Ranking Cael Sanderson’s top 10 wins as Penn State Wrestling coach
By Chris Snyder
No. 3
March 19, 2017
St. Louis, MO
Penn State 146.5
Ohio State 103.0
Oklahoma State 97.0
Penn State has won National Titles. A lot of them. But, the 2016-2017 team might just be the best of the bunch, especially with their showing in the 2017 NCAA Championships.
When the dust of all of the NCAA matches finally settled, Penn State had five wrestlers set to go in the finals. Oh by the way, these were in five consecutive weight classes too.
No. 1 Zain Retherford 149 crushed No. 3 Lavion Mayes by posting an 18-2 technical fall to win his second straight NCAA title. Next up was No. 1 Jason Nolf 157 as he took to the mat against No. 3 Joey Lavallee. Nolf made easy work of him on the way to a 14-6 major decision.
If you’re a fan of Penn State Wrestling, then you will certainly remember where you were when the next match unfolded. This was the match between No. 3 Vincenzo Joseph 165 and No. 1 Isaish Martinez. In the third period Joseph was able to maneuver a Martinez double under hooks, pick him off the mat, and turn him for the pin. Ironhead Byers almost lost his voice for good on the radio call. It was epic.
True freshman No. 5 Mark Hall 174 bested Ohio State’s No. 3 Bo Jordan in a decision and No. 2 Bo Nickal 184 capped the night off by beating No. 1 Gabe Dean.
2017 was a magical run in St. Louis. These five champions helped propel the Nittany Lions to the highest team score in NCAA Championship history.