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Bass Master: Jack defeats Allen teammate Nickal for national wrestling title
BY Kevin Hageland, khageland@starlocalnews.com
Allen rising juniors Jack Bass and Bo Nickal have wrestled plenty of times, but never with the stakes that were on the line over the weekend in Ohio.
Bass and Nickal competed in the 152-pound freestyle finals Sunday at the 2012 USA FILA Cadet National Championships from the Louis and Freda Stile Athletic Field House at the University of Akron with Bass coming out on top (4-0, 4-0).
"It was a lot different than practice," said Jerry Best, Allen head coach. "It was a littler bittersweet because obviously you want both guys to win, but at the same time it was an awesome feeling because there are another 40 wrestlers in that bracket that wanted to be in the finals, so it was pretty cool to see two guys from the same town in the finals."
Bass competed at 138 pounds during the varsity season, finishing second at the state tournament, while Nickal is the state's reigning 145 champion. The freestyle portion of the event took place Saturday and Sunday.
Both faced a difficult road to the finals.
Bass went 6-0 in pool competition, defeating four returning All-Americans along the way.
"Jack isn't the fanciest wrestler and doesn't do a lot of big moves," Best said, "but he is very good defensively and didn't give up many points during the tournament."
Nickal defeated five returning All-Americans during pool competition, pinning four of them.
That put the Eagles' teammates on a collision course that culminated in the finals. Unlike a varsity event where a match is three periods with a cumulative score, nationals was comprised of three periods with each score standing on its own for a best-of-3 style match. The third period would not be needed Sunday though as Bass posted back-to-back 4-0 wins.
"It was a good match," Best said. "Jack just had a little better positioning."
That meant a national title for Bass and a second silver medal for Nickal, who also competed in the Greco portion of the tournament, which was Friday and Saturday.
Nickal got off to an inauspicious start as he lost to Grant LaMont in the first match. That, however, would be the only Greco bout Nickal lost as he stormed through the remainder of pool and bracket play. Nickal initially finished third and then won his challenge match against the second-place grappler via pinfall to capture a silver medal.
"Bo was picking up lots of pins and [technical] falls along the way," Best said. "He had good positioning and throws throughout; he wrestled with good aggression and really did the state of Texas proud."
Best shared similar sentiments about both his wrestlers once the national tournament in Ohio wrapped up.
"[Bass and Nickal] wrestled really well," he said, "especially considering they didn't wrestle against a lot of guys at this level of competition leading up to the event."
Bass will see his level of competition go up even more in the coming months as his 152 freestyle national title gives him a spot at the 2012 FILA Cadet World Championships, which are Aug. 21-27 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Eagles rising senior Oliver Pierce was at that same event last year.
Before getting to that point, there are a few more events on the summer circuit that will involve Allen wrestlers. The Cadet National Duals are set for June 12-16 in Daytona Beach and the Junior National Duals are taking place June 21-25 in Oklahoma City.
"A little time off," Best said, "and then it's time to get back to work."
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