April 6, 2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State Nittany Lion sophomore Bo Nickal (Allen, Texas) has been named the winner of The Hammer Award, presented annually by Amateur Wrestling News. The honor was announced in AWN's latest print publication and will be presented to Nickal at Penn State's season-ending awards banquet Sunday afternoon.
The Award is presented annually to the wrestler who wins the national title in what AWN's collection of writers feel is the most competitive weight class at the NCAA Championships.
Nickal won the 184-pound title to cap off Penn State's perfect five-for-five run in the national finals on March 18 in St. Louis. Nickal rolled to a 4-3 win over No. 1 seed and two-time defending NCAA Champion Gabe Dean of Cornell in the final match of the 2017 NCAA Championships. His impressive victory capped off a 5-0 run in St. Louis that included a first round tech fall and then three straight pins over ranked opponents.
Nickal downed Northwestern's Mitch Sliga with a 15-0 tech at the 3:20 mark in round one, pinned No. 15 Steven Schneider of Binghamton at the 5:33 mark, pinned No. 7 TJ Dudley of Nebraska in the quarterfinals at the 4:33) mark, notched yet another first period pin over No. 3 Sammy Brooks of Iowa (this one at the 1:01 mark) in the semifinals, and then downed Dean in the finals. AWN also made note that the 184-pound weight class had two defending NCAA Champions and eight returning All-Americans in it.
Nickal, a two-time All-American, was also named the 2017 NCAA Championship Gorriaran Award for the most falls in the least amount of time at the tournament. Nickal closed out his sophomore season with a 26-1 mark, including 17 pins, a tech and three majors. Nickal's haul of season honors now includes The Hammer, Gorriaran and two Big Ten Wrestler of the Week honors.
Penn State won its sixth NCAA national championship in the last seven years in St. Louis in March and Nickal played a huge role in that victory. Penn State also won the 2017 Big Ten Regular season crown and the NWCA Dual Championship Series title, going 14-0 overall with a 9-0 mark in conference action. Penn State returns nine of its starters, eight of nine NCAA qualifiers and all six of its 2017 All-Americans for next the 2017-18 season (including five NCAA Champions).
Penn State Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via twitter at @pennstateWREST, on Penn State Wrestling's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/pennstatewrest. The 2016-17 Penn State wrestling season is presented by The Family Clothesline. This is PENN STATE. WRESTLING lives here.