Penn State Secures 7th Title in 8 Years at 2018 NCAA Wrestling Championships

The Penn State Nittany Lions are national champions for the seventh time in eight years after finishing first in the 2018 NCAA wrestling championships at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland on Saturday night.

Penn State entered the event's final day with 120.5 team points, putting it 11 points clear of the second-place Ohio State Buckeyes. Many expected the Nittany Lions to secure the national title, and Bo Nickal's victory over Ohio State's Myles Martin assured them of the championship.

Here are the top five finishers, with the full team standings available on NCAA.com. The individual results are available on NCAA.com as well:

2018 NCAA Wrestling Championships—Team Standings

1. Penn State (141.5 points)

2. Ohio State (134.5 points)

3. Iowa (97.0 points)

T4. Michigan (80.0 points)

T4. NC State (80.0 points)

Nickal pinned Martin with 31 seconds remaining in the first period of the 184-pound final. NCAA Wrestling shared a replay of the finish and Nickal's celebration with coach Cael Sanderson:

Two-time national champion and Olympic gold medalist Jordan Burroughs believes Nickal, who's only a junior, will eventually leave a large legacy on the mat after winning his second straight NCAA championship:

Nickal was one of five Penn State wrestlers competing for an individual national title. Mark Hall was the only one of the five to finish as a runner-up when he lost to Arizona State's Zahid Valencia in the 174-pound final. Vincenzo Joseph, Jason Nolf and Zain Retherford were all victorious in their respective weight classes.

Penn State's wrestling program wasn't moribund prior to Sanderson's arrival in April 2009, but the Nittany Lions had just one team national title (1953) to their name before he was hired. In less than a decade, he has built a dynasty the likes of which haven't been seen in NCAA wrestling since Dan Gable's tenure with the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Penn State's fortunes shouldn't take a turn for the worse anytime soon, either. The Nittany Lions will lose only five seniors to graduation, and Retherford is the only one of that group who was a national champion.

Sanderson should have Penn State in position for an eighth national title in nine years in 2019.

Although he's likely disappointed his team once again finished second behind the Nittany Lions, Ohio State's Kyle Snyder capped off his outstanding collegiate career with a win over Michigan's Adam Coon.

Snyder and Coon had split their head-to-head meetings this year, with Coon winning their dual meet matchup in February and Snyder coming out on top in the Big Ten tournament to start March. Their third match was arguably the single most-anticipated battle of the championships.

Snyder narrowly edged Coon 3-2 on points to claim his third national title. The difference was a throw-by by Snyder with 19 seconds left in the third period that earned him two points. NCAA Wrestling provided a replay of the final sequence:

Buckeyes head football coach Urban Meyer congratulated the senior on the achievement:

Like Penn State, Ohio State is a relatively young team, with only four seniors moving on after this season. The Buckeyes also have Snyder's younger brother, Kevin, waiting in the wings as a redshirt freshman.

Still, the Nittany Lions will enter the 2018-19 season as the team to beat.