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erable favorite to win the NCAA title, he'll very likely have to go through guys like Sorensen and former NCAA champ Jason Tsirtsis again in order to claim his 8rst national crown. FRONT OF THE CLASS Retherford, Brandon Sorensen (Iowa), Jake Sue9ohn (Nebraska), Lavian Mayes (Missouri), Jason Tsirtsis** (Northwestern) 157 | Jason Nolf 29-1 R-Fr., Yatesboro, Pa. PSU OUTLOOK All eyes will be on a potential rubber match be- tween Nolf and Illinois' sophomore Isaiah Martinez. They have split a pair of hotly contested bouts this season, with Martinez prevailing in the conference 8nal, and they're the two heavy fa- vorites at NCAAs. But a couple nonconference opponents, such as Ian Miller of Kent State and Thomas Gantt of North Carolina State, should not be overlooked. FRONT OF THE CLASS Nolf, Isaiah Martinez* (Illinois), Ian Miller (Kent State), Thomas Gantt (North Carolina State) 174 | Bo Nickal 29-1 R-Fr., Allen, Texas PSU OUTLOOK The only blemish on Nickal's record came dur- ing a dual meet against Indiana, in which he got overaggressive and was thrown to his back early in the match by Nate Jackson. He hasn't made many mistakes since then, cruising to a confer- ence championship and earning bonus points in all three of his wins. FRONT OF THE CLASS Nickal, Brian Realbuto (Cornell), Ethan Ramos (North Carolina), Zach Epperly (Virginia Tech) 184 | Matt McCutcheon 16-5 Soph., Apollo, Pa. PSU OUTLOOK McCutcheon has been rehabbing from back and knee injuries, and while he had some important early-sea- son wins, he 8nished 8;h at Big Tens, three spots below his tournament seed. When he's healthy, he can beat the best, as he showed last year. When he's not, as he showed at the conference tourney, it can be a struggle, and some of the best wrestlers in this weight class weren't even there. FRONT OF THE CLASS Gabe Dean* (Cornell), Nathaniel Brown (Lehigh), Vic Avery (Edinboro), Blake Stau:er (Arizona State) 197 | Morgan McIntosh 28-0 Sr., Acton, Calif. PSU OUTLOOK While McIntosh doesn't pour on the points like a couple of his younger teammates, he's also won almost every match this year with relative ease. But there will be a few out-of-conference opponents waiting for McIntosh who have challenged – and beat – him in previous years. FRONT OF THE CLASS McIntosh, J'Den Cox** (Missouri), Nathan Burak (Iowa), Conner Hartmann (Duke) * 2015 NCAA champion ** 2014 NCAA champion he title is back with Penn State. Behind the e:orts of three individual champions, the Nittany Lion wrestlers reclaimed their spot at the pinnacle of the Big Ten, amassing 150.5 team points March 5-6 at Iowa's Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Their total was just half a point short of the school-record score they posted three years ago at Big Tens, and it gave coach Cael Sanderson his 8;h con- ference crown in the past six years. Penn State had won four in a row before slipping to 8;h place last season. Eight of Penn State's 10 starters earned automatic qualifying spots for the NCAA tournament March 17-19 in New York, and six of those quali8ers placed among the top three in their respective weight classes. Zain Retherford (149 pounds) earned Penn State's 8rst individual crown when he beat Iowa's Brandon Sorensen, 4-0. In doing so, Retherford clinched the team championship for the Nittany Lions with Penn State reclaims conference crown Three individual champions help lift Lions to fifth title in past six years T

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