March 17, 2018
CLEVELAND - Penn State saw both of its first time NCAA Championship Nittany Lions place Saturday afternoon, as No. 8 seed Nick Lee and No. 5 seed Shakur Rasheed both added to All-America honors with fifth and seventh place medals, respectively.
Penn State also closed out session five with a seventh-place finish from third-seeded Nick Nevills, adding on more crucial team points via the All-American.
Headed into tonight's NCAA Championship finals, the Nittany Lions have five competing for individual titles, with Penn State trailing Ohio State by just six points in the team standings.
NCAA Championships Team Standings after Session V (Finals Participants)
1. - Ohio State - 130.5 (2)
2. - Penn State - 124.5 (5)
3. - Iowa - 93 (1)
4. - Michigan - 80 (2)
5. - NC State - 76 (2)
For both Lee and Rasheed though, there's plenty to be pleased with in their first experience at the NCAA Championships, both taking different paths to their podium positions.
As a high school senior, Lee was at last year's NCAA Championships in St. Louis, watching as his future teammates celebrated their sixth NCAA title in the last seven years.
"I was just thinking that I can't wait to be on the team," Lee said. "I've been thinking about that a long time. It's a great group of guys and I wouldn't give it up for anything."
Joining the lineup at 141 pounds, he made his Penn State dual debut against Michigan, Lee entered his first NCAA Championships with a 26-5 record as a true freshman, having posted a 4-1 mark in his first Big Ten Championships.
Met with adversity in his first NCAA Championships event, it wasn't exactly the start the Nittany Lion had in mind.
"That was a position he was good in and he got me in it and I got pinned there," Lee said when asked about his first round pin. "Not really something to dwell on, we'll look at that position, make sure I'm better there in the future. Just got to come back, keep wrestling and do the same thing over and over again."
Like his NCAA Championships roommate Zain Retherford says though, you have to have a short memory in a tournament like this. Instead of bowing out, Lee opted to buck up.
"My team was with me the whole time," Lee said. "It was great, a lot of fun. The most I could ask for is more matches."
That would be six more matches for Lee before he bounced back from a loss to Missouri's No. 2 seed Jaydin Eierman with a thrilling 9-7 sudden victory win against NC State's fifth-seeded Kevin Jack to secure the fifth place finish.
All smiles after finishing above his assigned No. 8 seed, it's not the seed that really matters.
"The seeds don't really mean that much to me anyways because you're going to wrestle all of them anyway," Lee said. "It was amazing for me. It's the most fun I've had I think in my whole life."
Summing up the most fun he has ever had in his life though, can't be done in just a word.
"I think just because I love it," Lee said. "This
is what I live for, this is what I wrestle for, this is what I came to Penn
State for, to wrestle matches. After my first loss, it's just an opportunity
for me to wrestle more and I couldn't ask for anything else."
For Rasheed, his first loss came in a bitter finish to the third period, as he fell to NC State's fourth-seeded Michael Macchiavello in the quarterfinals.
"After I lost a tough one in the quarterfinals, I was pretty beat up, I was pretty tough on myself," Rasheed said. "I was really mad about just a last second thing. I had that match and the kid's tough but I realized that I'm grateful to have a team like Penn State, that even though I lost and my goal of being a national champion in 2018 isn't going to be true, we can still win this thing as a team."
Making the most of his final match, Rasheed came out on a roll, recording a pair of early takedowns against Missouri's sixth-ranked Willie Miklus before finishing off a pivotal 11-3 major decision with 2:56 in riding time.
"I knew scoring bonus was crucial so I was kind of like let's go out there and get bonus and that's what I did," Rasheed said. "I said I'm going to capitalize on my best position and that's top. Once I got on top, I was making sure I was working on turns and getting right through it."
Even though his expectations were higher coming in, having the opportunity to score points for his teammates is something he'll take moving forward.
"I got the opportunity to score points for our team and when we win this team title, I could finally say I was a part of that. I could really say that I scored points for this team," Rasheed said.
Up Next in Session VI
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