ASU's Zahid Valencia will look to repeat as NCAA champion (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)PITTSBURGH -- Bo Nickal and the Penn State Nittany Lions put the finishing touches on their fourth straight national championship on Saturday night in Pittsburgh. Nickal and teammate Jason Nolf (157) won their third straight NCAA titles, while Anthony Cassar (285) claimed his first. Mekhi Lewis of Virginia Tech knocked off two-time returning NCAA champion Vincenzo Joseph of Penn State.
InterMat will be providing a full recap of the finals.
Refresh/reload the page to read the latest updates.
Links: Updated Team Scores & Brackets | Watch ESPN
10:18 p.m. InterMat will be providing a full finals recap.
10:15 p.m. And with that, the season is done. Final team scores.
1 Penn State 137.5
2 Ohio State 96.5
3 Oklahoma State 84.0
4 Iowa 76.0
5 Michigan 62.5
6 Missouri 62.0
7 Cornell 59.5
8 Minnesota 53.5
9 Rutgers 51.5
10 Nebraska 51.0
11 Virginia Tech 50.0
10:07 p.m. Late takedowns in the first and third period give Bo Nickal (Penn State) his third national title in a fourth final. It was a 5-1 valedictory match victory for one of the Penn State stars of this nine year run of eight national titles. Kollin Moore (Ohio State) has finishes of third, fourth, and second in his career so far.
9:50 p.m. The prolonged second period ride and early third period escape were crucial in the win for Drew Foster, who is the first national champion for Northern Iowa since 2000. Takedowns in the first and late in the third counter a first period takedown for Max Dean (Cornell). Foster wins 6-4, party hard Mediapolis (Iowa) here after 184.
9:35 p.m. Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) is a repeat national champion with the 4-3 decision. Takedown late in the second period then riding it out the difference, in comparison to Mark Hall (Penn State), who scored his takedown early in the first but Zahid escaped. Hall did not have much for offense in the third period to challenge Valencia. Hall is a three-time national finalist in three years, winning in 2017 but losing to Valencia the last two years.
9:23 p.m. As we get back to the 174 pound match, Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) is one of two from the 20 finalists to advance to tonight's matches with all wins by bonus points. Bo Nickal (Penn State) at 197 is the other one.
9:15 p.m. Mekhi Lewis becomes the first ever national champion for Virginia Tech. A second period cradle for four was the catalyst. Then it was a third period takedown to seal a 7-1 victory over the two-time returning national champion Vincenzo joseph (Penn State). Lewis makes it four champions from New Jersey on the evening.
9:05 p.m. Attendance notes sent along for today's sessions. Session 5 had a total of 18,436 with the finals session having 18,950. The finals number is the fifth highest ever, while the total attendance for six sessions of 109,405 is the sixth highest.
8:58 p.m. At full time, Nolf wins by 10-2 major decision. He is a three-time national champion!
8:53 p.m. We have resumed wrestling after the intermission with the 157 match. Jason Nolf (Penn state) is well positioned to win a third national title in four finals appearances. He leads 8-3 after the first period as it was three takedowns with near falls coming off the second of them against Tyler Berger (Nebraska).
8:35 p.m. It's a pair of national champions for Rutgers on this Saturday night. Anthony Ashnault with takedowns in the second and third period, near fall off the takedown in the third to counter Micah Jordan (Ohio State) takedown early in the third period. Ashnault wins 9-4. Ohio State is 0-2 in finals, and will likely end up without a champion in their runner-up finish.
8:25 p.m. An interesting note is that Diakomihalis was the lone finalist - of the 20 - to enter tonight's program without a bonus point victory. That obviously remains the case - his other wins were 10-5, 7-3, 5-1, and 6-5.
8:20 p.m. Yianni Diakomihalis rallies to win 6-4 in overtime. He scored on a beauty of a counter with five seconds left in the bout to go ahead 4-3, Joey McKenna then escaped to level it before the horn. In overtime, Diakomihalis countered a McKenna shot into a deep attack of his own and a precisely crisp finish. He is now a two-time national champion in two years out of high school.
8:03 p.m. Takedown by Joey McKenna (Ohio State) at the 30 second mark of the bout. He is facing top seed and returning national champion Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell). Diakomihalis beat McKenna as one of his 27 regular season victories without a loss in early February.
7:55 p.m. Nick Suriano (Rutgers) was awarded the takedown in sudden victory number two to win 4-2. He countered a Fix (Oklahoma State) attack with one of his own and finished the shot. 1-1 in regulation. Second stall Suriano at the horn of the first 30/30 for Fix to go up 2-1, then Suriano escaped late in his 30/30 down period. Suirano is Rutgers' first national champion!
7:31 p.m. A takedown with about thirty seconds left in the bout confirmed Lee having a victory by the score of 5-0. Spencer is now a two-time national champion in his first two years out of high school at 125 pounds.
7:22 p.m. Opening takedown for defending national champion Spencer Lee (Iowa) 53 seconds into the bout at 125 pounds.
7:15 p.m National champion Antony Cassar! Penn State wins their first of five finals bout attempts on the night. 10-1 the final score when riding time was added in.
7:11 p.m. Very late in the second period, Anthony Cassar (Penn State) got in on a shot trailing 1-0 and finished it for the takedown and near falls. It's an escape early in the third, then another takedown, and Cassar now is up 9-1!
6:58 p.m. Finals are under five minutes away from first whistle, broadcast on ESPN. They'll start with the 285 pound weight class, and roll the wheel back to 197.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now