Jason Nolf Season 2017-18

NATIONAL CHAMPION
Parents: Michael and Audra Nolf
Major: Kinesiology

Senior Jason Nolf heads into the 2018-19 season looking to win his third-straight NCAA title at 157 and become a four-time All-American. Nolf has been in the NCAA finals in each of his first three seasons and has won the last two NCAA titles, one in St. Louis in 2017 and last year’s in Cleveland, returning from a late-season injury to roll the field and claim the title. Nolf, and teammates Vincenzo Joseph and Bo Nickal, will be looking to join Ed Ruth and Zain Retherford as Penn State’s only three-time NCAA Champions and David Taylor as Penn State’s only four-time finalists.

Year-by-Year:
2017-18: Pinned Army’s Luke Weiland (1:07) in season opener on 11/9...Pinned Bucknell’s Christian Bassolino (3:33) on 11/12...Pinned Tristan Rifanburg of Binghamton on 11/17...Went 4-0 with four pins to win the Keystone Classic title on 11/19, three of the falls came in the first period...Had a 23-8 tech fall over Ian Brown in PSU’s 23-19 win at #7 Lehigh on 12/3, his first non-pin victory of the year (he began season with seven straight falls)...Pinned Indiana’s Jake Danishek (1:30) on 12/17, his eighth pin in nine matches to start the season...Won 2018 Southern Scuffle title at 157 with a 5-0 run, including four pins and a forfeit...Pinned #10 Mitch Finesilver in the final to win the crown, won tournament’s Fastest Pins/Least Time award...Recorded a 6-4 win over #5 Alec Pantaleo of Michigan on 1/12...Pinned Purdue’s Cole Wysocki (3:45) on 1/19 and Maryland’s Kyle Cochran (1:43) on 1/21...Nearly teched #18 Jake Short of Minnesota on 1/26, settling for a 19-5 major...Suffered injury default loss (while winning the bout) at Rutgers on 1/28, loss was first Big Ten dual loss of career and snapped a near-50 bout win streak.

Big Ten Championships (2-0, 6th/med.def, NCAA Qualifier): Returned to action for first time in over a month at Big Ten Championship and posted perfect 2-0 mark in session one, including a pin and a 15-2 major over #20 Jake Short of Minnesota...Staff opted to medically forfeit Nolf out of tournament with a 2-0 record to prepare for NCAAs in Cleveland.

NCAA Championships (5-0, Champion, All-American): Rolled through the field at NCAAs to win his second-straight national title at 157...Went 5-0 with two tech falls...Downed top-seed Hayden Hidlay in final 6-2...Beat #6 Michael Kemerer of Iowa and dominated #7 Micah Jordan of Ohio State in the semis, rolling to a 16-0 tech fall...First-team NWCA Academic All-American...Academic All-Big Ten.

2016-17: Ranked #1 by InterMat...Pinned #14 Russ Parsons (2:19) at Army WP on 11/11 then Stanford’s Paul Fox in Rec Hall on 11/13...Went 5-0 with three pins and two techs to win Keystone Classic title on 11/20 at Penn, including 25-10 TF over #19 May Bethea of Penn in the final...Pinned #9 Jake Short of Minnesota on 1/6 in Minneapolis...Dominated #3 Tyler Berger of Nebraska, posting 15-7 major on 1/8 in Lincoln...Big Ten Wrestler of the Week (1/10)...Posted 22-4 tech fall over #16 John Van Brill of Rutgers on 1/13...Dominated #2 Michael Kemerer in a 9-4 win at Iowa on 1/20, tallying four takedowns in the victory...Pinned Wisconsin’s Jared Scharenbrock (3:48) on 1/27...Pinned Ohio State’s Anthony DeCarlo (1:36) in Columbus on 2/3...Strong 26-11 tech over #12 Kyle Langenderfer of Illinois on 2/10...Dominating 24-9 tech fall at the 7:00 mark over #6 Joe Smith of Oklahoma State on 2/19, helping lead PSU to 27-13 win at OSU.

Big Ten Championships (3-0, Champion, NCAA Qualifier): Cruised to his first Big Ten Championship with 3-0 run, including two pins, in Indiana on 3/4-5...Downed #2 Michael Kemerer 8-2 in final...Was named 2017 Big Ten Wrestler of the Year post-tourney

NCAA Championships (5-0, Champion, All-American): Won first NCAA title with 14-6 major over #3 Joey Lavallee of Missouri in the national final in St. Louis...Went 5-0 with a pin, two techs and two majors at nationals...First-team CoSIDA Academic All-District...Second-team CoSIDA Academic All-American.

2015-16: Ranked #2 by InterMat...Pinned Lock Haven’s Aaron McKinney (2:42) in collegiate debut on 11/13...Downed #3 Nick Brascetta of Virginia Tech 4-1 on 11/15...Strong 24-9 tech fall over CSUB’s AJ Fierro on 11/20 in Bakersfield...Pinned Stanford’s Ryerson Dempsey at the 5:24 mark on 11/22...Went 5-0 with three pins (plus another pin over a non-collegiate) to win Nittany Lion Open on 12/6...Pinned Wisconsin’s TJ Ruschell of Wisconsin (6:00) in the first of two BJC Duals of the year on 12/13, Nolf’s Big Ten dual debut...Majored #20 Chad Walsh of Rider on 12/19...Rolled through the field to win the 2016 Southern Scuffle title at 157, going 5-0 with two pins and two techs...Pinned #10 Mitch Minotti in semis then handled Oklahoma State’s Joe Smith 7-3 in the final...Went 2-0 on Big Ten road swing at Purdue and Indiana, including a tech fall and a major...Lop-sided 19-3 tech fall over #17 Tyler Berger of Nebraska on 1/15...Pinned #1 Isaiah Martinez of Illinois on 1/23 in Champaign (4:56), handing the defending NCAA Champion his first collegiate loss (snapping 54-match win streak)...Was B1G Wrestler of the Week (1/26)...dominating 22-6 TF (6:14) over #9 Brian Murphy of Michigan on 1/31...Dominating 19-6 major over #11 Jake Ryan of Ohio State on 2/5...Two first period pins on back-to-back nights, getting one at 1:22 at Lehigh on 2/12 and at 2:02 vs. Michigan State in Rec Hall on 2/13...Third-straight pin, this one over Oklahoma State’s Ryan Blees (6:32) on 2/21 in dual win over the Cowboys...Big Ten Wrestler of the Week once, InterMat National Freshman of the Year, 2016 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, NWCA first-team All-Academic.

Big Ten Championships (3-1, Runner-Up, NCAA Qualifier):  Big Ten Runner-Up, going 3-1 with a pin and two techs, lost on criteria (:12 riding time) to #2 Isaiah Martinez of Illinois in final, his first collegiate loss.

NCAA Championships (4-1, Runner-Up, All-American): Became freshman All-American with 4-1 run in debut NCAA Championship...A pin, two techs and a major to advance to the final in Madison Square Garden...Dropped a tough 6-5 decision to #1 Isaiah Martinez of Illinois.

2014-15: Redshirt season...Went 15-1 wrestling unattached in open tournaments...Had five pins, three techs and a major...Went 6-0 at ESU Open on 11/6 and 5-0 at the NLO on 12/7 before a 4-1 run at the Southern Scuffle, dropping tough decision to Nebraska All-American James Green in the finals.

High School/Personal:
Nolf married Penn State women’s soccer player Maddie Elliston on June 30, 2018...Brought a lengthy list of accolades with him to the Penn State Nittany Lion family...Won three state titles in high school, at 103, 132 and 145...Amassed a 176-1 career record at Kittanning High School...Four-year wrestling letterman and one-time team captain...Lettered twice in cross country and one year in track and field...Competed in the 2014 USA vs. Pennsylvania Dapper Dan event and competed for the Young Guns wrestling club...Outstanding student, posting a 4.5 GPA, winning Kittanning’s Physics Award and the school’s Principal’s Award.