Penn State Wined 2019 NCAA Wrestling National Championship

Jason Nolf, Bo Nickal, and Anthony Cassar all had outstanding performances that helped the Penn State Nittany Lions win the national championship for the fourth time in consecutively.

Through automatic bids or at-large bids, thirty-three competitors in each of the following weight classes—125, 133, 141, 149, 157, 165, 174, 184, and 197 pounds—as well as heavyweights (183-285 pounds)—were able to advance to the tournament. The NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee granted the remaining 45 berths through at-large bids.

When Spencer Lee upset then-unbeaten Jack Mueller of Virginia at 125 pounds, he won his second straight national title. Nick Suriano became the first Scarlet Knight national champion at 133 pounds after defeating Oklahoma State’s No. 1 Daton Fix. Later, he brought two golden trophies back to Jersey, followed by Anthony Ashnault of Rutgers, the 149-pound national winner. In the 141-pound weight class, Jason Nolf won his third consecutive individual title at 157 pounds, while Yianni Diakomihalis defeated Joey McKenna of Ohio State. Mehki Lewis defeated reigning national champion Vincenzo Joseph in the wrestling finals, weighing 165 pounds and becoming the first Virginia Tech athlete to win a national title.

Zahid Valencia won his second straight title by stopping Mark Hall in a repeat of the 174-pound finals from the previous year. After both fighters pulled off upsets to advance to the final match, Drew Foster defeated Max Dean in the 184-pound final. Bo Nickal once again demonstrated his skill to increase his national title total at 197 pounds. In his final season with the Nittany Lions, teammate Anthony Cassar won the title at 285 pounds.

Iowa completed the trophy teams in fourth place, followed by Oklahoma State in third place and Ohio State in second place in the team race.

The NCAA Division I wrestling title was won by Penn State the previous year, and the Nittany Lions won their fourth straight national championship in 2019. This weekend, the Nittany Lions also won the Big Ten tournament by an amount of almost 30 points, marking their first conference championship since 2016. They have won eight national titles in nine years with their win in Pittsburgh at the NCAA championships.