9 Nittany Lion Wrestling Club members are looking to make the US World Team at the Final X

Nate Cobler
·3 min read

Wrestling is a sport where there is no offseason.

Athletes just shift their focus from folkstyle wrestling to freestyle or Greco-Roman wrestling.

The Nittany Lion Wrestling Club will have nine members aiming to make a spot on the United States World Team in the Final X event starting at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The Final X is a best-of-three series matchup in 10 weights of each Olympic classification, putting some current World Team members against either U.S. Open champions or winners of the World Team Trials.

Should those nine wrestlers win, they will have a chance to compete in the Senior World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, from Sept. 16-24.

Six wrestlers with a connection to Penn State will attempt to make the World Team. Five of those athletes will be looking for the top spot at their weight.

Here’s a look at who those six Nittany Lions wrestlers are, along with the remaining Nittany Lion Wrestling Club members competing:

Men’s Freestyle

There are 10 matchups, with NLWC members in six of those.

Two of them have all-NLWC series with the highlight weight coming at 86 kilograms.

Current Olympic gold medalist and former Penn State wrestler David Taylor takes on a current Nittany Lion in Aaron Brooks. Taylor was already in the finals since he was a current World Team member. Brooks earned his way here by winning the U.S. Open in April, after claiming his third NCAA title.

Former Penn State wrestler David Taylor, pictured in October 2021, will look to defend his World Team spot against current Nittany Lions wrestler Aaron Brooks on Saturday at the Final X event.
Former Penn State wrestler David Taylor, pictured in October 2021, will look to defend his World Team spot against current Nittany Lions wrestler Aaron Brooks on Saturday at the Final X event.

The other weight with teammates squaring off is at 74 kilograms. The matchup has former Penn Stater Jason Nolf looking to dethrone newer Nittany Lion Wrestling Club member Kyle Dake.

Dake was sitting in the finals, while Nolf made it by winning the U.S. Open.

Nick Lee will be the first athlete connected to the Nittany Lions to hit the mat when he faces newly crowned four-time NCAA Champion Yianni Diakomihalis in the 65 kilograms finals. Lee made it to this point by winning the U.S. Open.

Zain Retherford will follow Lee like he did when they were Penn State teammates in the 70 kilograms finals. Retherford faces former Nebraska wrestler in Tyler Berger, who won the U.S. Open.

Former Nittany Lion Zain Retherford wrestles Joey McKenna in the 65 kilogram semifinals at the 2021 USA Wrestling Olympic Team Trials in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 2, 2021.
Former Nittany Lion Zain Retherford wrestles Joey McKenna in the 65 kilogram semifinals at the 2021 USA Wrestling Olympic Team Trials in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 2, 2021.

Thomas Gilman will open the event for the NLWC by taking on Zane Richards in the 57 kilograms finals. Kyle Snyder will cap the event off for the club when he faces off with J’Den Cox at 97 kilograms.

Former Nittany Lions wrestler Vincenzo Joseph will compete for Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club in a true-third place match against two-time and current NCAA champion in Keegan O’Toole at 74 kilograms. If Joseph wins he’ll be a World Team member.

Women’s Freestyle

Jennifer Page is the lone female athlete representing the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club. She made it to this point by winning the 59 kilogram World Team Trials tournament back in May.

Page faces Michaela Beck, who won the US Open to get to this point. The pair have faced off before with Page earning an 11-0 technical superiority at the 2019 US Nationals.

Final X

When: 12:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: Prudential Center, Newark, NJ

Online: Flowrestling.com (paid subscription)