Penn State Wrestling: Ranking all 10 NCAA Championship Teams
By Chris Snyder
No. 6 – 2016
Dual Record: 16-0
Conference Champions: 3
149 Zain Retherford
174 Bo Nickal
197 Morgan McIntosh
All-Americans: 6
125 Nico Megaludis
133 Jordan Conaway
149 Zain Retherford
157 Jason Nolf
174 Bo Nickal
197 Morgan McIntosh
NCAA Champions: 2
125 Nico Megaludis
149 Zain Retherford
NCAA Final Team Standings
1. Penn State 123.0
2. Oklahoma State 97.5
3. Ohio State 86.0
Dan Hodge Trophy
Zain Retherford – finalist
Following a rebuilding season in 2014-2015 where the Nittany Lions finished 11-4 in their dual schedule, fifth at the Big Ten Championships, and sixth at the 2015 NCAA Championships, the Penn State faithful knew it was just a matter of time before they were once again atop the wrestling mountain.
The buzz surrounding the freshman duo of Bo Nickal and Jason Nolf was equivalent to handing 5000 bees a megaphone. And for good reason, because the pair each ended up finishing runner up at their respective weight class.
Oh, and Zain Retherford was beginning to assert his dominance on the nation at 149 during his sophomore year with a 34-0 record and 88% bonus point percentage.
It also didn’t hurt to have seniors Nico Megaludis and Morgan McIntosh have their best showings ever in an NCAA tournament.
McIntosh made his first-ever NCAA finals match at 197 where he eventually lost to JDen Cox (Missouri) in a heartbreaking 4-2 decision. And Megaludis finally put everything together to make his third NCAA finals match at 125. However this time he came out on top by defeating Iowa’s Thomas Gilman 6-3.
Sprinkle in a sixth-place finish for Jordan Conaway and this team narrowly edges out the 2013 team.