Blue White Illustrated

141 Jimmy Gulibon Round of 12 DNP Round 1 No. 13 Javier Gasca, Michigan State W 18-3 (TF, 7:00) Round 2 No. 4 Matt Kolodzik, Princeton L 6-3 dec. Consolation 2 Timmy Box, Northern Colorado W 14-5 maj. dec. Consolation 3 No. 12 Luke Pletcher, Ohio State W 11-4 dec. Consolation 4 No. 2 Kevin Jack, North Carolina State L 6-4 dec. 149: No. 1 Zain Retherford, Jr. -- 3X All-American – National Champion Round 1 Joshua Maruca, Arizona State W 18-2 (TF, 4:55) Round 2 No. 16 Jordan Laster, Princeton W 16-0 (TF, 5:43) Quarterfinals Alex Kocer, South Dakota State W 18-2 (TF, 5:13) Semifinals No. 5 Brandon Sorensen, Iowa WBF (2:36) Final No. 3 Lavion Mayes, Missouri W 18-2 (TF, 6:42) 157: No. 1 Jason Nolf, So. -- 2X All-American -- National Champion Round 1 Thomas Bullard, North Carolina State W 22-7 (TF; 7:00) Round 2 No. 16 Victor Lopez, Bucknell W 24-9 (TF; 7:00) Quarterfinals B.J. Clagon, Rider WBF (4:06) Semifinals No. 4 Tyler Berger, Nebraska W 13-5 maj. dec. Final No. 3 Joey Lavallee, Missouri W 14-6 maj. dec. 165: No. 3 Vincenzo Joseph, Fr. -- All-American -- National Champion Round 1 Keaton Subjeck, Stanford W 5-1 dec. Round 2 No. 14 Branson Ashworth, Wyoming W 12-4 maj. dec. Quarterfinals No. 6 Daniel Lewis, Missouri W 6-5 dec. Semifinals No. 2 Logan Massa, Michigan W 5-4 dec. Final No. 1 Isaiah Martinez, Illinois WBF (5:25) 174: No. 5 Mark Hall, Fr. -- All-American -- National Champion Round 1 David Kocer, South Dakota State W 8-2 dec. Round 2 Jadaen Bernstein, Navy W 16-0 (TF; 2:20) Quarterfinals No. 4 Zach Epperly, Virginia Tech W 10-2 maj. dec. Semifinals No. 1 Zahid Valencia, Arizona State W 4-3 dec. Final No. 3 Bo Jordan, Ohio State W 5-2 dec. 184: No. 2 Bo Nickal, So. -- 2X All-American -- National Champion Round 1 Mitch Sliga, Northwestern W 15-0 (TF; 3:21) Round 2 No. 15 Steven Schneider, Binghamton WBF (5:33) Quarterfinals No. 7 TJ Dudley, Nebraska WBF (4:33) Semifinals No. 3 Sammy Brooks, Iowa WBF (1:01) Final No. 1 Gabe Dean, Cornell W 4-3 dec. 197: No. 5 Matt McCutcheon, Jr. -- `round of 12' -- DNP Round 1 Christian Brunner, Purdue WBF (1:53) Round 2 No. 12 Frank Mattiace, Penn W 6-3 dec. Quarterfinals No. 4 Jared Haught, Virginia Tech L 7-3 dec. Consolation 4 No. 7 Aaron Studebaker, Nebraska L 13-2 maj. dec. 285: No. 5 Nick Nevills, So. -- 5th seed -- ALL-AMERICAN -- 5th place Round 1 Doug Vollaro, Lehigh W 4-2 dec. Round 2 No. 12 William Miller, Edinboro W 6-2 dec. Quarterfinals No. 4 Jacob Kasper, Duke L 3-1 dec. Consolation 4 No. 15 Ryan Solomon, Pittsburgh W 2-0 dec. Con. Qrts. No. 8 Michael Kroells, Minnesota W 6-4 dec. Con. Semis. No. 3 Ty Walz, Virginia Tech L 5-3 dec. 5th Place No. 4 Jacob Kasper, Duke W 4-3 (sv) was a little boy, he's been wrestling in the biggest events. His family has given him the opportunity to travel the country and the world. He's a world champion already. He's wrestled the best guys in the world. This is a step along the way." BO NICKAL In his opening-round match at 184 pounds, Nickal needed only 3 minutes, 21 seconds to earn a 15-0 technical fall over Mitch Silga of Northwestern. That should have been a signal to the rest of the bracket. It was as if the sophomore had decided that after losing in the final a year ago and then coming up short in the Big Ten tournament this year, there would be no messing around in this one. "I still think about [last year's loss in the 174-pound NCAA final] a lot every day, and it's something that I'll probably think about a long time from now. But with that being said, it's not something that I feel really drags me down," he said. "It's not something I dwell on. It's just like a little bit of motivation, and I feel that through that loss I've learned a lot and grown." He put that improvement on display in St. Louis. After a tech fall in his first match, Nickal reeled off three consecu- tive falls in an average time of 3:43, and two of those pins came against All-Amer- icans T.J. Dudley of Nebraska in the quar- terfinals and Sammy Brooks of Iowa in the semis. Dudley was an NCAA finalist a year ago, losing to two-time champion Gabe Dean of Cornell. This year, Dean en- tered as the top seed and was riding a 44- match win streak – until he met Nickal, the second seed, in the final. Dean struck first with the opening take- down in the first period before Nickal quickly escaped. Before the period ended, however, Nickal added a takedown of his own. With a 3-2 lead entering the second period, Nickal escaped to take a 4-2 ad- vantage, and it stayed that way into the third period. Dean then escaped, 4-3, but Nickal was able to hang on for the deci- sion and his first national championship. After wrapping up his season at 26-1, he was honored with the Gorriaran Award for the most falls in the least amount of time (three in 11:07). ■ 141 JIMMY GULIBON Round of 12 – DNP 149 NO. 1 ZAIN RETHERFORD 3-time All-American, 2-time national champion 157 NO. 1 JASON NOLF Two-time All-American, national champion 165 NO. 3 VINCENZO JOSEPH All-American, national champion 174 NO. 5 MARK HALL All-American, national champion 184 NO. 2 BO NICKAL Two-time All-American, national champion 197 NO. 5 MATT McCUTCHEON Round of 12 – DNP 285 NO. 5 NICK NEVILLS All-American, 5th place P E N N S T A T E R E S U L T S

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