Bo Nickal

Bo Dean Nickal (born January 14, 1996) is an American freestyle wrestler and graduated folkstyle wrestler who competes at 86 kilograms. In freestyle, he claimed the 2019 U23 World Championship and the US Open National championship, and was a finalist at the 2020 US Olympic Team Trials and a . As a collegiate wrestler, Nickal was a three–time NCAA Division I National Champion (finalist in 2016) and a three–time Big Ten Conference champion out of the Pennsylvania State University.
Considered one of the greatest Nittany Lions of all–time, Nickal earned the 2019 Dan Hodge Trophy as the nation's most outstanding collegiate wrestler, was a two–time Schalles Award winner as the nation's best pinner and was also named the 2019 Big Ten Athlete of the Year. 
Early life.
Nickal was born in Rifle, Colorado but moved to Wyoming at a young age, where he started wrestling at the age of five or six. in fifth grade, he moved to Rio Rancho, New Mexico. Nickal made the varsity high school team while in the eighth grade and placed second at the state tournament that same season ('09-'10). As a freshman, he moved once again, now to Allen High School in Texas, placing second in the state as well. He won every state championship he competed in since his sophomore year, becoming a three–time UIL title holder. He graduated from high school with an 183–7 record, including 131 pins, as the ninth–ranked wrestler in the nation pound–for–pound.
College career.
After finishing his junior year, Nickal committed to wrestle as a Nittany Lion at the Pennsylvania State University.
2014-15.
Nickal opted to take a redshirt season in his first collegiate year, compiling a 15–2 record in open tournaments while wrestling unattached at 174 pounds.
2015-16.
Entering his freshman season ranked fourteenth in the country, Nickal won his first eighteen matches, claiming titles from the Nittany Lion Open and the Southern Scuffle and notable victories over returning NCAA runner-up Brian Realbuto, multiple DI All-Americans in Zach Epperly, Bryce Hammond and Ethan Ramos, and three-time US Prep National Champion Myles Martin. In his nineteenth match, Nickal, now the top-ranked 174 pounder in the country, was defeated by Nate Jackson on points, ending his streak. Afterwards, Nickal bounced back with eight straight wins, including another one over Martin, to finish the regular season with a record of 26–1. At the Big Ten Conference Championships, Nickal claimed three bonus point-victories, including a fall over Martin and a major over Zac Brunson in the finale. Nickal entered the NCAA's as the top-seed, defeating his first three opponents to make the semifinals, where he avenged his regular season's loss to Nate Jackson on points, advancing to the finals. In the finals, Nickal faced the eleventh seed in Myles Martin, whom he had already defeated three times earlier, but was defeated by the opposition in a close and frenetic upset, claiming runner-up honors.
2016-17.
As a sophomore, Nickal moved up to the 184 pounds division. During his unbeaten regular season, Nickal pinned his way to the Keystone Classic title and went 14–0 in dual meets, dominantly avenging his NCAA championship loss to Myles Martin, and also including wins over returning NCAA runner-up TJ Dudley and returning All-Americans Sammy Brooks and Nolan Boyd (both by fall). In the post-season, Nickal was upset in the semifinals of the Big Ten Championships by rival Myles Martin, but came back to place third, beating TJ Dudley for the second time. At the NCAA's, Nickal got a technical fall in the first round and three straight falls to make his second finals, notably pinning Dudley and Sammy Brooks. In the finale, Nickal faced undefeated-in-the-season and defending two-time NCAA champion Gabe Dean, whom he was able to edge by a point, claiming his first NCAA title and denying Dean his third.
2017-18.
As a junior, Nickal compiled 23 wins and no losses during regular season, with 21 bonus–point victories, claimed multiple tournament titles and wins over the likes of Domenic Abounader and his nemesis Myles Martin. At the Big Ten Championships, Nickal claimed his second title by beating Martin in the finale, advancing to the NCAAs as the favorite top–seed. At the National tournament, he won got notable wins over '16 MAC champion Jordan Ellingwood, freshman phenom from Cornell Max Dean and Michigan's Domenic Abounader to make the finale, where he scored one of his signature pins in his career over Myles Martin, ending the rivalry, claiming his third NCAA title and clinching the team title for PSU. Due to his dominance, he was awarded the NCAA Championship Outstanding Wrestler award (MVP) and the prestigious Schalles Award as the nation's top pinner.
2018-19.
As a redshirt senior, Nickal moved up once again to 197 pounds. At this new weight class, he comfortably won the Big Ten Conference Championship by second time consecutively and third time overall. At his last NCAA tournament, he dominated all thee matches to get to the final, pinning his first two opponents and getting a major in the semifinals. In the finals, Nickal defeated the second seeded Kollin Moore by points (5-1) to claim the NCAA title, becoming one of the four Penn State wrestlers to win 3 National Championships and the third one (along with David Taylor and Jason Nolf) to be a four-time NCAA Finalist. At the end of the season, he was awarded the Dan Hodge Trophy as nation's best college wrestler and the Schalles Award (for the second time consecutively) as US' top pinner. He was also named 2019 Co-Big Ten wrestler of the Year, Penn State Male Athlete of the Year, and Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year.
Freestyle career.
Cadet and Junior.
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 third place but lost to Ali Mojerloo (2-4) and placed fifth instead.
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.
U23 and Senior.
2016.
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.
2017.
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.
2019.
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.
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.
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.
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 U23 World Championships.
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.
2020.
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. He effortlessly passed the first round by technical fall before facing Mohammad Mohammadian (winner of the championship), who would nullify Nickal to a 10-0 technical fall, marking the first time he had been defeated in such fashion in freestyle (since graduating) or 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 was able to secure a last second takedown and 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.
As a 2019 U23 World Champion, Nickal qualified for the US Olympic Trials. 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. As a champion at a non-olympic weight, Nickal was supposed to decide whether he was going to compete at 86 or 97 kilograms, but this decision never became public as the events were postponed. On September 21, he announced that he will compete at 86 kilograms in 2021.
Nickal returned to the mats against Alex Dieringer on September 19, at the NLWC I, making his debut at 86 kilograms since completely crossing over. Dieringer scored the first point via push-out early in the first period, however, he was put on the shot-clock due to passivity with 1 minute and 30 seconds left on the match. Nickal tied it up after defending the attacks of his opponent, earning a point and therefore the criteria as the last one to do so. He was able to earn the victory via criteria after neither of them were able to score more points. Nickal was later scheduled to wrestle '20 US National runner-up Nate Jackson on November 24, at the NLWC III, but was removed from the card a day before the event.
2021.
After a somewhat inactive previous year, Nickal wrestled two-time NCAA Division I National Champion Gabe Dean in a rematch from their '17 NCAA championship match, on February 23, at the NLWC V. After a scramble-full match, Nickal resulted defeated by Dean in a razor-close bout.
In early April, Nickal competed at the rescheduled US Olympic Team Trials as the sixth seed, in an attempt of representing the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics. He made his way through a stacked bracket in the challenge tournament, defeating '21 NCAA champion from Penn State Carter Starocci in the quarterfinals, '19 US Open champion and third seeded Pat Downey in the semifinals and '21 Matteo Pellicone and '19 US National champion Zahid Valencia, favored to make the finals as the second seed, to make the finals himself. In the best–of–three finale, Nickal faced Penn State legend and World Champion David Taylor, and was dropped twice by scores of 0–4 and 0–6, failing to make the US Olympic Team and break Taylor's 45–match win streak. In regards to their close relationship, Taylor then stated:
Mixed martial arts career.
On November 10, 2019, it was announced that Nickal had signed an MMA management deal with First Round Management and is expected to make the transition to the sport. He's a current member of American Top Team and trains there in the meantime. He has been training with multiple competitors, most notably UFC's welterweight contender Jorge Masvidal, whom he prepared for his title fight with Kamaru Usman. He has also trained with former Nittany Lion teammate and NCAA champion Anthony Cassar, who is also expected to transition to mixed martial arts and train full-time at ATT.
It was also announced that Nickal had serious plans on partnering with Dan Lambert and opening a new American Top Team facility at Pleasant Gap, Pennsylvania. His role would be to recruit competitors, primarily former wrestlers with mixed martial arts ambitions and professional athletes of the latter mentioned discipline. On October 23, 2020, Nickal announced that the facility is already being built.
Personal life.
Bo is the son of Jason and Sandy Nickal, they were both college athletes, as his mother played basketball at San Diego State University and his father played football at Chadron State College. His father Jason used to coach him since he started wrestling until he was in eighth grade. His mother Sandy is also a former amateur boxer.
Nickal is a Christian and considers Jesus one of the persons who inspire him to wrestle. As a kid, his favorite wrestler was two-time Olympic Gold Medalist John Smith. Apart from wrestling, he is also an enthusiast of spikeball and likes American football, his favorite player being former Detroit Lions player Barry Sanders.
Nickal married his wife Maddie Holmberg on December 12, 2020.
Freestyle record.
! colspan="7"| Senior Freestyle Matches
! Res.
! Record
! Opponent
! Score
! Date
! Event
! Location
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
 State College, Pennsylvania
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
 Rome, Italy
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
 Budapest, Hungary
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
 Fargo, North Dakota
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
 New Brunswick, New Jersey
 Lincoln, Nebraska
! style=background:white colspan=7 | 
 Las Vegas, Nevada
! style=background:white colspan=7 | 
 Las Vegas, Nevada
! style=background:white colspan=7 | 
 Cedar Falls, Iowa
NCAA record.
! colspan="8"| NCAA Division I Record
! Res.
! Record
! Opponent
! Score
! Date
! Event
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |End of 2018-2019 Season (senior year)
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2019 NCAA Championships at 197 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2019 Big Ten Conference at 197 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2019 Southern Scuffle at 197 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2018 Keystone Classic at 197 lbs
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |Start of 2018-2019 Season (senior year)
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |End of 2017-2018 Season (junior year)
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2018 NCAA Championships at 184 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2018 Big Ten Conference at 184 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2018 Southern Scuffle at 184 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2017 Keystone Classic at 184 lbs
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |Start of 2017-2018 Season (junior year)
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |End of 2016-2017 Season (sophomore year)
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2017 NCAA Championships at 184 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2017 Big Ten Conference at 184 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2016 Keystone Classic at 184 lbs
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |Start of 2016-2017 Season (sophomore year)
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |End of 2015-2016 Season (freshman year)
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2016 NCAA Championships at 174 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2016 Big Ten Conference at 174 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2016 Southern Scuffle at 174 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2015 Nittany Lion Open at 174 lbs
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |Start of 2015-2016 Season (freshman year)
Stats.
! Season
! Year
! School
! Rank
! Weigh Class
! Record
! Win
! Bonus
Submission grappling record.
! Result
! Rec.
! Opponent
! Method
! Event
! Division
! Type
! Year
! Location