Former Penn State Wrestling Champs Enter the World of MMA
Anthony Cassar and Bo Nickal won NCAA wrestling championships for Penn State in 2019. Now they're training together in Miami to begin their career in mixed martial arts.
Nickal, a three-time NCAA champ, began his MMA career in November. Cassar recently joined him, signing a contract with First Round Management, which also represents Nickal.
Both now are pursuing twin goals. Nickal and Cassar seek to start their professional MMA careers while also training to wrestle at the 2021 Olympics. It's an interesting balance which they discussed recently on the BaschaMania wrestling podcast.
Both wrestlers clearly intend to transfer their aggressive approaches to wrestling onto the MMA mat.
"I just want to knock people out," Cassar said.
"My idea right now is similar to my approach with wrestling," Nickal added. "Be as dangerous as possible from any position we can get into."
Nickal and Cassar were part of Penn State's 2019 national-championship team that dominated the NCAA tournament in Pittsburgh. The Lions had three champions and seven All-Americans, with Nickal and Cassar winning gold.
Nickal finished his career with a 30-0 senior season and 68 consecutive victories. He capped 2019 by winning the Hodge Award, considered wrestling's Heisman Trophy.
Cassar won the heavyweight title in his first trip to the NCAA championships. He received a sixth year of eligibility for the 2019-20 season, but it ended in January because of chronic shoulder injuries. Cassar said on the podcast that he has surgery planned soon.
Cassar and Nickal discussed a variety of topics on the podcast with host Jordan Basch. Among them: their transition to training for MMA, their Olympic goals and their business plans for the future.
It's a fascinating conversation among wrestlers who are finding their way into the MMA business. Listen to the full podcast here.
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