ST. LOUIS — It is among the four best NCAA wrestling finals performances of all time. It is inarguably Penn State’s best NCAA finals performance ever. And, it capped the single best season in the 108-year history of Penn State wrestling.
The Nittany Lions accumulated six All-Americans, crowned five champions and produced the highest amount of points ever at a national tournament in program history during the 2017 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, March 16 through 18 at the Scottrade Center.
It was Penn State’s second consecutive championship and the sixth in the past seven years.
“This is very special,” Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson said. “We had, as a team, we had eight wrestling, and, what, six All-Americans. But Jimmy Gulibon had a great tourney, won three matches, picked up bonus points twice. Won a head-to-head match with a second-place team. That’s huge. He had a great tournament. Matt McCutcheon picked up a fall in the first round. Had a great year, wrestled well.”
5 CONSECUTIVE WINNERS
The Nittany Lions won five consecutive finals (from 149 through 184 pounds), the first team to ever accomplish that, and only the fourth team to crown five champions in the same year, joining Dan Gable’s 1986 and 1997 Iowa teams and coach John Smith’s 2005 Oklahoma State squad.
Penn State’s team total of 146.5 points is the most in school history, eclipsing the 143 the 2012 team scored. Ohio State was second with 110, Oklahoma State third with 103, Iowa fourth with 97 and Missouri fifth with 86.5.
Junior Zain Retherford (149) won his second title and ran his consecutive wins streak to 63. Sophomore Jason Nolf (157) won after losing in the finals last year. Freshman Vincenzo Joseph (165) beat a two-time defending champion and became the first redshirt freshman champion in school history. Freshman Mark Hall (174) won, becoming the first true freshman champion in school history. Sophomore Bo Nickal (184) dethroned a two-time defending champion, after losing in the finals a year ago.
Sophomore Nick Nevills (285) also earned All-America status after finishing fifth. Senior Gulibon (141) and junior McCutcheon (197) each lost in the Round of 12, one win short of earning All-America status.
Freshman 125-pounder Nick Suriano, who had been seeded No. 3, couldn’t compete, it was announced on the day before the tournament started. He had suffered a left ankle injury in the Feb. 19 NWCA Dual Championship Series win over Oklahoma State.
DOMINANCE
Retherford’s path to his second consecutive championship was dominant. He had three technical falls, a fall in the semifinals and, then, an 18-2 technical fall in 6:42 over Missouri No. 3 seed Lavion Mayes in the final.
Nolf blitzed his way to the title by rolling up two technical falls, a pin and then two major decisions, the last a 14-6 demolition of Missouri No. 3 seed Joey Lavallee.
“I am looking to get a pin out there every time no matter what. And I’m kind of upset a little bit when I don’t,” Nolf said. “So, even though I just won the national title, I’m still looking to improve. But I’m grateful for all of this.”
For Nolf, it was his chance to take one step to the top of the podium after falling in the finals last year to Isaiah Martinez, of Illinois.
“It was super heartbreaking last year. That was my goal. It was my goal to be a four-time national champ. That obviously stopped that,” Nolf said. “So, Martinez is a great competitor, and I have a lot of respect for the way he wrestles.”
SHOW-STOPPER
Joseph and two-time defending champion Martinez, who defeated Nolf in last year’s 157-pound final, put on quite a show. They exchanged shrug takedowns and escapes in the first period. In the second, Martinez had two escapes to Joseph’s takedown and the match was tied, 5-5, after two.
Joseph had 1:05 of riding time accumulated at the start of the third and escaped in five seconds, which looked huge at the time as he led 6-5.
But he and Martinez went over-under, chest-to-chest, a position Martinez scored with at the Big Ten Championships. This time, Joseph dumped the Illini to his back, feet flying and then settled in chest to chest and scored the fall, unleashing a thunderous roar.
“Well, he’s a phenomenal wrestler. He’s a bully on the mat. And this time I was definitely ready for that. I was coming right back at him,” Joseph said.
STRONG FINISH
Hall’s path started with an 8-2 decision and then a 16-0 technical fall and 10-2 major decision to get him into the final. Once there, he avenged a Big Ten Tournament loss to Ohio State’s Bo Jordan, 5-2.
“It’s all buildup. One day I want to be an Olympic champion. That’s my ultimate goal, and then coach my college team, just like coach Cael,” said Hall, who is just the 17th true freshman champion in the history of the tournament. “That’s the guy I look up to.”
Nickal obliterated four opponents on his way to the final, starting with a 15-0 technical fall in just 3:21, followed by pins in 5:34, 4:33 and 1:02. That set up a bout with two-time defending champion and four-time All-American Gabe Dean of Cornell.
The NCAA allowed fans to vote for the final match of the night and the vote settled on 184 pounds.
Nickal, who typically wrestles in an all-out, go-for-broke style, wrestled a tactical match to earn a 4-3 win.
“Hats off to him, because he’s a strong dude, good technique, holds good position. It was hard for me to get to my angles and positions but I capitalized when I needed to,” Nickal said.
The sophomore then explained what he thinks is some of the secret to Penn State’s success.
“I think that just excellence breeds excellence. And that’s what we’re doing at Penn State. So, each and every group that we get is top-notch. A kid not only as a wrestler, but as a person. And I feel that really is what’s going to make the difference over the long run,” Nickal said.
“I mean, there’s a lot of talent out there. But at Penn State we get the right kinds of people and kids with character. That shows. You see kids coming in like Nick Suriano, Mark Hall, Vincenzo, kids coming in, winning at the highest levels.”
Penn State’s seventh championship ties it with Oklahoma for fourth on the all-time list. Oklahoma State heads the list with 34, followed by Iowa with 23 and Iowa State with eight. The Lions’ previous titles came in 2016, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011 and 1953.
POTENTIAL FOR MORE
“I think it’s special now,” Sanderson said. “I’m having a good time. We’re excited about the future. We’ll enjoy this at least for a little while. If you’re coaching you’re always thinking three, four, five years ahead. So we’re going to have the potential to have a great team next year, we’re excited about that and great leadership.”
“Five of our guys are back that won the nationals. We’ve got some guys that have been hurt that will be back in the mix. But there’s some great teams. There’s Ohio State has everybody back. And Iowa has a great team coming in, and Oklahoma State’s always good. There’s a lot of great competition.”
As Sanderson alluded to, Penn State could have an even better team in 2017-2018. Gulibon will be lost to graduation, but he figures to be replaced by true freshman Nick Lee, another of Sanderson’s blue-chip recruits. Suriano’s ankle will be healed by then. Sophomore 133-pounder Jared Cortez’s shoulder should be 100 percent, too.
Everyone else be another year older and figures to be wiser and better. The Nittany Lions will return 142 points of the 146.5 total it accumulated. Second-place Ohio State returns 110 points. The other three Top 5 teams and the points they return: Oklahoma State (84), Iowa (37.5) and Missouri (46.5).
And, finally, some perspective on this magical NCAA title run. Penn State did it by having only eight wrestlers score points and crowning just six All-Americans.
The 2005 Oklahoma State team accumulated 153 points by crowning five champions and two other All-Americans, who finished fourth and eighth.
The 1986 Iowa team accumulated 158 points by crowning five champions and adding three more All-Americans, who finished second, fourth and fifth.
The 1997 Iowa team that accumulated an all-time high team score of 170, did it with five champs and three more All-Americans, who finished second, fifth and sixth.
With the five returning champions, another returning All-American, two potential All-Americans returning from injury and a blue-chip freshman, Penn State could mount a challenge to Iowa’s 1997 team.
Good times are likely ahead for the Penn State wrestling team. Only time will tell if the 2017-18 team can assert itself as the best ever.
