Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1072455
don't wrestle as many matches, and some of the guys that have come through here… you're talking about Ed Ruth and Zain Retherford and David Taylor… Phil Davis. "You have some really great pinning machines that have come through Penn State. It's pretty special. We know Nolf is special and he still has several matches, so hopefully he'll get a couple more before the season is over." That would be fine with Nickal. "I want to pin everybody but I can't control how many guys [Nolf] pins," he said. "I hope he pins every single kid the rest of the year; that's best for the team, so I'm not really wanting him to pin less people and me more." But he does want to pin, and for the most basic reason. "I just want to pin the guys because I want to pin them," Nickal said. "That's pretty much it. I haven't talked about it at all. I don't really think that it's a huge focus. We just want to wrestle our best." Ditto for Nolf, the three-time NCAA fi- nalist. "I just want to pin everybody I wrestle and score a lot of points," he said prior to the Scuffle. "I didn't know I was close to the record. That would be pretty cool, I guess. "I'm not doing things for external rea- sons. I'm doing it because I want to be the best and I want to wrestle the best that I can," he said. That attitude rubs off on teammates. "I try to be a good influence, a good mo- tivator for those guys because I think it's important to lead by example," Nickal said. "Not necessarily in the outcomes of my matches but just in how I wrestle with my attitude and my effort – moving for- ward and making the most of the oppor- tunities and things like that, so not necessarily looking to make sure every single guy on the team is pinning every- body, but just making sure they're wrestling as hard as they can and their ef- forts are at 100 percent." ■ FANTASTIC CUISINE EXCEP TIONAL ATMOSPHERE Colleg W ve Av . College & Cato carnegieinnandspa.com | 814.234.2424 Corner of C Corner of Cricklewood Dr. and Toftrees Ave. carnegieinnandspa.com | 814.234.2424 . Colleg W. College & Cato 814.861.3463 gigisdining.com ve Av . College & Cato 814.861.3463 gigisdining.com LEGEND OF THE FALL Nickal had 51 pins in his career heading into Penn State's dual meet against Nebraska. Photo by Mark Selders/ Penn State Athletics