2017 U.S. Open Wrestling Championships

NLWC Registers For US Open

NLWC Registers For US Open

The 2017 Penn State Nittany Lions were one of the most dominant college wrestling teams in history and there has been a lot of interest around who will be representing the NIttany Lion Wrestling Club at the US Open this coming weekend.

Apr 24, 2017 by Mark Bader
NLWC Registers For US Open
The 2017 Penn State Nittany Lions were one of the most dominant college wrestling teams in history, and there has been a lot of interest around who will be representing the NIttany Lion Wrestling Club this week at the U.S. Open, which will be streaming LIVE on Flo.

The wait is over.

As of Monday morning a total of 13 wrestlers from the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club have registered to compete on Thursday, April 27, to Saturday, April 29, in Las Vegas. That number includes athletes wrestling in both the senior U.S. Open as well as UWW Juniors.

WATCH LIVE | FLOARENA | 57kg Preview | 61kg Preview | 65kg Preview | 74kg Preview |

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Immediately, some heavy hitters jump right off the page. Frank Molinaro, a 2016 Olympian, along with Hodge Trophy winners David Taylor and Zain Retherford will lead the charge for the NLWC.

Although he is now an assistant coach at Virginia Tech, Molinaro is registered under the NLWC should enter the tournament as the No. 1 seed at 65kg. His NLWC teammate Retherford will likely have the No. 2 seed, as he was third at the 2016 Olympic Trials and runner-up Aaron Pico will not be wrestling.

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Taylor has filled into the weight nicely and recently notched wins over two Olympic gold medalists. He will likely be the top seed at 86kg and is the heavy favorite to win the weight class with the departure of Kyle Dake and absence of J'den Cox.



Nico Megaludis, an NCAA champion in 2016, is registered at 57kg and will likely have the No. 2 or No. 3 seed behind Tony Ramos and potentially Tyler Graff.

A pair of NCAA champions also join the NLWC, as Jason Nolf is registered at 70kg and Bo Nickal at 86kg. As dominant as Retherford was, Nolf and Nickal weren't far behind. Both guys notched their first NCAA titles this year after finishing as runners-up during their freshman campaigns. And both guys have exciting styles.

Nolf got dubbed "The Matrix" this year for his creative style that saw him use a jiu-jitsu-style arm bar for nearfall and a rolling flip to avoid a takedown. Mix that creativity with an engine that doesn't stop and you have a very intriguing wrestler to watch in his senior-level debut. I'm curious to see just where Nolf gets seeded considering he has not wrestled any of the other guys at that weight. Interesting note, Nolf is the only NCAA champion who is registered at 70kg.

Watching Nickal wrestle forces you to the edge of your seat, because you never know what's next. The skinny-armed kid from the Lone Star State is known for his Texas-sized offense. Nickal is not afraid to go upper body and can wow the crowd in a heartbeat. He does not have great results on the senior level so far, but I believe he will eventually. The question is when?

Mark Hall, the 2016 Junior World champion and 2017 NCAA champion, will continue to compete in the junior division and is registered at 74kg. Some people think that Hall should be competing in the senior division, while others will argue that he just isn't quite ready to compete on the same level with the likes of Burroughs, Dake, Dieringer, and Perry. Hall will be the favorite to win at the U.S. Open and appears to be eyeing another Junior World title.



Currently not registered for the event is the 2017 NCAA champion at 165lbs, Vincenzo Joseph.

Here are all of the wrestlers from the NLWC who are currently registered to compete this weekend:

U.S. Open

57kg
Nico Megaludis 

61kg
Jordan Conway

65kg
Frank Molinaro
Zain Retherford

70kg
Jason Nolf

86kg
David Taylor
Bo Nickal

UWW Junior

55kg
Devin Schnupp

60kg
Mason Lindenmuth

63kg
Brian Friery
Nick Lee

66kg
Bo Pipher

74kg
Mark Hall

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