Penn State wrestling mailbag: Are Jason Nolf and Bo Nickal the best wrestlers in school history?

In the famous words of UFC’s Bruce Buffer, “It’s time!”

Yes, the NCAA Championships begin Thursday. It’s the point of the year that Penn State coach Cael Sanderson seems to always have his team ready, especially in seven of the last eight years.

The Nittany Lions will aim to claim their fourth straight NCAA team title in Pittsburgh on Saturday. It’s a feat the program has yet to accomplish.

Let’s open up one of the final mailbags of the year and see what was asked this week.

Are Jason Nolf and Bo Nickal Penn State’s best wrestlers in program history? If not, who is?

If you’re heavily weighing championships then, no, Nolf and Nickal are not the best wrestlers in the program — yet. Zain Retherford and Ed Ruth would be Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, with those two being the lone Nittany Lions with three NCAA crowns.

Should Nolf and Nickal claim their third titles this week, which I think they will, then you could say they are among the best. Where exactly? Let’s work our way through this.

I was asked several months ago who I thought were the top-five wrestlers in Penn State wrestling history. My list at that time: 1. Retherford, 2. Ruth, 3. David Taylor, 4A. Nolf, 4B. Nickal.

Since that time, I’d say both Nolf and Nickal have leaped over Taylor. Not only will the two current wrestlers likely pass Taylor in the title count this weekend, but the duo also passed Taylor earlier this year on the pin list. Taylor has two things currently that neither Nolf or Nickal have — four Big Ten crowns and two Hodge Trophies. However, I feel Nolf’s and Nickal’s three NCAA crowns can outweigh the conference titles.

Now, Nolf and Nickal have been dominant all season long, and it would be no surprise if the pair share the Hodge Trophy at the end of the season. To me, adding that piece of hardware to their accolades would put them both ahead of Ruth, who doesn’t have a Hodge Trophy. It’s going to be very tough for anyone to surpass Retherford, who has the three NCAA crowns, three Big Ten titles and two Hodge Trophies. So, to me, Nolf and Nickal belong as 2A and 2B if they share the Hodge.

Vincenzo Joseph is slowly and quietly working his way into this conversation. He could very well become the fourth Penn State wrestler to claim three NCAA crowns with the opportunity to be the first Nittany Lion to claim four NCAA titles. Interestingly enough, Joseph could become the first wrestler ever to not win a conference title but four NCAA crowns.

What are Roman Bravo-Young’s and Brady Berge’s expectations in their first NCAA Championships?

If you ask their teammates, they are expected to win. However, let’s face it, it takes a pretty special freshman to win an NCAA crown in their first year of collegiate wrestling. Now, I’m not saying Bravo-Young and Berge aren’t special, but they are not Minnesota’s Gable Steveson or Cornell’s Yianni Diakomihalis or Kyle Dake.

The Nittany Lions’ freshmen have plenty of wrestling experience on the world stage, so they can compete with the best. I can’t say that the expectations are sky-high for them, but I do believe they are both good enough to become All-Americans in their first collegiate campaign.

Looking at RBY’s bracket, I can see him getting past Iowa’s Austin DeSanto based on what I saw at the Big Ten Championships. It would put the Tucson, Ariz., native with a quarterfinals match against Michigan’s Stevan Micic, who is rumored to have a torn ACL. If that is the case, don’t be surprised if you see RBY in the semifinals. If he gets that far, he will have guaranteed himself an All-America finish. I say RBY finishes no higher than fifth.

As for Berge, he might end up having a little more work to do than Bravo-Young. I can see him winning his first-round match, which will more than likely match him up in the next round with Princeton’s Matthew Kolodzik, who finished third last year. The loss means that Berge gets kicked into the consolations pretty early and will have to wrestle his way back. Just like with Bravo-Young, I don’t see Berge finishing any higher than fifth.

Can any team give Penn State a run in the NCAA team race?

It will be the usual suspects that are at the top along with the Nittany Lions. That means their top competition includes Oklahoma State, Ohio State and Iowa.

The Buckeyes will have the greatest shot as they are the only team to qualify all 10 of their wrestlers. Nine received automatic bids to Pittsburgh, and the final wrestler picked up an at-large berth.

The Cowboys and Hawkeyes each qualified nine like Penn State, but their nine aren’t nearly as strong as the Nittany Lions’. I’m going to say that about half of Oklahoma State’s and Iowa’s wrestlers will be in the consolations when the second day of the NCAA Championships get underway. At the same time, Penn State might not have a single wrestler into the consolations until Friday, but I bet at least one will be.

To me, this year’s NCAA team race is just a race for second place. It’s quite possible that the Nittany Lions have the team race locked up Friday night or Saturday morning. They will also make a push to tie or set the new team scoring mark.

Can Thursday get here any sooner?

This story was originally published March 18, 2019 at 8:34 PM.