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M A R C H 1 6 , 2 0 1 6 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 4 Breaking down PSU's outlook in all nine classes in which it will compete When Penn State takes over New York for the NCAA Championships in Madison Square Garden, it will do so with nine repre- sentatives. What follows is a look at Penn State's automatic qualifiers and how they stack up against the competition in their 33- man brackets. 125 | Nico Megaludis 27-3 Sr., Murrysville, Pa. OUTLOOK In order for the third-seeded Megaludis to reach the highest step of the podium in his final season, which is certainly his goal, he'll have to overcome a number of familiar foes who will be standing in his way – some of whom he's already beaten this season, and some of whom he hasn't. FRONT OF THE CLASS Nathan Tomasello* (Ohio State), Thomas Gilman (Iowa), Joey Dance (Virginia Tech) 133 | Jordan Conaway 26-5 Sr., Abbottstown, Pa. OUTLOOK Although he lost in the quar- terfinal round at Big Tens, Conaway perse- vered and wrestled back to finish in fourth place. Seeded fi@h at NCAAs, he could finish in similar standing, but it will take another gutsy effort. FRONT OF THE CLASS Nahshon Garrett (Cornell), Zane Richards (Illinois), Cody Brewer (Oklahoma) 141 | Jimmy Gulibon 12-9 Jr., Latrobe, Pa. OUTLOOK A@er finishing just above .500 in the regular season, during which he bat- tled an ankle injury, Gulibon looked like a new man at Big Tens. He went 2-1, upsetting No. 1 seed Micah Jordan of Ohio State, and finished as runner-up. However, a few of the nation's best 141-pounders are out of confer- ence, so while the unseeded Gulibon showed tremendous improvement, he'll need to make even more progress against several wrestlers who have already defeated him. FRONT OF THE CLASS Dean Heil (Okla- homa State), Joey McKenna (Stanford), Kevin Jack (North Carolina State) 149 | Zain Retherford 29-0 Soph., Benton, Pa. OUTLOOK Retherford has earned bonus points in all but four of his victories this sea- son, so he's barely been tested. But he's had a couple close ones, including a 4-0 win against Iowa's Brandon Sorensen in the Big Ten final. Although he's seeded first at na- tionals, he'll very likely have to go through guys like Sorensen and former NCAA champ Jason Tsirtsis again in order to claim his first national crown. FRONT OF THE CLASS Retherford, Bran- don Sorensen (Iowa), Jake Sueflohn (Ne- braska), Lavian Mayes (Missouri), Jason Tsirtsis** (Northwestern) 157 | Jason Nolf 29-1 R-Fr., Yatesboro, Pa. OUTLOOK All eyes will be on a potential rubber match between Nolf and Illinois' sophomore Isaiah Martinez. They have split a pair of hotly contested bouts this season, with Martinez prevailing in the conference final, and they're among the favorites at NCAAs, with Nolf seeded third. 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 Mar- tinez* (Illinois), Ian Miller (Kent State), Thomas Gantt (North Carolina State) 165 | Geno Morelli 19-10 Jr., DuBois, Pa. OUTLOOK Morelli earned a surprise wild- card bid a@er placing eighth at Big Tens. Un- seeded, he will face an uphill battle at NCAAs, but considering how PSU was barely anticipating his qualification, any win by the Pitt transfer will be a bonus for the team's nine-man contingent. FRONT OF THE CLASS Alex Dieringer*** (Oklahoma State), Isaac Jordan (Wisconsin), Bo Jordan (Ohio State), Daniel Lewis (Mis- souri). FRONT OF THE CLASS Nolf, Isaiah Mar- tinez* (Illinois), Ian Miller (Kent State), Thomas Gantt (North Carolina State) 174 | Bo Nickal 29-1 R-Fr., Allen, Texas OUTLOOK The only blemish on Nickal's record came during a dual meet against In- diana, in which he was too aggressive and was thrown to his back early in the match by Nate Jackson. He hasn't made many mis- takes since then, cruising to a conference championship and earning bonus points in all three of his wins, a performance that helped him secure the top seed at NCAAs. FRONT OF THE CLASS Nickal, Brian Re- albuto (Cornell), Ethan Ramos (North Car- olina), Zach Epperly (Virginia Tech) 184 | Matt McCutcheon 16-5 Soph., Apollo, Pa. OUTLOOK The 16th-seeded McCutcheon has been rehabbing from back and knee in- juries, and while he had some important early-season wins, he finished fi@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* (Cor- nell), Nathaniel Brown (Lehigh), Vic Avery (Edinboro), Blake Stauffer (Arizona State) 197 | Morgan McIntosh 28-0 Sr., Acton, Calif. 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 the top-seeded McIntosh who have challenged – and beat – him in previ- ous years. FRONT OF THE CLASS McIntosh, J'Den Cox** (Missouri), Nathan Burak (Iowa), Conner Hartmann (Duke) WEIGHT BY WEIGHT T I M   O W E N | O W E N . T I M . B W I @ G M A I L . C O M * 2015 NCAA champion ** 2014 NCAA champion *** Two-time defending champion

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