Nickal defeats Dieringer and Nittany Lion Wrestling Club athletes go 9-3 on Rokfin’s first streamed Senior wrestling event

Screenshot taken from the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club live stream on Rokfin.

Tonight, the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club (NLWC) partnered with Rokfin to stream a live wrestling card featuring 12 matches. NLWC members competed in eleven of the contested bouts, putting together an impressive, 9-3, record. Overall, the card contained four wrestlers who have earned Senior World or Olympic medals, six individual NCAA champions, two WCWA National champions and 18 NCAA All-Americans.
The main event featured three-time NCAA champions Bo Nickal and Alex Dieringer clashing for the first time in their careers. Nickal is a 2019 U23 World champion at 92 kg and currently No. 2 at the weight class in the U.S. Dieringer, who won his NCAA titles competing for Oklahoma State, is a 2013 Junior World silver medalist and currently No. 2 on the National Team at 79 kg.
For the Olympic year, Dieringer moved up to 86 kg, and Nickal moved up to 97 kg. However, tonight they met at 190 pounds, which is almost exactly 86 kg, bringing into question whether Nickal has changed his mind about which weight class he intends to compete in.
For two wrestlers known for their high-octane styles, tonight’s match was a defensive affair. Dieringer led at the break, 1-0, on the strength of a step-out point. In the second period, Nickal scored a passivity point. He was able to hold off a flurry of attacks from Dieringer in the closing seconds to take the match, 1-1, on criteria.
2014 Franklin & Marshall All-American Rick Durso opened the card with an impressive victory over Malik Amine, a two-time NCAA qualifier for Michigan who currently competes internationally for San Marino. Durso put on a clinic in the only match to not feature an NLWC wrestler, scoring five takedowns in the first period, to earn the victory, 10-0.
The second match of night featured recent Penn State graduate and two-time All-American Nick Nevills taking on Lehigh All-American Jordan Wood.
Wood opened the scoring with a passivity point to go up, 1-0. However, Nevills bounced back with a takedown and a gut wrench to take the lead, 4-1, at the break.
In the second period, Wood got to work. He earned a passivity point to cut the lead to 4-2, before adding a takedown and two turns with a leg lace, just before the buzzer, to take the match, 6-4.
Wood is a 2014 Cadet World silver medalist entering his redshirt senior season at Lehigh.
In the first women’s freestyle match of the night, current National Team member and WCWA All-America Desiree Zavala squared off with former National Team member and WCWA champion Jennifer Page. Zavala rushed out to a big lead with a takedown and two turns to go up 6-0. Zavala added four more points with a chin whip, however Page managed to roll her through and earn a turn to save herself from defeat, making the score 10-4. Page added one more takedown before the end of the period to cut Zavala’s lead to 10-6.
In the beginning of the second period, Page scored another takedown on the edge of the mat and transitioned into a gut wrench to push the score to 10-10. With one minute left in the match, Page earned another takedown, to take her first lead, 12-10. She would tack on one more takedown to ice her victory, 14-10.
The fourth match on the card featured an all-international battle between 2012 Olympic silver medalist Jamie Espinal of Puerto Rico and Domenic Abounader who competes for Lebanon. Espinal scored first with a two-point chest lock. Abounader quickly responded with a step-out followed by a takedown into a leg lace to go up 5-2. In the closing seconds, Abounader scored another two points on an exposure, and claimed the match, 7-2.
Abounader wrestled collegiately for Michigan where he achieved All-American status in 2018.
Two-time World Team member and three-time NCAA champion Zain Retherford and three-time Michigan All-American Alec Pantaleo wrestled a tightly contested match at 157 pounds. Retherford got on the board first with a passivity point, which would be the only scoring in the first period.
In the second period, Pantaleo converted on a double leg takedown to go ahead, 2-1. With a minute remaining, Retherford retook the lead, 3-2, with a match-winning takedown on the edge of the mat.
Keeping the momentum rolling for the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, three-time National champion Jason Nolf took out three-time Virginia Tech All-American David McFadden, 5-2. Nolf hit his infamous Winn-Dixie early in the first period, however a game McFadden managed to expose Nolf in the ensuing scramble, making the match, 2-2. Nolf kept a relentless pace, earning three step-outs before the end of the period to take a 5-2 lead. While both wrestlers had scoring opportunities in the second period, neither could convert, and Nolf took the match, 5-2.
Two-time NCAA champion Vincenzo Joseph made it three-straight victories for the NLWC when he defeated the PRTC’s Dan Vallimont, a 2010 NCAA runner-up for Penn State, 5-0. Joseph took a 1-0 lead into the break on the strength of a passivity point. He pushed his lead to 3-0 early in the second period with a single leg takedown. Keeping his foot on the gas, Joseph added one more takedown before the final buzzer.
Penn State’s Greg Kerkvliet kept the momentum rolling for the NLWC with an impressive first period technical fall over 2018 U23 World silver medalist Youssif Hemida. Kerkvliet scored four takedowns and one turn to claim the 10-0 win. Kerkvliet is a 2017 Cadet World champion and 2018 Cadet World silver medalist and will be a redshirt freshman for Penn state.
Michigan’s Logan Massa finally halted the NLWC win streak with a big win over two-time World bronze medalist, Bekzod Abdurakhmonov of Uzbekistan.
Abdurakhmonov got on the board first with a passivity point, which gave him a 1-0 lead at the break. Massa scored two step-out points to take the lead, 2-1. Abdurakhmonov, got in deep on a shot which Massa managed to counter with a chest lock for two points. Abdurakhmonov was able to expose Massa on his back for his own two-point score. Massa held on to win, 4-3.
Abdurakhmonov was an All-American for Clarion University in 2012. Massa earned All-American status in 2017 and will be a redshirt senior this upcoming season.
The second women’s freestyle match featured Mexico’s Jane Valencia and two-time WCWA champion Julia Salata. Valencia started the match off strong with a double leg into a leg lace, taking a 4-0 lead. The score would hold until the middle of the second period where Salata came out on top of a scramble to cut the lead to 4-2. Salata continued to be aggressive, converting on a takedown and earning a turn to go up, 6-4. In thrilling fashion, Valencia scored a takedown on the edge of the mat as time expired to take the match, 6-6, on criteria.
2017 World silver medalist Thomas Gilman took on rival Darian Cruz at 59 kg. Gilman, a three-time All-American for Iowa who currently wrestles for the NLWC, fell to Cruz in the 2017 NCAA semifinals. Cruz, would go on to win the title. However, in freestyle, Gilman has Cruz’s number.

Cruz struck first with a quick takedown, taking a 2-0 lead. Gilman came storming back with three step-outs to take a, 3-2, lead into the break. Gilman added to his lead with another step-out before Cruz responded with his second takedown to reclaim the lead on criteria, 4-4. However, Gilman continued his pressure, earning two more step-outs. He then added a takedown and a turn with a gut wrench to go ahead, 10-4. Gilman scored two more takedowns to claim a 14-4 technical fall.
In the last match before the main event, Olympic and World champion Kyle Snyder took on Michael Macchiavello, a 2018 NCAA champion for NC State who is currently No. 3 on the National Team at 92 kg.
Snyder looked to be in elite form and controlled the match from the get-go. He put together an 8-0 lead in the first period on the strength of two step-outs, a takedown and a four-point suplex just before the end of the first period. Snyder finished the match off with a takedown into a gut wrench for a 12-0 win.


Results
74 kg/163 lbs. – Rick Durso TF Malik Amine (CKWC/San Marino), 10-0

125 kg/275 lbs. – Jordan Wood (Lehigh Valley RTC) DEC Nick Nevills (NLWC), 6-4

62 kg/136 lbs. – Jennifer Page (NLWC) DEC Desiree Zavala (Wayland Baptist), 14- 10

196 lbs. – Domenic Abounader (CKWC/Lebanon) DEC Jaime Espinal (NLWC/Puerto Rico), 7-2

157 lbs. – Zain Retherford (NLWC) DEC Alec Pantaleo (CKWC), 3-2

79 kg/174 lbs. – Jason Nolf (NLWC) vs. David McFadden (Pennsylvania RTC), 5-2

77 kg/170 lbs. – Vincenzo Joseph (NLWC) vs. Dan Vallimont (Pennsylvania RTC), 5-0

125 kg/275 lbs. – Greg Kerkvliet (NLWC) vs. Youssif Hemida (CKWC), 10-0

77 kg/170 lbs. – Logan Massa (CKWC), 4-3 Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (NLWC/Uzbekistan)

62 kg/136 lbs. – Jane Valencia (NLWC/Mexico) vs. Julia Salata (Team Tornado WC), 6-6

59 kg/130 lbs. – Thomas Gilman (NLWC) vs. Darian Cruz (Lehigh Valley RTC), 14-4

99 kg/218 lbs. – Kyle Snyder (NLWC) TF Mike Macchiavello (Wolfpack RTC), 12-0

190 lbs. – Bo Nickal (NLWC) DEC Alex Dieringer (CKWC), 1-1