That’s when he really started to shine.
Has Bo come out to any of your State High practices or meets this year and offered help to various wrestlers?
Nickal: He’s come to a couple of our meets, and we’ve discussed techniques and strategy. But he doesn’t have the time to really get into our practice room this year. He’s been staying pretty busy now that he has two boys. But I’ll work on getting him in there probably prior to districts and regionals.
What are the key components in your coaching approach?
Nickal: A couple things that I really focus on are consistency and positivity. I really preach coming in every day, working your hardest, staying consistent with your training—whether that’s your nutrition, your sleep, your lifestyle, the people that you hang out with. And I really encourage them; I tell them when I see improvement. I think as long as they stay in a positive mindset and consistently put forth the effort, they don’t have a choice but to get better on a daily basis.
How do you feel this year’s team is coming along?
Nickal: Well, it’s definitely a work in progress. We’re wrestling a whole lot better now than we were the first week of the season, and that’s the plan, right? Just continue to get better. And we’re a young team. We’ve got several freshmen and sophomores in the starting lineup and we only have one senior in the starting lineup. So we’re learning a lot, and I adapted our schedule this year to meet the needs of our team. We’ve gotten a lot more matches in our schedule this year, and that was intentional because we really need to develop some maturity on the mat. There’s one way to do that—getting matches.
Do you have any idea what opponents say when State High walks into their gym? What’s the book on your team?
Nickal: I really don’t think about that too much. I try to focus on our kids and what they’re thinking. Some of the tournaments we go to are very challenging and I really focus on our kids coming in with a positive mindset of, “Oh, I’ve got this really tough kid first round and that’s a great opportunity to see where I’m at.” Not to go in and worry about how tough a kid is or what he’s ranked, but to focus on one’s own performance. And if eventually teams see us walk in and they’re like, “Oh man, that’s a really tough team from top to bottom,” that’s my goal.
What are the things that make your coaching distinctive? Maybe you have a motto, a theme or a workout routine that’s unique.
Nickal: I talk to the kids a lot about how wrestling can help them develop in life. I show them parallels between the success that they’ll have on the mat and the success they’ll have in the classroom or with their family or friends or even if they’re applying for a job. So that’s one of the things that I’ve really always focused on: “Don’t just be great on the mat, be great in life.” I think those two things go hand in hand. And when our wrestlers take their lessons and apply them to their overall lives, then I think that we’re developing people, right? They’ll be pillars of the communities that they live in.
Wrestling is a tough sport by itself, and then these kids have to do their studies and take care of other things in life. So I guess complaining would be normal. Do you have any whiners in the group?
Nickal: We’ve got a great group of kids. They don’t complain. They don’t whine. There’s never been a time where I’ve had to say, “Come on guys, we got to do this” and they’ve said, “Oh, come on, coach.” That’s the wonderful thing about this State College group. They’re all great kids, hardworking. That’s a testament to their parents and a testament to the team culture.
Who are some of the more outstanding wrestlers on this year’s team?
Nickal: Our team leader on the mat, no doubt, is James Whitbred (26-5). He’s a returning state placer and he placed fourth at Powerade, arguably one of the top two tournaments in the nation. He’s leading the team in wins, he’s leading the team in takedowns, he’s leading the team in a lot of statistical categories, and he’s a great example on the mat. So start with him. Then we’ve got his brother, Jon Whitbred (14-9), who at 133 is a great leader, a vocal leader. He helps get the practices started every day. So both James and Jon are very valuable. And their dad was instrumental in the development of the State College Youth Wrestling program, so they’re really ingrained in the culture of wrestling as a family.
And then we have the Young brothers, there’s three of them. Two of them are in the varsity lineup, Noah Young (17-8), a junior at 114 pounds, and Luke Young (19-6), a sophomore at 121. And then we have Scotty Young, a freshman who’s a backup at 127. Their dad, Scott Sr., was also a big part of the development of the youth wrestling program, and he’s a volunteer assistant on our coaching staff. So those three boys, they’re just tough as nails. They’re consistent. You won’t find a harder working family than the Young family. We’ve also got a move-in, Kael Davis (15-6), who is a sophomore at 127. He moved in last year and is originally from New Orleans and his dad, Pat, is also a volunteer. So you can see that there’s some heavy parent involvement with some of our best wrestlers. Kael is one of our team leaders, and he’s doing exceptionally well.
Then we have two young studs, freshmen. At 172, Teag Sanderson (21-7), and then at 189, Noah Williams (18-8). You know both of their dads are successful coaches. Teag’s dad, of course, is Cael, the head wrestling coach at Penn State. And then Noah Williams’ dad has been a baseball coach in the State College community. So once again, you see a pattern with these kids that are having a lot of success; their parents are heavily involved.
Can you elaborate a little bit more on the Williams boy and the Sanderson boy? I believe they’re emerging stars.
Nickal: What makes them special is not only are they young, but they’re wrestling in two of the tougher upper weight classes. So basically when you’re above 170 pounds, like the 172 or 189 weight class, you’re going to wrestle predominantly juniors and seniors. When those guys enter into a tournament like King of the Mountain or Powerade, when you look at their brackets they’ll be loaded with upperclassmen. You hardly ever see ninth or 10th graders, especially ninth graders, at that level. And the fact that they are wrestling varsity, placing at some of these tournaments and being as competitive as they are, it’s a testament to how athletic they are and how mature they are for being in ninth grade. They’re handling it very, very well.
As you look ahead, do you have a goal in the back of your mind? Maybe you want to have a state champ every year. Or maybe multiple state champs every year…
Nickal: My goal is to get these kids qualified for the state tournament. And we have such a tough district and region that if we can take care of business and get our kids qualified for states out of our region, we’re going to have a good opportunity to be on the podium. The state tournament is a unique event where crazy things happen. You might not be ranked in the top eight, but you might end up on the podium if you put it all together at the right time.
Let’s talk a little more about the PIAA tournament. I know you coached high school wrestling in five other states before moving to Pennsylvania. When people around the country talk about wrestling, is there a special aura around the PIAA?
Nickal: Oh, most definitely. It’s not a secret that the PIAA puts out some of the best wrestlers in the nation every single year. And it’s probably not only the quality, but the quantity of wrestlers. I mean, you’ve got wrestlers that don’t qualify for State in the PIAA that could be high, high placers in other states.
Shifting gears a bit, how does the success of Penn State’s program affect your program?
Nickal: It definitely has an impact on our program. If you look back the last couple years, we’ve had Casey Cunningham’s sons on our team—Hayden Cunningham (a 2023 PIAA place winner) and Asher Cunningham (PIAA champ in 2024 and 2025). Right now, of course, we have Teag Sanderson, Cael’s son, on our team and Mason Sanderson, Cody’s boy, is a senior on our team. So we’ve had a big influence not just from the success of the program but from their sons wrestling on our team. And it’s been fortunate for me that I’ve been able to be in the Penn State practice room to see how they do things, to see how they treat the kids. I look at what they’re having success with, and I try to simulate that in our practice room.
I’ve noticed that the crowds for home meets are starting to grow, but I’m wondering if you might begin to schedule some of the other local schools to rekindle old rivalries?
Nickal: That’s a discussion that I’ve had with our administration, with our athletic directors. I’m saying, “We have such strong programs in Centre County. Why are we not wrestling Penns Valley? Why are we not wrestling Bald Eagle or Bellefonte or Phillipsburg-Osceola?” I would love to have a county championship. I don’t know if the other coaches feel the same way about it, but if they do, that’d be awesome.
So you hope that something like that can be scheduled in the future?
Nickal: Yeah, for sure. For sure. But it’s a little bit tricky because the PIAA limits us on the number of events that we can have in a year. And nobody really wants to change their schedule too much if they’re comfortable with their schedule. So it would have to be the right scenario for all the local teams to be able to make it happen.
Is it more likely for you to be part of a Centre County tournament or maybe just begin with a dual meet against Bellefonte or Bald Eagle?
Nickal: Maybe we would try to get started with a dual. I mean, we would love to wrestle Bellefonte. They’re in our class (AAA), they’re just a hop skip and a jump down the road, and I think it would make sense. But sometimes teams are a little bit worried about seeing their district opponents too many times, and we see Bellefonte in a couple tournaments and at districts and regionals, so I know we’re seeing them at least four, maybe five times already.
Hey, one last question. Is State High an emerging power in Pennsylvania high school wrestling?
Nickal: Yes, 100 percent. We’re going to surprise a lot of people, hopefully this year. The way I develop programs, it’s usually on a three-year plan, and the third year is when we really reflect what I’m trying to accomplish. We’re in year two, and I’d like to hit that emergence this year. If not, we’re definitely headed in the right direction.
