UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State wrestling is gearing up for its most important performance of the season this week. Nine Nittany Lions will be competing for a national championship in Pittsburgh beginning Thursday.
Seven Nittany Lion wrestlers earned a top three seed and Jason Nolf, Vincenzo Joseph and Bo Nickal will each be wrestling for their third overall crown.
"I'm feeling ready to go and ready to compete," Nolf said. "I'm feeling healthy and excited."
Seniors Nolf and Nickal are looking to close out their dominant careers on top once again.
"They're both just beyond words and extremely special," head coach Cael Sanderson said. "They are guys that, in my opinion, will be remembered for as long as college wrestling exists. I think both of them are two of the best to ever step on the mat."
The two collectively have a 227-6 record, with each losing three matches including the national championship bout their freshman year. The duo also takes the top two spots in Penn State's all-time career falls category and shared Big Ten wrestler of the year honors this season.
At nationals last year, Nolf competed through a leg injury but says this time around he is feeling 100 percent.
"I feel healthier," Nolf said. "I'm excited because I'm healthier and I'm just ready to go and am grateful for it."
Nickal also can't wait to hit the mat at nationals.
"I'm excited," Nickal said. "I'm excited for the opportunity to compete out there with my team and just enjoy the moment. I've been ready for this the whole season, so I'm really excited for it."
Joseph, a junior, joins the duo in the quest for a third title. The Pittsburgh native has the opportunity to be the first Nittany Lion to win three individual championships in his first three years of competition.
And for the third year in a row, he'll be rebounding from a tough loss at the Big Ten tournament.
"It's hard to do," Joseph said. "It's not easy to sit here and just think that 'oh Big Tens is over with and I'm on to the national tournament.' It is in the back of my mind and it motivates me a little bit, but it helps me understand too that wrestling is just a sport. Of course, I hate losing, no one likes to lose, but at the end of the day it's just a sport."
But his coach thinks he is on the right track yet again.
"I think he has done well," Sanderson said. "I think he's a solid kid and I think he was pretty upset. But he also did some things that technically he needed to do differently and he didn't. His opponent was very good and without taking anything away from anybody, I think Vincenzo is OK with being at his best at the nationals."
If all three can take home the title, it would be the first time in school history, and just the third time ever, that a school has three champions win their third championship in the same year.
Roman Bravo-Young, Nick Lee, Brady Berge, Mark Hall, Shakur Rasheed and Anthony Cassar will also be wrestling for Penn State in the national championship hoping to help the Nittany Lions to their eighth team title in the last nine years.
The NCAA Wrestling Championships begin at noon on Thursday and runs through Saturday at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.
