CLEVELAND - There's Penn State wrestling and bonus points and then there's Penn State wrestling and poise under pressure.
Questions about the team race were often among the first asked to each advancing Nittany Lion, as media members peppered in small corner huddles in the underbelly of the Q. With only the slightest of variation, Penn State answered those questions the same way each time.
"I think when you start thinking about the score too much or things that are outside of your control, you start competing worse," top-seeded Zain Retherford said. "We're just focused on what we can do for the team. Each guy, the best that they can do for the team at the moment is what they can do out on the mat for seven minutes. So that's what we're focused on, not really what's going on around us."
It's that exact mindset that sent the Nittany Lions rolling past Ohio State in the team standings, shrinking a 13.5 point deficit ahead of Friday night's semifinals that saw Penn State emerge with an 11-point lead at the end of session four.
NCAA Championships Team
Standings after Session IV (Finals Participants)
1.
- Penn State - 120.5 (5)
2.
- Ohio State - 109.5 (2)
3.
- Iowa - 86.5 (1)
4.
- Michigan - 73.5 (2)
5.
- NC State - 68.5 (2)
All five semifinalists did just what they needed to do, earning their spots in Saturday's NCAA national finals in what could be a repeat of last year's thrilling finale.
Meeting fourth-seeded Troy Heilmann from North Carolina, Retherford took just a moment pre-match to soak it all in before recording a 10-4 win to advance to the finals.
"I think before that match I was kind of pacing out there in the center," Retherford said. "I was just thinking, this is my second-to-last folk style match I'll ever get to wrestle in a Penn State singlet."
Third-seeded Jason Nolf then followed with a dominant 16-0 tech fall at the 4:28 mark against Ohio State's No. 7 seed Micah Jordan. Much like Nolf though, there's no reason exhale just yet.
"This is where we want to peak, it's the most important tournament of the year so just feeling good and ready to go," Nolf said. "It doesn't really feel like anything yet. You have to win in the finals."
After No. 3 seed Vincenzo Joseph knocked off Virginia Tech's No. 2 seed David McFadden, the Nittany Lion of course knew it meant another meeting with Illinois' top-seeded Isaiah Martinez in the finals.
"Whenever me and Isaiah wrestle, it's usually pretty exciting match, pretty offensive," Joseph said. "We're both looking forward to it. We know it's going to be a good one, and we're just ready to put on a show."
Penn State wasn't finished, closing out its semifinal showdown with a pair of exciting wins from No. 2 seed Mark Hall and top-seeded Bo Nickal.
Meeting Missouri's third-seeded Daniel Lewis, Hall found himself in an unfamiliar position he doesn't typically get into in the room, after Lewis went in on single leg.
"I'll be honest, I thought he was going to break my leg that first shot," Hall said. "He had a very tight hold on my ankle, and that's how you're supposed to do it. He did everything right. I'm not saying he's a dirty wrestler, he's not."
Throwing his leg over the top to relieve the pressure, Lewis missed, but Hall knew just what he had to do to close it out.
"It's funny before the match, coach Casey, we were talking and he was like, he's going to try and hit that single leg and put his leg over top." Hall said. "And I was like dang I can pin him from there, and it's just crazy that's how it happened, but it's something I had in the back of my head and I was ready to do."
Perhaps more unlikely than what Nittany Lion fans are used to seeing from Nickal, he defeated Michigan's No. 5 seed Domenic Abounader in a surgical 6-3 victory with 1:41 in riding time. Regardless of the final score, simply having his arm raised at the end of the match was of course, most important.
"I think that the second match I wrestled - I wouldn't say tentatively, because I was pretty aggressive, but just more methodical than I normally do," Nickal said. "I got a couple takedowns and was looking for my openings, and he kind of just stayed solid."
For Nickal, the methodical approach was good experience, but not something he anticipates happening again.
"Just to be able to control the tempo and stuff, but it's not really as fun or exciting for me so I don't think we'll be seeing too much of that anymore," Nickal said.
The Nittany Lions have eight All-Americans set for Saturday action with eighth-seeded Nick Lee opening the day in the consolation semis and No. 5 Shakur Rasheed and No. 3 Nick Nevills both wrestling for seventh.
Session five begins at 11 a.m. inside Quicken Loans Arena before the NCAA Championship finals kick off a 8 p.m. on ESPN.
Up Next in Session V
141: #8 seed Nick Lee,
Fr. - Consolation Semi.
vs. #2Jaydin Eierman, Missouri
149: #1 seed Zain
Retherford, Sr. - Finals
vs. #15 Ronnie Perry,
Lock Haven
157: #3 seed Jason
Nolf, Jr. - Finals
vs. #1 Hayden Hidlay,
North Carolina State
165: #3 seed Vincenzo
Joseph, So. - Finals
vs. #1 Isaiah
Martinez, Illinois
174: #2 seed Mark
Hall, So. - S Finals
vs. #1 Zahid Valencia,
Arizona State
184: #1 seed Bo
Nickal, Jr. - Finals
vs. #2 Myles Martin,
Ohio State
197: #5 seed Shakur
Rasheed, Jr. - Seventh Place
vs. #Willie Miklus, Missouri
285: #3 seed Nick
Nevills, Jr. - Seventh Place
vs. #12 Youssif
Hemida, Maryland