Penn State seeks 8th NCAA wrestling title in 9 years
PITTSBURGH — Penn State is poised to send out another senior class as four-time national champions and cement its status as the college powerhouse of the past decade.
The Nittany Lions (14-0) are the prohibitive favorites to claim the team title at this weekend's NCAA Championships for the eighth time in nine years and for the fourth year in a row.
They might be the most talented team that coach Cael Sanderson has assembled.
Penn State has three wrestlers seeded first in their weight class, three more seeded second and another seeded third.
They'll compete in Pittsburgh, less than 150 miles away from State College.
“We love to compete and we peak at the right time. And we're just ready to go,” Penn State star Bo Nickal said. “We want to compete because we want to and no other reason. And we want to win because we want to, no other reason.”
Still, there should be plenty of fascinating individual battles throughout the three-day event, culminating with 10 championships matches on Saturday night.
Here are some of the story lines to follow during the national meet, which starts on Thursday.
Title-bound trio?
Penn State seniors Jason Nolf (157 pounds) and Nickal (197) and junior Mark Hall (174) are all expected to return to Happy Valley with national titles.
Nolf, a three-time All-American and twotime defending national champion, has been the second-most dominant wrestler in America this season.
The most dominant has been Nickal, a two-time NCAA champion who is 25-0 this season. Hall won it all as a freshman before falling to Arizona State's Zahid Valencia a year ago. Valencia is seeded third this weekend.
Possible rematch
This is where things could get interesting.
Penn State's Vincenzo Joseph ceded the top spot at 165 pounds after getting beat 9-3 by emerging Iowa star Alex Marinelli at the recent Big Ten championships. If those two can fight their way to a rematch, it might be the most anticipated match of the national tournament. Marinelli, a sophomore, is unbeaten this season.