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lingered from his high school career, but he returned later in the season to post a 4-1 record, including one pin, in open tournaments. As he continued to heal, he continued to improve, and this preseason he beat Garett Hammond, the returning starter at this weight class, in a wrestle- o7 for the 165-pound spot. Because he missed much of last season, fans and media haven't had an opportunity to see him in action, but from what his teammates say, there's a lot to look forward to. "He's an exciting guy to watch," Nolf said of the two-time New York state champ. "He just goes out there and is not real passive; he's real aggressive. The fans will see." 125 BO NICKAL RANK No. 20 YEAR R-Fr. HOME Allen, Texas A three-time Texas state champion, Nickal takes over the spot from last year's NCAA champion Matt Brown. Nickal has also been training extensively with Brown throughout his 6rst year with the Nittany Lions. "Matt Brown – he's awesome to compete with and to learn from," Nickal said. "I feel like wrestling with him made me so much better and got me ready for college wrestling. If I wrestle with him every day, I know there's nobody else who's going to give me that [challenge]." Wrestling unattached last year, Nickal 6nished with a 13-2 record in open tour- naments. One of those losses was to Brown, a 10-7 defeat in the Nittany Lion Open. Maybe most impressive? Those seven points were tied for the most scored against Brown throughout his entire championship season. "If I can hang with him as far as the hand-6ghting and strength for seven min- utes, I know that other people are not going to be as intense, or as strong, or as technical as him for seven minutes," Nickal said. "So that really gives me some con6- dence." A five-time state wrestling champion at Apple Valley High, winning his first title as a 130-pound seventh-grader, Mark Hall set out six years ago to be- come what he calls "the face of Min- nesota wrestling." "That's a big thing to put on myself," he said, "but I truly be- lieve that with the coaches I have, my teammates, my family, I'll take that opportuni- ty and I'll seize it with everything I have. My high school career is not over yet." It is entering its final stanza, and if he wins another state championship, Hall will go down as the first six-time indi- vidual champ in Gopher State history. Then once he accomplishes the feat – which he probably will; the kid's nick- name is "The Prodigy" after all and he hasn't been beaten in 123 consecutive matches – Hall will be leaving his beloved state to head east and continue his wrestling career in Pennsylvania. On the first day of the early signing period Nov. 11, the unanimous No. 1 wrestling recruit in the country for the Class of 2016 committed to Penn State over Minnesota and other programs such as Arizona State, Ohio State and Wisconsin. He called it one of the most difficult decisions of his life. "Trust me," he said, "if I could go to all five schools at the same time I would, but unfortunately I can't." When he put a blue and white ball cap on his head during a ceremony in his high school auditorium, which was broadcast online by FloWrestling.com, Penn State earned for the third time un- der Cael Sanderson in seven years a sig- nature from the nation's top-ranked prospect. (David Taylor and Morgan McIntosh were the others.) Considered the nation's best 170- pounder by both FloWrestling and In- termatWrestle.com, Hall is the third re- cruit in PSU's Class of 2016 who is ranked atop his respective weight class, joining Nick Suriano (126) of Bergen Catholic (N.J.) and Mason Manville (152) of Wyoming (Pa.) Seminary. Suri- ano signed his letter of intent Nov. 12, while BWI had yet to confirm Manville's signing as of this writing. The program's success in winning four team national titles in the past five years along with its connection to the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, which is currently one of the top regional Olympic training centers in the country, appealed to all of PSU's recruits, Hall included. He has spent time at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., and will probably continue to train at various times there before he arrives at PSU. A Cadet World Champi- on, Hall has tall Olympic aspirations and hopes to continue chasing those goals in State College as well. "Coach Cael, Coach Casey [Cunning- ham], Coach Cody [Sanderson] – I truly believe they'll help me win four national titles, and they'll help me be a world and an Olympic champion after that," Hall said. What played into his decision possibly just as much, though, was how the campus and surrounding area of Penn State appealed to him. He made an un- official visit over the summer for the first time and then returned the week- end of Oct. 10-11 for a football game. Although he took two more official vis- its after that, Hall's mind was already made up. "Going out to Penn State, it just felt like a home to me," he said. "One of the things that went into it was, of all the places that I'm visiting, I'm going to have to live here for 10, 15 years and maybe more than that if I end up coach- ing at this school, and for me it was Penn State [where] I felt the most comfort- able." Hall projects at 165 or 174 pounds in college. PSU signs nation's top recruit 1 7 4 | HALL

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