After three finals appearances, seemingly perpetual bridesmaid Nico Megaludis of Penn State became the champ at 125 pounds, while Oklahoma State's Alex Dieringer won his third consecutive title at 157 pounds. However, two-time heavyweight champ Nick Gwiazdowski of North Carolina State lost out on his bid for title number three.
Megaludis: Three finals, now a title
Nico Megaludis started off the action on Saturday night -- and capped off his collegiate career -- with a 6-3 win over Iowa's Thomas Gilman in the 125 finals, nabbing what had been an elusive title. Prior to the 2016 NCAAs, the Murryville, Pa. native was already a three-time NCAA All-American, having made it to the finals twice before. In 2012, Megaludis lost to Iowa's Matt McDonough; the following year, he fell to Illinois' Jesse Delgado. (At the 2014 NCAAs, Megaludis placed third at 125.)
Nico Megaludis celebrates after winning the NCAA title on Saturday night (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)In the post-match interview, the Nittany Lion senior admitted he was more relieved than elated.
"I don't know, it's not even celebration, it's just relief," said Megaludis. "I don't know, I'm just relieved. I knew I was going to be the champion. It was a done deal a year ago when I signed everywhere -- my room at Penn State, my room at home, my bathroom at home, my wrestling room at home, my car steering wheel: 'I am 2016 national champion.'" (Sunday afternoon, he posted a photo of that hand-lettered sign taped to his steering wheel on Twitter.)
Had Megaludis lost in this year's finals, he would have joined a trio of three-time finalists who never won an NCAA title: Michigan's Bob Fehrs (1965-67), Iowa's Chad Zaputil (1991-93), and Fresno State's Gerry Abas (1993-95).
Megaludis wasn't the only Penn State wrestler to leave Madison Square Garden with a title. At 149 pounds, top-seeded sophomore Zain Retherford earned a 10-1 major decision over No. 2 seed Brandon Sorensen of Iowa. What's more, the entire Nittany Lion program left New York with the team title, its fifth in six years.
Dieringer gets third crown in three years
Alex Dieringer completed his Oklahoma State wrestling career on the highest of high notes. In a battle of undefeated wrestlers, the Cowboy senior got a 6-2 win over Isaac Jordan of the University of Wisconsin in the 165-pound championship bout.
Alex Dieringer talks with ESPN after winning his third straight NCAA title (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)"It's a pretty amazing feat what I just did, so I'm just going to try to enjoy the moment," said Dieringer, a product of Port Washington, Wis.
"There's a lot of emotions there," Dieringer added. "I was kind of a little conservative, but in the situation I was in it was hard to get overaggressive. But I know I was very pleased, 18 matches in a row with a third national title in the most historic arena in the world. So it's a pretty amazing feeling."
Dieringer is definitely one 2016 NCAA champ who is accepting the invitation to all who won national collegiate titles in the Garden to wrestle at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials at the University of Iowa in April.
"I'll be a wrestler for life," said Dieringer, who, with an overall record of 133-4, is second only to coach John Smith on Oklahoma State's all-time wins list. "I'm going to give back to the sport that gave me so much. I'll be wrestling until my body can't take it anymore. I'm going to get into coaching, help wrestlers out and help them reach their goals.
"I'll be taking two or three days. Not much more than that. Two weeks, I'll still be in good shape. But two weeks to train freestyle, that's my favorite style. I have a little over two weeks to figure everything out, get ready for (Jordan) Burroughs and the rest of the guys in the field."
Oklahoma State wrestlers were two-for-two in the 2016 NCAA finals. Before Dieringer took to the mat Saturday night, teammate Dean Heil -- a sophomore -- became the Stillwater school's 140th NCAA champ with a 3-2 victory over Bryce Meredith of the University of Wyoming in the 141-pound title match. The Oklahoma State Cowboys placed second in the team standings at the 2016 NCAAs.
Third title denied for Gwiazdowski
Nick Gwiazdowski had hoped to join the ultra-exclusive club of three-time NCAA heavyweight champs ... but Ohio State's Kyle Snyder had other plans. In the marquee match-up of the evening -- and arguably the most thrilling final -- the two-time defending champ at 285 fell to the Buckeye, 7-5 SV1.
Gwiaz won back-to-back NCAA titles for the Wolfpack, defeating defending champ Tony Nelson of Minnesota in the 2014 NCAA finals ... then claiming his second crown by beating Michigan's Adam Coon in the finals last year.
Had Gwiazdowski won his this third title, he would have been only the fifth heavyweight titlewinner to have three championship crowns, joining Earl McCready (1928-30), Dick Hutton (1947-48, 1950) and Jimmy Jackson (1976-78), all from Oklahoma State ... and Carlton Haselrig of University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown, who won a trio of NCAA Division II titles, then added three Division I crowns in 1987-89. (Back then, Division II and III champs qualified to compete at the Division I championships that same year.)
Instead, Gwiazdowski joins nineteen other two-time NCAA heavyweight champs ... six who lost in their third attempt, including Stephen Neal, Tommy Rowlands, Steve Mocco and, yes, Tony Nelson, of the modern era.
Gwiazdowski had that third title in sight. The native of upstate New York had a 3-0 lead in the second period ... but Snyder scored escapes to bring it to 3-2. The Wolfpack champ seemed to put it away with a third-period takedown to push the lead out to 5-3 towards the end of regulation. With 11 seconds on the clock, Snyder grabbed a takedown to extend the action beyond regulation ... then wrapped things up with another takedown in the sudden victory period to take the title, snap Gwiazdowski's 88-match win streak, and claim the event's Outstanding Wrestler honors.
It's been an incredible year for Snyder. Six months ago, the Maryland native won a World freestyle championship - at age 19, the youngest American to do so. Snyder had planned to take a redshirt for the entire 2015-16 season in his quest to make the 2016 U.S. Olympic team ... but reversed course and returned to Ohio State mid-season, where he moved up from 197 to the 285 weight class, with a perfect 11-0 record.
In talking about the heavyweight title bout, Snyder told ESPN, "It was a fun match. I think it will go down as one of the most exciting heavyweight matches in NCAA history. And obviously, I'm happy that the end result was to get my hand raised.''
Snyder wasn't the only champ for the Buckeyes. True freshman Myles Martin (the No. 11 seed) upset top-seeded Bo Nickal of Penn State in the 174-pound finals to help propel Ohio State -- the defending NCAA team title winner -- into third place in this year's team standings.
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