Do You Know Bo Nickal?
Bo Nickal is amongst the most popular names in the wrestling scene right now. This is because he has, on multiple occasions, proven his dominance in both folkstyle and freestyle disciplines of the sport. His historic career at Penn State University paved the way for many opportunities at the senior level, including qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Trials. However, Nickal has recently been taking his skills beyond the world of wrestling, as he is now competing in MMA as well as jiu-jitsu. The skills and achievements that Nickal has amassed over the years are matched by very few, and that is a large part of the reason why he has already etched his name into the history of amazing wrestlers.
Bo Nickal Wrestling Main Achievements:
High school:
- 2nd place at the New Mexico State Tournament as an 8th grader on the high school
varsity team (2010)
- 2nd place at the Texas State Tournament as a freshman (2011)
- 1st place at the Texas State Tournament as a sophomore (2012
- 1st place at the Texas State Tournament as a junior (2013)
- 1st place at the Texas State Tournament as a senior (2014)
- Ranked number 9 pound for pound wrestler in the nation (2014)
- 1st place at the Dapper Dan Classic (2014)
- 1st place at the USA Dream Team Dual (2014)
College:
- 1st place in Bearcat Open at Binghamton (2014)
- Ranked number 1 by InterMat (2015)
- Big Ten Wrestler of the Week (11/22/2015)
- 1st place at the Southern Scuffle (2016)
- Big Ten Wrestler of the Week (1/5/2016)
- 1st Team All-Big Ten Honoree (2016)
- Big Ten Champion, qualifying him for the NCAA Championship Tournament (2016)
- 2nd place at the NCAA Championship, earning All-American status (2016)
- Ranked number 2 by InterMat (2016)
- 1st place at the Keystone Classic (2016)
- Big Ten Wrestler of the Week (1/22/17)
- Hammer Award from Amateur Wrestling News (2017)
- 3rd place at the Big Ten Championship, qualifying him for the NCAA Championship
Tournament (2017)
- 1st place at the NCAA Championship, earning All-American status (2017)
- 1st place at the Keystone Classic (2017)
- 1st place at Southern Scuffle (2018)
- Tied with David Taylor for the second fastest pin in the history of Penn State wrestling
with an 11 second pin against Buffalo’s Brett Perry (2018)
- Big Ten Champion, qualifying him for the NCAA Championship Tournament (2018)
- 1st place at the NCAA Championship, earning All-American status (2018)
- Dan Hodge Trophy recipient (2019)
- Named NCAA Most Dominant Wrestler (2019)
- Co-Big Ten Wrestler of the Year (2019)
- Penn State Male Athlete of the Year (2019)
- Schalles Award Winner (2019)
- Big Ten Champion, qualifying him for the NCAA Championship Tournament (2019)
- 1st place at the NCAA Championship, earning All-American status (2019)
Senior:
- 1st place at the US Open Championship (2019)
- 2nd place at Final X - Rutgers (2019)
- 1st place in men’s freestyle at the World U23 Championship (2019)
- USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week (11/5/19)
- 2020 US Olympic Team Trials Qualifier (2020)
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Bo Nickal Biography
Son of Jason and Sandy Nickal, Bo Dean Nickal was born on January 14th, 1996 in a town called Rifle, Colorado. The family didn’t stay here for long, though, because around 5 or 6 years later, they moved to Wyoming. It was at this time that Bo got his introduction into the sport of wrestling. After a few years in Wyoming, the family moved yet again, and this time it was to New Mexico. They stayed there long enough for the eighth-grade Bo to make his high school varsity wrestling team and finish in second place at the state tournament, and then it was off to Allen, Texas where Bo would finish his high school career.
While at his new school in Texas, Bo was able to rack up another second place state finish as well as 3 first place victories. These back to back to back victories in the vast competition that the state of Texas is well known for having gave Nickal seemingly instant national recognition. The prestigious Penn State Nittany Lions picked up the 9th best pound for pound wrestler in the nation coming out of high school, and Nickal was on his way to establish his dominance on the collegiate level.
Despite being a redshirt when coming into his freshman season in college, Bo was able to use his elite skills to put together a winning record on his own in tournaments. He even came out on top at the Bearcat Open at Binghamton. From there, Bo’s impressive run kept him at the top of the competition at both the Big Ten and national NCAA levels. With the fine coaching of Penn State’s head wrestling coach, Cael Sanderson, Nickal was a four time NCAA All-American while coming in second the only year he didn’t win. A slew of honors were presented to Bo for his stellar performance as a Nittany Lion.
The Dan Hodge Trophy for the nation’s best college wrestler, the Schalles Award for the best pinner in all of college wrestling, as well as several awards from his university were presented to Nickal. This high esteem in wrestling apparently left Nickal even hungrier for more competition, as he has even branched out into grappling, jiu-jitsu, and MMA.
The newness of Nickal’s participation in these new facets of competition has left him without any major achievements, but his performances are not to be looked over. He is competing against—and going toe to toe with—people who have been doing these sports as long as he has been wrestling. Using these other forms of competition as tools to help build himself as an even better wrestler while still having good showings, Nickal is proving to be one of the best athletes in all of sports today. Not only is Bo Nickal an amazing wrestler, but also an all around athlete that will never stop as he continues to shine in his still young career.
Check out the complete Bo Nickal Collection of instructionals over at Fanatic Wrestling!