NCAA wrestling Session 4 recap: Penn State on cusp of another national title

Penn State ended the second night of the NCAA wrestling championships poised to win its eighth national title in nine seasons. And the Nittany Lions have a chance to return to State College with a record-tying number of individual champions as well.

Jason Nolf (157 pounds), Vincenzo Joseph (165), Mark Hall (174), Bo Nickal (197) and Anthony Cassar (285) all won their semifinal matches Friday night at PPG Paints Arena to advance to Saturday night’s championship round.

Nolf (Kittanning), Joseph (Central Catholic) and Nickal all are two-time defending national champions; Hall won a title in 2017. Cassar is seeking his first. Penn State has 20 individual champions since 2011, when the Nittany Lions’ current run of NCAA team titles began, and tied the national record with five in 2017. Oklahoma State was the first to have five individual champions, in 2006.

It was a strong performance from the middle and bottom of Penn State’s lineup. Nolf, Joseph, Hall and Cassar earned one-point victories, while Nickal got his third pin of the tournament.

Two more Penn State wrestlers earned All-American status: Roman Bravo-Young at 133 pounds and Nick Lee at 141. The Nittany Lions have 120.5 team points, well ahead of second-place Ohio State (88.5) in the standings.

It was a night of exciting wrestling at PPG Paints Arena as 20 wrestlers punched their tickets to the finals.

Best match: It came down to the final seconds of regulation, but that made it all the more exciting when Cornell’s Max Dean scored a takedown to get a 5-4 victory over top-seeded Myles Martin of Ohio State in the 184-pound quarterfinals and reach the NCAA finals for the first time. Dean trailed 4-2 in the third period but got an escape and then the winning takedown with nine seconds remaining.

Biggest upset: Any time a top seed falls, it makes for a compelling story, and it happened twice Friday night. Dean dealt Martin, the Big Ten champion, his first loss of the season. And Virginia’s Jack Mueller, the No. 5 seed at 125 pounds, began the night with an 8-2 victory over top-seeded and undefeated Sebastian Rivera of Northwestern. Also, Virginia Tech’s Mekhi Turner deserves at least an honorable mention; he beat top-seeded Alex Marinelli of Iowa in the quarterfinals Friday afternoon and followed that with a win over No. 4 Evan Wick of Wisconsin in the semifinals.

Close calls: Nolf, Joseph, Hall and Cassar all kept their championship dreams alive after prevailing in close bouts. Nolf’s 3-2 win over North Carolina State’s Hayden Hidlay became secure only after he staved off a last-second takedown attempt; a first-period Hidlay takedown was reversed upon video review. Joseph beat Arizona State’s Josh Shields in a battle of former WPIAL wrestlers, taking the lead with an early takedown and holding off Shields for the win. Hall escaped in overtime to beat Michigan’s Myles Amine, 2-1. Cassar won his heavyweight semifinal with Minnesota’s Gable Steveson thanks to an advantage of 1 minute, 1 second in riding time.

‘Big’ is better: A dozen of the 20 NCAA wrestling finalists come from Big Ten schools: five from Penn State, three from Ohio State, two from Rutgers and one apiece from Iowa and Nebraska. The next-highest conference, the Big 12, has three.