Bo Nickal defeated Cornell's Gabe Dean to win the NCAA title (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Penn State's Bo Nickal, crowned 184-pound champ at the 2017 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in St. Louis last month, has been named winner of The Hammer award for 2017 by Amateur Wrestling News, the magazine revealed in its April 15 issue.
In announcing Nickal as winner of its annual college wrestling award, AWN explained that it has revised the criteria for determining who receives The Hammer, stating that it will now be presented to the wrestler "who wins what we feel was the most competitive weight class at the NCAA tournament." In the past, the award was given to the wrestler who had dominated the magazine's Pound for Pound where AWN writers provide rankings of the top ten college wrestlers in each issue, regardless of weight class or division.
While AWN determined that the 133 and 174-pound weight classes were worthy of consideration for The Hammer award, "there was no denying that 184 was the 'Land of No Return'", mentioning that the bracket was well-stocked with eight returning All-Americans and a pair of national champs.
In making its case for Nickal, AWN wrote, "The native of Allen, Texas won the 184-pound weight class with an upset victory over two-time and defending champ Gabe Dean. To say that Nickal is dominant understates his invincibility. In St. Louis, he recorded three pins and a tech fall en route to his meeting with Dean."
Nickal, who was runner-up at 174 at the 2016 NCAAs, moved up this season to 184, where he was the No. 2 seed in the bracket to top-seeded Dean. The Cornell University senior was on a 45-match win streak. Nickal snapped the streak -- and denied Dean a third title -- with a 4-3 victory in the title match.
Previous winners of AWN's annual top wrestler award include Oklahoma State's Alex Dieringer in 2016, and Ohio State's Logan Stieber in 2015.
In other post-season collegiate wrestling awards presented by national wrestling media, Nickal's Penn State teammate Zain Retherford was voted InterMat Wrestler of the Year for 2017 ... and was named this year's winner of the Hodge Trophy for best collegiate wrestler by WIN (Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine) and Culture House.
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