The suspense of which team was going to win another NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship title ended early on Saturday at PPG Paints Arena.
Penn State claimed its eighth team title in the past nine years during the morning session and ninth in school history.
Penn State has five wrestlers competing for national titles tonight. They are: Jason Nolf (157 pounds), Vincenzo Joseph (164), Mark Hall (174), Bo Nickal (194) and heavyweight Anthony Cassar. Nolf (Kittanning), Joseph (Central Catholic) and Nickal are going for their third titles.
It’s the second time that the Nittany Lions have won four-consecutive titles under Cael Sanderson.
The title was clinched when Ohio State’s Luke Pletcher (Latrobe) didn’t pin Iowa’s Austin DeSanto in his 133-pound consolation round match. He did rally to defeat DeSanto, 7-6, with a takedown with 17 seconds left.
Pletcher will wrestle for third place against Michigan’s Stevan Micic, but Penn State wrestlers can relax knowing the team title was in the bag.
Penn State moves into third place on the all-time titles list behind Oklahoma State 34 and Iowa 23. Iowa State is now fourth with eight.
