WHO’S NEXT? USAW STAR OF THE FUTURE
Promising prospect Nickal taking talents to Penn St.
Texas native placed fifth at 2013 Cadet World Championships
By Richard Immel Bo Nickal has amassed quite the wrestling resume. He’s already captured six national champi-
onships, three state championships and a gold medal overseas. But that is just the beginning for this talented
young prospect from Allen, Texas. This fall, Nickal is taking his high-flying style to
State College, Pa., to compete for the four-time defending NCAA champion Penn State Nittany Lions. He aspires to be the next in line of Nittany Lion
greats, following stars like NCAA champions David Taylor, Ed Ruth and Quentin Wright to don the blue and white. It is Nickal’s desire to continue the winning tradi-
tion in State College under the tutelage of one of the all-time greats, Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson. Sanderson won four NCAA titles and an Olympic
gold medal for the United States. “Penn State is an amazing university and it is the
right fit for me,” Nickal said. “It really is the best place for me as a wrestler and as a person.” Nickal has set the bar extremely high for himself entering college, having won gold at the Junior National Championships, Cadet National Championships, FILA Cadet National Championships, USAW Folkstyle Nationals, in addi- tion to being a three-time Texas state champion. He finished fifth at the 2013 FILA Cadet World Championships in freestyle wrestling. This past May, Nickal struck gold at the Champions Junior International in Izmir, Turkey. He defeated four of the top young international
stars in Turkey, including an electrifying 10-10 crite- ria victory over 2012 Cadet World bronze medalist Giorgi Chkhartishvili of Georgia in the gold-medal bout. “I wrestled a great tournament. Of course I made
some mistakes, everyone does, but I felt like I wres- tled pretty good. It was an amazing experience being with that group of guys overseas, practicing with them and watching the high level wrestling,” Nickal said. “Over those two weeks I felt like I really grew as a wrestler and I am really glad I capped it off with a gold medal.”
Continued on page 31 30 USA Wrestler
Bo Nickal, who has excelled coming up through the USA Wrestling ranks, has NCAA and Olympic title aspirations. John Sachs photos.
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