Penn State senior Bo Nickal won five consecutive matches on his way to winning the 92 kg U.S. Open National Championship in Las Vegas.
He defeated 2018 197-pound NCAA champion Mike Macchiavello in the semifinals and then beat Hayden Zillmer, 13-3, in the finals. Nickal, who recently became a three-time NCAA champion, received a bye into the finals of the 2019 World Team Trials challenge tournament this summer.
Penn State wrestlers are competing for the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club.
Freshman Roman Bravo-Young finished second in the 61 kg weight class in the UWW National Championship in Vegas. He had won five consecutive matches before falling in the finals. Bravo-Young finished eighth at 133 pounds, earning All-American honors.
Senior Jason Nolf (Kittanning) went 6-1 at 70 kg. He lost a 6-6 criteria decision to two-time world medalist James Green in the semifinals. Nolf rebounded from the last-second loss to take the bronze medal.
Nolf, a four-time NCAA finalist, won his third NCAA title in March at PPG Paints Arena.
Redshirt freshman Mason Manville also earned a bronze medal for placing third in Greco at 77 kg. He went 4-1.
Redshirt freshman Jarod Verkleeren (Hempfield) placed fifth in Greco at 67 kg.
Nolf, Manville and Verkleeren have qualified for the World Team Trials later this summer.
