After losing to World Champion J’den Cox at Final X - Rutgers Bo Nickal will receive a special wrestle-off for the 92kg spot on the U23 World Team.

Nickal will be taking advantage of the provision that was included in the 2019 UWW U23 MFS World Team Trials procedures. To win the spot Nickal will face Oklahoma’s Jakob Woodley in a best-of-three series for the spot at 92kg. The three-time NCAA champion is the first eligible wrestler to submit the request.

As of right now, the date and location of the wrestle-off has not been set.

Below is the official announcement from USA Wrestling which includes the procedure.

Bo Nickal (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC), who was the runner-up at 92 kg in men’s freestyle at Final X: Rutgers, has met the requirements and has formally requested a best-of-three Special Wrestle-Off for the 2019 U23 World Championships.

This provision was included in the 2019 UWW U23 MFS World Team Trials Procedures, as follows:

Delay of final wrestle-off may only occur in the following situation:

If a U23 age eligible athlete qualifies for Final X at the senior level, they do not have to participate in the U23 World Team Trials and can request a wrestle-off against the U23 World Team Trials champion at a date after Final X.

The request for a wrestle-off must be made by end of day June 22, 2019 to Joe Russell.

If there are two age eligible athletes at the weight class for Final X, the Final X champion will be the eligible athlete for the U23 wrestle-off. If the Final X champion declines the wrestle-off, the runner-up at Final X will receive the option for the wrestle-off.

For the spot, Nickal, a three-time NCAA champion for Penn State, will face off against 2019 U23 World Team Trials champion Jakob Woodley, a University of Oklahoma student-athlete, who recently won a Junior Pan American title earlier this month.

Nickal is the first men’s freestyle athlete to make the formal request for the Special Wrestle-Off. Other men’s freestyle athletes who are eligible as Final X finalists and meet U23 age-group requirements are Daton Fix at 57 kg, Yianni Diakomihalis at 65 kg, Ryan Deakin at 70 kg and Gable Steveson at 125 kg.

There are also three Greco-Roman athletes eligible to request a wrestle-off, which will be announced separately.

Currently, the date and site of the wrestle-off has not been determined.







