Tag: Cael Sanderson

Best photos of Aaron Brooks at the U.S. wrestling Olympic trials

Check out some of the best photos of Aaron Brooks winning his spot on the U.S. national wrestling team heading to the Olympics this summer.

It was a monumental weekend in Happy Valley for Penn State wrestling star [autotag]Aaron Brooks[/autotag]. Brooks scored one of the most surprising upsets of the weekend’s U.S. national wrestling trials to earn a spot on the national team heading to the Paris 2024 Olympics this summer when he topped fellow former Nittany Lion, and defending gold medalist, [autotag]David Taylor[/autotag] on the mat in a best-of-three series.

Brooks is coming off a fourth consecutive NCAA title and will now have a shot at Olympic gold. Taylor will still be on the U.S. National Team as the trials runner-up, but his path to defending his gold is trickier than most anticipated.

Here are some of the best photos from Brooks’ run to the U.S. trials victory this weekend in the Bryce Jordan Center. Next stop, Paris!

Penn State Wrestling taps into transfer portal

Penn State wrestling picks up transfer out of the portal.

Penn State football and basketball aren’t the only sports in State College that can dominate the transfer portal. Penn State wrestling and coach [autotag]Cael Sanderson[/autotag] are coming off another national championship season but they know they need to add more to their roster. They tapped into the transfer portal and secured the highly coveted [autotag]Bernie Truax[/autotag].

Truax was a redshirt his first year at Cal Poly but he came back the next season as a redshirt freshman and went 18-11 in the regular season on his way to a third-place finish at the Pac-12 Championships and a 2020 National Championship appearance. The following year Truax made the jump to the 174-pound weight class as a junior and earned an impressive 13-3 record which earned him All-American status while winning a Pac-12 title.

During his 2022 season, it all looked similar as Truax upgraded to the 184-pound class and reached All-American status for the second time. Despite being in a smaller program, he has shown an ability to keep growing and developing as a wrestler. Placing him with Sanderson and the best wrestling program in the country could make the sky the limit for him.

Penn State Wrestling will be pursuing its third straight NCAA national championship and its second straight undefeated season in 2023.

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Recap: Penn State at the NCAA Divison 1 Wrestling Finals

A rundown of Penn State’s results from the NCAA wrestling championships.

Penn State wrestling has become a dynasty in college sports ever since coach [autotag]Cael Sanderson[/autotag] took over in 2009. He has produced a plethora of All-Americans, Big Ten champions, and national titles.

2023 was no different for the Nittany Lions as heading into the individual title matches, the team had already locked up it’s second consecutive overall title.

On the same night the basketball team fought for respect in the NCAA basketball tournament, their classmates and fellow Nittany Lions were in Tulsa, Oklahoma looking to earn some respect of their own.

Five wrestlers individually were competing for national championships, as well as competing for an overall team title for the second straight year.

Check-in below with how they fair in the BOK Arena with all the action taking place on the famed mat one.

Penn State locks up wrestling national championship early

For the 11th time, Penn State is your wrestling national champion.

The final session of the NCAA Wrestling Finals starts on Saturday night but that doesn’t mean that Penn State wanted to wait to lock up another team national title.

The Nittany Lions held a wide lead of 39.5 points in the team ranks thanks to them having eight wrestlers earning All-American honors, including five NCAA finalists out of the eight they had as a whole, who will compete on Saturday night in the sixth and final session of the tournament. Each win they secured in the tournament earned them seven points which between that and their All-Americans they entered Saturday with 77.5 points as a team.

Before they then thought, the consolation bracket had to play out starting with [autotag]Beau Bartlett[/autotag].

Bartlett would wrestle South Dakota State’s Clay Carlson in the consolation side of things and he would win handily. That win would create a wide enough margin that no team, including Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State, and Nebraska.

This would be the program’s 11th overall team national title and the 10th in [autotag]Cael Sanderson[/autotag]’s tenure which started in 2010. It’s also Penn State’s second consecutive national championship, as the Nittany Lions took home the 2022 title last year.

This will be Penn State’s sixth perfect dual meet season under Cael Sanderson as well. The program that he has built at State College has this university’s wrestling program among the very best teams regardless of the sport.

Bo Nickal continues impressive run, earns UFC contract

Bo Nickal is one of the top prospects ever signed by UFC.

Penn State National Champion and All-American wrestler [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag] finally did enough to earn a shot in the UFC. He won in impressive fashion once again this time doing so against a bigger opponent with an even better record.

Last time Bo Nickal was in the UFC octagon he was making his national debut and won in 63 seconds. He faced an opponent who was several leagues below him if we are being honest and did what he was supposed to. However, on the most recent installment of Dana White’s Contender Series he faced a much better opponent. One could even argue he is the better fighter on paper in Donovan Beard.

Beard was 7-1 coming into the bout to Bo Nickal’s 2-0. Beard was another promotion’s middleweight champion, Nickal hadn’t been in a promotion for more than one fight thus far.

Needless to say, no one expected this to be as easy as Nickal made it look. He secured a quick takedown on Beard shortly after the bout began. He followed that up with securing a top mount that he used to transition to a triangle choke hold on Beard. Nickal would lock in his ankle and the whole thing was over before he could even start.

Bo Nickal needed a total of 1:55 seconds in two professional MMA fights to secure a UFC contract. The insanity in that cannot be overstated.

Nickal proved he is multitalented though. After the fight he was quick with the microphone at his disposal, even calling out current UFC rising star and top contender Khamzat Chimaev.

UFC President Dana White was asked what he notes were on Nickal and he said all he had written down was “damn.” White also added that Nickal is “special” and is going to be a great fighter after showcasing he is already well ahead of so many at the same point in their careers.

His next fight isn’t yet known, won’t be for a couple weeks one can assume, but how the UFC handles him could be interesting. It is hard to compare him to anyone else the sport has seen. Fighters like Henry Cejudo and Brock Lesnar would be thrown to the proverbial wolves almost immediately and become champions. Other fighters would take the longer path and suffer losses along the way to dirty their shine.

No matter what happens, Nickal is proving that Penn State wrestling is on another level and the type of athlete they recruit is the best the country had to offer. Nickal won’t be the last Penn State wrestler to find success in MMA, he wasn’t the first, but he has a chance to be the best and that is worth following.

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Best social media reactions to Bo Nickal’s UFC incredible debut

Bo Nickal’s UFC impressive debut had Twitter sounding off

Former Penn State wrestler and national champion [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag] made his UFC debut Tueday night as part of the Dana White Contender Series. The Contender Series serves as a proving ground of sorts for up-and-coming talent in the sport of MMA and Nickal proved he deserved to be there.

Heading into the event, Nickal was 1-0 as a professional but his lengthy combat sports career in wrestling had him ready for the bright lights in Las Vegas. After winning a national championship in Madison Square Garden, not much could faze the young MMA prodigy.

He made quick work of his opponent taking him down and submitting him n just 63 seconds and the entire sport of MMA took notice.

Penn State secretly gave Cael Sanderson a contract extension

Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson received a contract extension, per reports

If anyone was worried about Penn State not being able to secure national championship wrestling head coach [autotag]Cael Sanderson[/autotag] for the long haul, rest easy. Apparently, Penn State has already worked out a contract extension for the top head coach in the world of college wrestling.

According to Mas Ralph of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, via Twitter, Sanderson’s contract with Penn State has “already been taken care of.” No terms for a contract extension have been revealed and Penn State has not officially announced any contract extension for Sanderson.

Audrey Snyder of The Athletic confirmed the report as well.

Sanderson has coached Penn State’s wrestling program to nine team national championships and six Big Ten championships since being hired by the school in 2009 from Iowa State. A total of 32 individual national titles have been won under Sanderson at Penn State.

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Bo Nickal may be one fight away from the UFC

Former Penn State wrestling star Bo Nickal is joining the UFC Contender Series

Bo Nickal, former Penn State wrestler, made his professional MMA debut a couple of weeks ago. Since then, he has gotten a lot of new attention including from the major league of the sport, the UFC.

He made his debut on current UFC B.M.F title holder Jorge Masvidal’s promotion, iKon FC. He won that bout in just 30-seconds against a journeyman fighter and from there he started the hype train. After a few weeks, it appears he has done and said enough to get the UFC interested.

 

His fights will begin on July 26th on Dana White’s Contender Series. For those unfamiliar, the president of the UFC is Dana White, and every summer he offers one-fight contracts to fighters. The fights run for ten weeks through September so while we know he will fight during that time, we don’t know exactly when.

Now as for the fighters, they come to the promotion’s personal arena and if they win and impress him, he offers them a long-term contract. Nickal’s background that he earned at Penn State under Cael Sanderson should be plenty enough to help him.

If he wins impressively, Dana White has signed Penn State wrestlers before in Phil Davis, count on that happening again potentially.

Now just to recap the insane wrestling career he had, Nickal was a national champion and Big Ten champion his last three years on campus. He also won a world title at 202.8 pounds on the world stage. Overall, he finished his college career on a 61-match win streak that would end his record at 120-3 overall. Even for Penn State and all of their successful wrestlers that is a very impressive number to have on his resume.

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Follow Nittany Lions Wire on Twitter and like us on Facebook for continuing Penn State coverage and discussion. Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

Former Penn State wrestler Bo Nickal set for MMA debut

Former Penn State wrestler Bo Nickal announced his professional mixed martial arts fighting debut

Penn State wrestling has proven to be somewhat of a factory for it’s wrestlers to go from campus to a cage and fight in mixed martial arts. Former Nittany Lions such as Ed Ruth, most recently Cody Law, and most notably Phil Davis have helped establish that lineage for the program.

Phil Davis proved to be the best of the bunch and eventually earned a world championship, and now [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag] is starting a journey in hopes of doing the same.

Nickal announced on his Twitter account he will be making his MMA debut on June 3 in a middleweight bout.

Before deciding to make this sports leap, Bo Nickal of course earned his stripes in the Bryce Jordan Center first. While on the [autotag]Cael Sanderson[/autotag] led team he was a three-time national champion and three-time Big Ten champion. He of course won a national championship, as most Penn State wrestlers tend to these days, and even earned a world championship in 2019,  He finished college with a 120-3 record nd will go down as one of the best to ever touch a matt in State College, Pennsylvania.

Nickal is only 26 which is still relatively young to be starting an MMA career. It is different from boxing where they start at such a young age, for Nickal his wrestling background is his early start.

He will be making his professional debut on June 3rd at the Greater Richmond Convention Center under UFC fighter’s Jorge Masvidal promotion. Masvidal’s promotion has served as a feeder league for the UFC as his relationship with the company has been very good over the years. With a couple of quick wins and impressive fights under the promotion, he could find himself on the sports main stage sooner rather than later.

For now though, he will be taking on a fellow debutant in John Noland who is much older than him, 36, and has a 6-3 record as an amateur. It goes without saying that Nickal is heavily favored in the matchup and you can catch his fight live on UFC Fight Pass.

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Twitter reacts to Penn State wrestling’s latest national championship

Micah Parsons and Bo Nickal were among the many celebrating Penn State wrestling’s 9th national championship in 11 years

When you compile a list of some of the most dominant programs throughout the course of collegiate athletics history, Penn State wrestling is making a strong case to be considered among the best of the best. For the ninth time in 11 years under head coach Cael Sanderson, Penn State celebrated a national championship this weekend in Detroit, Michigan. Despite coming up short of a Big Ten title, Penn State’s bigger goals were obtained yet again on the national stage with five wrestlers walking away with individual national titles as well.

While many of the casual sports eyes may have been focused on the events unfolding on basketball courts in the NCAA Tournament, the wrestling faithful following Penn State were glued into the action on the mats. Naturally, the Twitter reactions were euphoric in celebrating Penn State’s most recent national title run in the wrestling world.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to the national championship, Cael Sanderson, and the future of Roman Bravo-Young.