2018 NCAA Wrestling Championships: Penn State schedule, results, preview (03/15/18)
Penn State has nine wrestlers taking part in the 2018 NCAA championships, a three-day event, beginning on Thursday, at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. Check out full brackets and results here.
Penn State is the defending national champions and Ohio State is also considered a favorite. The Nittany Lions have two top-seeded wrestlers in the event, as well as seven seeded in the top five. Find the time, TV channel and watch online information below.
2018 NCAA Wrestling Championships: Penn State schedule, results
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2018 NCAA Wrestling Championships: Penn State
A preview for every Penn State wrestler at nationals is included below. Also, check back up for updates throughout the tournament on how the Nittany Lions are doing.
Corey Keener
Seed: Unseeded
Record: 16-8
Weight Class: 133
Keener won’t be new to the scene of the NCAA Championships as it will be his fourth time competing. It will be his first time, however, as a member of the Nittany Lions. Keener will take on No. 11 Dom Forys, of Pittsburgh, in the first round.
Nick Lee
Seed: No. 8
Record: 26-5
Weight class: 141
Lee, at 141, went 26-5 this season as a true freshman. Due to him being a freshman, it will be his first time competing in the NCAA Championships. Against the rest of the field, Lee has gone 11-4. In the opening round, he will face Maryland’s Ryan Diehl.
Zain Retherford
Seed: 1
Record: 26-0
Weight class: 149
Retherford is a senior and a three-time All-American who is a two-time defending NCAA Champion. Retherford has continued his dominance all season long, going undefeated to this point — which includes a third straight Big Ten title. He was named the 2018 Big Ten Wrestler of the Year and will face Eastern Michigan’s Kyle Springer in the first round.
Jason Nolf
Seed: 3
Record: 21-1
Weight class: 157
Nolf has had an intriguing season with the Nittany Lions as his only defeat came when he forfeited a match — he was winning at the time — because of an injury. Nolf, a junior, returned for the Big Ten Championships for the first time in over a month and went 2-0. Nolf, a No. 3 seed, will wrestle against Colin Heffernan of Central Michigan. Nolf is also the defending NCAA Champion at 157.
Vincenzo Joseph
Seed: 3
Record: 20-2
Weight class: 165
Joseph, a sophomore, is another defending NCAA Champion competing for Penn State. He won at 165 as a freshman a year ago and is a No. 3 seed this time around. Joseph’s only two losses this season came against wrestlers who will also be in the NCAA Championships. He will face Princeton’s Jonathan Schleiffer in the first round.
Mark Hall
Seed: 2
Record: 28-0
Weight class: 174
Hall, just like Joseph, is a sophomore who is a defending NCAA Champion. He is the No. 2 seed in the event this season and will carry his undefeated record into his opening round match against Austin Rose of Drexel. Hall won his first Big Ten title this season.
Bo Nickal
Seed: 1
Record: 26-0
Weight class: 184
Nickal, a junior, is also an NCAA Champion. He won his second Big Ten title this season and will open this year’s championships against South Dakota State’s Martin Mueller. Nickal is 10-0 this season against other wrestlers competing in the event.
Shakur Rasheed
Seed: 5
Record: 20-3
Weight class: 197
Rasheed will be making his first appearance in the NCAA Championships this season as a junior. He went 20-3 overall this season and 7-3 against wrestlers competing in the event. Rasheed will take on The Citadel’s Sawyer Root in the first round.
Nick Nevills
Seed: 3
Record: 26-5
Weight Class: 285
Nevills, a junior, will be competing at nationals for the second time in his career. Over the course of the season, he wrestled other NCAA Championships athletes 17 times and went 12-5 in those matched. Nevills will start this season’s event against Kent State’s Stephen Suglio.
NCAA championships: Time
The tournament kicks off two sessions on Thursday and includes two more on Friday and Saturday.
Time: First-round on Thursday, noon. Session II on Thursday, 7 p.m. Quarterfinals and consolations on Friday, 11 a.m. Semifinals on Friday, 8 p.m. Medal round on Saturday, 11 a.m. Finals on Saturday, 8 p.m.
Date: March 15, 16 and 17
Location: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
NCAA wrestling: TV channel
EPSNU will air the first-round on Thursday, the quarterfinals on Friday and the medal round on Saturday. ESPN will air the second-round on Thursday and the semifinals on Friday night. ESPN2 will show the finals on Saturday.
NCAA wrestling: Watch online
WatchESPN will carry the entire tournament and you can access it by clicking here.
2018 NCAA Wrestling Championships schedule
Thursday, March 15
Session I – Noon – ESPNU (Pigtails and First Round) | WatchESPN
Session II – 7 p.m. – ESPN (consolation rounds and Championship Second Round) | WatchESPN
Friday, March 16
Session III – 11 a.m. – ESPNU (Quarterfinals and consolation rounds) | WatchESPN
Session IV – 8 p.m. – ESPN (Semifinals and consolation rounds) | WatchESPN
Saturday, March 17
Session V – 11 a.m. – ESPNU (consolation semifinals and 3rd-, 5th-, 7th-place bouts) | WatchESPN
Session VI – 8 p.m. – ESPN2 (Finals) | WatchESPN
