Bo Nickal

Nickal wrestled unattached in his redshirt season, compiling a 15-2 record in open tournaments.[8]

In Nickal's freshman year he became the Big Ten Conference Champion at 174-pounds.[9] At the National Championships, he defeated four opponents to make his way to the finals, in where he lost to Myles Martin to earn runner-up honors.[10]

In his sophomore year he moved to 184 (pounds). He compiled an undefeated 18-0 record prior to the Big Tens, in which he placed 3rd after losing to Miles Martin in the semifinals.[11] At the annual NCAA tournament he secured 4 dominant victories (three pins and one major) to get to the finals, where he defeated two-time defending NCAA Champion Gabe Dean to deny a third title for him and claim the NCAA National Championship.[12]

Nickal had an undefeated run in his junior season, he became the 2018 Big Ten Conference Champion for the 2nd time with a record of 26-0[13] At the nationals, he defeated opponents to get to the finals, where he pinned his rival and #2 ranked wrestler Myles Martin to win his second-straight NCAA Title and clinch the team title for Penn State.[14] He was also awarded the 2018 NCAA Championship Outstanding Wrestler award[15] and the Schalles Award as nation's top pinner.[16]

As a redshirt senior, Nickal moved up once again to 197 pounds. At this new weight class, he comfortably won the 2019 Big Ten Conference Championship by second time consecutively and third time overall.[17] At his last NCAA National tournament, Nick dominated all 3 matches to get to the final, pinning his first two opponents and getting a major in the semifinals. In the finals, Nickal defeated #2 ranked Kollin Moore by points (5-1) to claim the 2019 NCAA Title,[18] becoming one of the four Penn State wrestlers to win 3 National Championships and the second one (along with David Taylor) to be a 4x NCAA Finalist.[19] At the end of the season, he was awarded the 2019 Dan Hodge Trophy as nation's best college wrestler[20] and the Schalles Award (for the second time consecutively) of 2019 as nation's top pinner.[16] He would also be named 2019 Co-Big Ten wrestler of the Year, Penn State Male Athlete of the Year, and Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year.[21][22]

When he was in his junior year of high school, he competed at the 2013 Cadet World Championships, at 76 kilos. In this tournament, he defeated Takashi Ishiguro (6-3) and subsequently lost to Batyrbek Tsakulov (1-7). After the loss, he defeated Simone Iannattone by technical fall in the first period and then he would earn another 1st period technical fall victory against Sargis Hovsepyan. Nickal wrestled for the 3rd place but lost to Ali Mojerloo (2-4) and placed 5th instead.[23]

In 2016, Nickal competed in the 2016 Junior World Team Trials at 84 kg. In the quarterfinals and semifinals of the challenge tournament Nickal wasn't scored a point, winning by technical fall in both bouts after scoring 10 points to 0 against Hunter Ritter and Emery Parker respectively. In the finals he defeated Bobby Steveson by technical fall, scoring 12-2 and winning the tournament. Nickal then advanced to the trials in which he would face Zahid Valencia in a best-of-three. Nickal lost the two bouts, the first one not being able to score while Valencia scored 2 and the second one scoring 2 points to 8, losing eligibility to compete at the World Championships.[24]

Nickal competed at the 2016 US Senior Last Chance Olympic Qualifier at 86 kilograms. He won his first two matches by technical fall but subsequently lost by the same method. He went on to win three more matches to make the consolation bracket's final, but ultimately got pinned.[25]

Nickal competed at the 2017 U.S Open Championships at 86 kilograms. Nickal didn't struggle to get to the semifinals, taking out Randy Keesler, Timmy McCall and John Staudenmayer via tech fall (10-0). In the semi-finals he faced Richard Perry, losing 8-10 and getting thrown to the consolation bracket. In the semifinals (consolation bracket) he faced 2016 All-American Pat Downey, whom he teched 12-2, advancing to the consolation finals. In the 3rd place bout he faced Nick Heflin, whom he lost a tough 8-10 to, placing 4th.[26]

Once he graduated from college in 2019, Nickal immediately focused completely on freestyle wrestling.

Nickal competed at the U.S Open in the 92 kilograms division. He walked throughout his competition, stopping 5 opponents (3 by technical fall and 2 by fall) and earning the championship. Between the first and the second round, he only wrestled for 53 seconds.[27][28]

After winning the U.S Open, Nickal automatically got to the finals of the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament, in which he would face Michael Macchiavello in a best-of-three rematch. Nickal dominated the first match winning by technical fall (10-0) and in the second match he would outscore Macchiavello 5-0, without letting him to score a point in neither match.[29]

Nickal wrestled in two straight matches against Olympic bronze medalist J'den Cox for the spot to represent the United States at the World Championships. In the first match, he got outscored 4-2 and wasn't able to score offensively. In the second round, he wasn't able to score a single point, while Cox scored 5. Because of the defeats, Cox represented the United States in Kazakhstan instead of Nickal.[28][30]

As a Final X contestant at 23 years old, he had the right to compete at the U23 World Team Trials against the Challenge Tournament winner, Jakob Woodley. The special wrestle-offs took place during the Fargo Nationals. Nickal dominated 12-4 in the first match and 8-2 in the second match. Due to those victories, Nickal represented United States at the 2019 World U23 Wrestling Championships.[29][28]

At the U23 World's, Nickal defeated 3 opponents (1 by fall, 1 by technical fall and 1 by points) including the returning champion to get to the finals, in where he faced the accomplished Batyrbek Tsakulov (whom he had lost to at the 2013 Cadet World's). Nickal was able to avenge his loss with a 12-2 technical fall victory to earn the championship.[31][28]

By the start of 2020, Nickal would move up to the Olympic 97 kilograms weight class in an attempt to take out Olympic Gold medalist Kyle Snyder.[32] He effortlessly passed the first round by technical fall before facing Mohammad Mohammadian (winner of the championship), who would nullify Nickal to a 0-10 technical fall, marking the first time he had been defeated in such fashion in freestyle and college. In the consolation bracket, he would also have a tough time, as he had a close match with Alisher Yergali in which he was down 11-12 but secure to get a last second takedown to earn a 13-12 point-victory. Next in the bracket was Kyle Snyder, however, Nickal did not appear on the mat, forcing the match to be ruled as a forfeit victory for Snyder and also eliminating Nickal from the tournament, placing 7th.[33][34]

As a 2019 World Champion at U23, Nickal qualified for the US Olympic Trials.[35] He was scheduled to compete at the event on April, however, it was postponed for 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic along with the 2020 Summer Olympics.[36] As a champion at a non-olympic weight, Nickal was supposed to decide if he was going to competed at 86 or 97 kilograms, but this decision never came to public as the events were postponed.[37]

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