Penn State Sports Magazine
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M A R C H 2 0 2 3 17 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M FIVE YEARS AGO, 2018 Cael Sanderson's tenure as head wres- tling coach at Penn State has consisted of one highlight after another. Some are es- pecially indelible, though, and Bo Nickal provided one on the final night of the NCAA Tournament in Cleveland. Penn State was coming off a second- place finish at the Big Ten tourney two weeks earlier and was locked in a battle with Ohio State for the team title when the top-seeded Nickal met OSU's second- seeded Myles Martin in the 184-pound final. Late in the first period, Martin evened the score at 2-2 with a takedown and had Nickal on his back briefly, but the Penn State junior rolled out of it, and ended up on top. Suddenly, it was Martin try- ing to avoid a fall. Nickal didn't let up. He pressed his opponent's shoulders to the mat for an exhilarating pin that not only gave him his second individual champi- onship but also clinched the team title for the Nittany Lions. Moments later, still buzzing with adrenalin, Nickal gave a matside inter- view to ESPN's Quint Kessenich that was nearly as energetic as the match itself. "I've been doing that move since I was 6," he said. "No need to freak out or any- thing. I knew he was going to his back." And the team title? "That's expected," Nickal said. "That's what we do at Penn State. You come to Penn State, you win big matches, you win team titles." Indeed, you do. The championship was PSU's seventh in eight seasons, and the Lions weren't done winning titles, nor was Nickal. He claimed his third national crown a year later. 10 YEARS AGO, 2013 Penn State's wrestling dynasty was still in its infancy when the Nittany Lions traveled to Des Moines, Iowa, for the 2013 NCAA Tournament. The weekend's most anticipated matchup didn't go their way, but nearly everything else did. The Lions outdistanced Oklahoma State in the team race to claim their third consecutive title, and they crowned two individual champs along the way: Ed Ruth at 184 pounds and Quentin Wright at 197. Ruth brought an emphatic end to his junior season, beating Lehigh's Robert Hamlin by major decision, 12-4. "To get that major, that was a big deal," Sanderson said. "To get a major decision in the NCAA finals, it just shows you that not only is he a talented kid, but he's a tough kid. He has great character." Despite those successes, it was a bit- tersweet night for Penn State. The team's third finalist — David Taylor — lost to Cornell's top-seeded Kyle Dake 5-4 in a blockbuster showdown for the national crown at 165 pounds. For Dake, it was the end of an astonish- ing collegiate career, one in which he won national championships in four different weight classes. Taylor was the defending champ at 165 and appeared entirely ca- pable of ending Dake's 78-match winning streak, but he wasn't able to prevail. "This one is just tough," Sanderson said. "When you have guys who didn't reach their goal, that's tough. That's a typical part of coaching, but when you step back, we have a lot to be proud of." 25 YEARS AGO, 1998 After a difficult regular season in which it lost seven of its last 11 Big Ten games, the Penn State women's basketball team came alive in March. Its postseason turn- around included a surprising runner-up showing at the Big Ten Tournament, fol- lowed by a sprint to the championship of the Women's National Invitation Tourna- ment. The WNIT had existed for a few years as a preseason tourney, but 1998 was the first year in which a postseason event was held, providing an opportunity to teams that had been left out of the NCAA field but wanted to extend their seasons. The Lady Lions were one of those teams. They defeated Villanova (68-61), St. Joseph's (72-59) and Indiana (70-42) at the Bryce Jordan Center in the tour- ney's first three rounds, then headed to Baylor for the final. They defeated the Bears 59-56, and point guard Helen Dar- ling was named the tournament's MVP, setting the stage for a brilliant career in which she would eventually lead the team to its first and only NCAA Final Four ap- pearance. — Matt Herb Bo Nickal exulted after pinning Ohio State's Myles Martin in the 184-pound final in 2018. Nickal's win clinched Penn State's seventh NCAA team title in eight years. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS This Month in Penn State Athletics History