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in 6:42. The 18-2 victory was Retherford's 63rd win in a row, the longest active streak in the country and one that dates back to the fifth-place match of his true freshman season in 2014. The overall effort was enough for Retherford to be named the tournament's most outstanding wrestler. He also fin- ished as the season's most dominant wrestler, going 28-0. A few weeks after the tournament, Retherford was awarded the Hodge Trophy, wrestling's equivalent of the Heisman. JASON NOLF As Nolf answered questions at his press conference after winning the 157-pound championship, his eyes drifted toward a television in the back corner of the room. ESPN was showing a replay of his na- tional final from the year before, in which he was defeated by Illinois' Isaiah Mar- tinez. Asked how that loss as a freshman motivated him during his unbeaten soph- omore season, Nolf said matter-of-factly, "There's a video of it right there." The bitterness of that defeat, amid the glory of victory, was not lost. "It was super heartbreaking," he recalled. "It was my goal to be a four-time national champ. That obviously stopped that." But it didn't stop his drive. If anything, the loss fueled his ascent to a different level. All but two of Nolf's 27 wins on the year came with bonus points, and his eight technical falls were more than any other wrestler on the team. As the top-seed at 157, he won his first two bouts with a pair of 7-minute tech falls before pinning returning All-Amer- ican Bryant Clagon of Rider in the quar- terfinals. A 13-5 major decision over Nebraska's Tyler Berger secured Nolf's spot in the final, and in his return to cen- ter stage, he wasn't going to be denied. Although it took nearly two minutes for him to score his first points against third- seeded Joey Lavallee of Missouri, Nolf tallied six takedowns to win by major de- cision, 14-6. Sitting at a desk in the media room, Nolf acknowledged that he's "a mellow, stoic kind of guy," but he also emphasized that he's not going to allow complacency to set in, even in the wake of a national cham- pionship. "I'm looking to get a pin out there every time, no matter what, and I'm kind of upset when I don't," he said. "Even though I just won the na- tional title, I'm still looking to improve, but I'm grateful for all of this." In Nolf's nine career victories at the NCAA tournament, all have come with bonus points. VINCENZO JOSEPH Joseph's last match at Big Tens and his first at NCAAs might have been precur- sors, forewarnings to Illinois' Martinez that his streak was about to be snapped. Only three opponents had beaten the Penn State redshirt freshman during the regular season: Stanford's Keaton Sub- jeck, Wisconsin's Issac Jordan and Mar- tinez. Joseph edged Jordan for third place in Bloomington, Ind., two weeks before nationals. That set him up as the No. 3 seed in the 165-pound bracket in St. Louis, and he drew Subjeck in the opening round. Joseph returned the favor in that one, winning by decision, 5-1. From there, he was on a collision course with Mar- tinez, a two-time champion whose only career loss came to Nolf during a dual meet in 2016. It was the only defeat left for Joseph to avenge, and he soon would. After defeating Subjeck, Joseph won his second-round match by 12-4 major deci- sion over Branson Ashworth of Wyoming before gutting out two 1-point decisions against Daniel Lewis of Missouri in the quarterfinals and Logan Massa of Michi- gan in the semis. Then in the final, fire- works. Martinez was the top seed at 165, and he scored the initial takedown. But if Joseph had shown anything during his first sea- son of eligibility, it was that momentary setbacks didn't throw him off track. "I was confident going in and even after I gave up that first takedown," he said. "I went back, talked to my coaches [during a replay review]. First thing I said to them was, I'm scoring soon. I could feel it TECH SUPPORT Rether- ford got Penn State rolling in the final round with an 18-2 technical fall over Missouri's Lavion Mayes. Photo by Mark Selders/Penn State Athletics

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