Penn State Wrestling: Keys to Another National Title for the Nittany Lions

Even with a second place finish at the Big Ten Championships two weeks ago, Penn State wrestling is still the same team that was 14-0 in duals and beat every opponent by at least 13 points.

As reigning national champions, the Nittany Lions remain the team to beat at the NCAA Championships Thursday through Saturday at St. Louis’ Scottrade Center.

However, the path to Cael Sanderson’s sixth title in seven years will be a bit more interesting than most had predicted after Penn State obliterated Oklahoma State in the NWCA Dual Championship on Feb. 19. The Nittany Lions will look to hold off the Big 12 tournament champion Cowboys and Big Ten tourney winners Ohio State for the national title.

A team win would be Penn State’s second consecutive NCAA Championship and sixth in seven years.

Nick Suriano Has To Be Fully Ready To Go

UPDATE 3:10 p.m. – Penn State Wrestling announced on its Twitter account that Nick Suriano will not be able to compete in the NCAA Championships

At Monday’s media availability, Sanderson said that Suriano will compete this weekend. That’s the same answer he gave prior to the Big Ten Tournament, which the stud freshman injury defaulted through. Granted, this weekend has much higher stakes for both the team and Suriano, so he will likely take the mat, but the question will be how strong he’ll be after almost a month off.

Perhaps he’ll be well-rested, but if he’s still recovering from the ankle injury he sustained against Oklahoma State and not 100 percent, he won’t be as dangerous at 125 as he was in the dual season.

The good news for Penn State is that the opponents from Suriano’s toughest two matches — Iowa’s Thomas Gilman and Oklahoma State’s Nick Piccinini — are on the opposite side of the bracket, so he should have a relatively easier path to the finals.

A Suriano vs. Piccinini final is one of many potential title bouts that could determine the national team champion.

Any Final At 133 Other Than Nathan Tomasello vs. Kaid Brock

133 pounds is where the Cowboys and Buckeyes have the biggest opportunity to gain ground on the Nittany Lions with Penn State not qualifying a wrestler in the weight class. Ohio State’s Tomasello and Oklahoma State’s Brock — who are a combined 44-2 — are the one and three seeds, respectively. Penn State fans should be rooting for guys like South Dakota State’s Seth Gross and Michigan’s Stevan Micic to have strong tournaments and advance to the finals.

Tomasello and Brock will inevitably score points for their respective teams and at least one most likely will qualify for the finals. But if both advance that far, the Nittany Lions’ title shot takes a big blow.

Jimmy Gulibon Must Be At His Best

This weekend is Gulibon’s last chance to make a splash in college wrestling and throughout his up and down career, he has shown signs of being one of the best wrestlers at his weight class. After a great finish to the regular season, he struggled in the Big Ten Championships and finished seventh.

In the NWCA Dual National Championship, he had the No. 1 Dean Heil on the ropes, nearly pinning him twice.

Although the senior is entering unseeded, if the Jimmy Gulibon who won his last six of the dual season shows up to the Scottrade Center this weekend, he’ll face Oklahoma State’s Dean Heil — the top seed who he was a controversial call away from upsetting in the NWCA National Dual Championship on two different occasions — in the semifinals. Penn State will be tough to beat if Gulibon’s wrestling at his best and scoring points.

Zain Retherford Has To Hold Off Anthony Collica

Before the Big Ten Championships, Retherford appeared to be the least invincible member of Penn State’s ‘Big Three’ after a pair of narrowly won matches against Iowa’s Brandon Sorensen and Oklahoma State’s Collica. The redshirt junior and reigning national champ, however, rattled off one of the best conference tournament performances of all time — racking up three pins to get to the final and taking down Micah Jordan by tech fall to claim his second-straight Big Ten title.

Coming off a Big Ten Championships Most Outstanding Wrestler performance, Retherford is primed to win his second meeting with Collica more comfortably as opposed to scraping by without scoring a takedown. This potential championship bout does, however, remain one to keep an eye on considering how much Collica challenged him.

It Can’t Be One Of Those Days For Myles Martin

Ohio State’s 184-pound Big Ten Champion has handed Bo Nickal two of his three collegiate losses. The two have faced a total of six times with Nickal winning four of them. Martin can rise to the occasion in the moment at times and has shown he matches up nicely with Nickal so this potential semifinal matchup could be costly for the Nittany Lions.

Although his win over the Penn State sophomore at the conference championships may have proved that his win in the NCAA Championship finals a year ago was not a fluke, Nickal remains the superior wrestler and favorite to take on Cornell’s Gabe Dean for the NCAA title.

Don’t Forget About Iowa

While the Buckeyes remain the biggest threats to the Nittany Lions’ championships hopes, Iowa could quietly challenge all three teams with a few nice runs in the tournament. Still, while a lot needs to go right for the Hawkeyes to make noise in the tournament, they remain a threat.

It appears all the planets will need to align for this, but Iowa will be dangerous if Gilman wins at 125, Cory Clark makes the finals at 133, Soresen upsets Retherford after losing in sudden victory during a national finals rematch this dual season, Michael Kemerer makes it to the finals at 157, and Big Ten-champ Sammy Brooks places in the top four at 184.

Action gets started at noon on Thursday in St. Louis, and the championship finals are at 8 p.m.

Each round will air on ESPN networks with the following schedule: