UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team added national academic laurels to its perfect season, with six Penn Staters being honored as National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) First Team National All-Academic winners. Penn State’s six honorees were the most among any school in the country.
All six Penn State honorees were national qualifiers, including four of whom earned All-America laurels. Penn State posted a 3.255 team grade point average, ninth in the nation and an improvement over last year’s 12th place finish. The top ten finish marks the 23rd time since the NWCA began honoring wrestling's academic prowess in 1991 that Penn State has placed in the top 25 nationally. Penn State has finished in the top ten seven times, three in Sanderson’s seven years as head coach alone.
Senior All-American Jordan Conaway earned his second first team NWCA All-Academic honor. Conaway closed out the season with a 4-3 run to sixth place at the NCAA tournament at 133. Now a two-time All-American (he placed eighth at 125 last year), Conaway finished his senior season with a 30-7 overall record and closed out an outstanding Penn State career with a 91-32 record.
Two-time NCAA qualifier Matt McCutcheon earned his second first team NWCA All-Academic award. McCutcheon posted a 16-8 overall record this year, advancing to the NCAA tournament for the second straight season at 184 pounds.
NCAA qualifier Geno Morelli earned his first NWCA All-Academic award this season. Morelli went 21-12 this year, going 2-2 at 165 in New York City helping to lead Penn State to the NCAA title.
Senior 125-pound National Champion Nico Megaludis became a three-time NWCA All-Academic honoree this year. Megaludis ended his year with a 5-0 run through the NCAA tournament and posted a final record of 32-3 this year. He closes out his Penn State career 11th on Penn State’s all-time wins list with a 119-19 career record. A four-time All-American, Megaludis placed second, second, third and first as a Nittany Lion. Megaludis becomes Penn State’s 31st NCAA champion (becoming the 24th individual to do so), and Sanderson’s ninth NCAA champion at Penn State. Megaludis is now tied for second on Penn State’s all-time NCAA tournament wins list with 18.
Red-shirt freshman Jason Nolf became a first team NWCA All-Academic pick in his first year of eligibility for the honor. The freshman All-American, 2016 NCAA runner-up at 157, went 33-2 overall, collecting 15 pins, 11 tech falls and five majors on his way to the national finals.
Sophomore 149-pound National Champion Zain Retherford earned his first NWCA All-Academic honor as well. Retherford ended a perfect season with a 5-0 run through NCAAs, including a major, a technical fall and three pins. He ends his sophomore year, a two-time All-American and NCAA champion, with a 33-0 overall record, 67-3 for his career. He had 15 pins this season alone, tied for seventh on Penn State’s all-time single season falls list. Retherford was the 2016 Big Ten Wrestler of the Year and was named the 2016 NCAA Most Dominant Wrestler of the Year.
The Nittany Lions recently completed a 2015-16 season that saw head coach Cael Sanderson’s squad win its fifth NCAA national championship in the last six years, its fifth Big Ten title in the last six years, a share of the 2016 Big Ten regular season (dual meet) championship, the NWCA National Dual Meet Series title, and its sixth straight Southern Scuffle crown. The team went 16-0, 9-0 in Big Ten duals.