11 NCAA D1 Wrestling team titles in 16 years. A resume like this is enough for you to have many haters, and that exactly seems to be the case for Penn State. Under the guidance of Olympic gold medalist Cael Sanderson, the NLWC has become arguably the top wrestling program in the country in recent times. And with that, it’s only natural that the former Penn State star Bo Nickal would defend his alma mater with militant enthusiasm.

When a team shines as bright as Sanderson’s boys, their opponents tend to look for any number of reasons to undermine their success. However, the current UFC star and 3x NCAA gold medalist Nickal knows that it takes more than allegations of paying top dollar to athletes for retaining them to make them stand out from the rest of the crowd.

Bo Nickal makes his stand clear, irrespective of the community’s convictions

It all started when Bo took a subtle dig at Penn State’s biggest rivals on Sunday. On February 23, Iowa and OSU locked horns in what was a highly-anticipated clash. The Blackhawks won the dual 21-16, but Nickal wasn’t impressed. “Enjoyed watching the most expensive dual in the history of college wrestling tonight,” the ex-NLWC wrestler took to X to mock the rather drab nature of the match and insisted that Penn State always makes things more interesting.

Naturally, not everyone was on board with the potshot. One fan, looking to get back to Nickal, instead claimed that it was the program’s incredibly big fund that helped Penn State to attract and hone talent. “To pretend like PSU hasn’t been dropping a bag on their lineups for the past 8 years is nasty work,” the fan replied, and Bo Nickal didn’t waste much time before snapping back.

“Kids go to PSU to win. Kids go elsewhere to get paid. Nothing wrong with that at all but it’s true,” the three-time B1G gold medalist piped on February 24, with a tone that made it clear that Sanderson’s wisdom can never be smeared by allegations such as these. For the unwary, the whole fiasco regarding how much Penn State wrestlers are paid got a significant bump last year, when rumors about Carter Starocci making approximately $1.25 million for his fifth year started doing the rounds.

In August, the 4x NCAA champ fueled the fire with another snarky comment on X. “Don’t speak about my pockets. Yall don’t know the half of it,” he wrote as a response to Pursuit Wrestling’s post and even insinuated that he probably was the highest paid collegiate wrestler in the country. Talk about shaking things up, huh?  But while he continues to stand by the NLWC with vigilance, it is probably because of the cutthroat environment that Bo Nickal has chosen not to return to the NCAA.

Bo Nickal isn’t willing to be a part of the crossfire

Last year, David Taylor, Olympic gold medalist, and Penn State alum, lost unexpectedly at the Olympic Team Trials, shattering his dream to defend the title in Paris. Subsequently, he began his new job as the OSU Cowboys’ head coach. But the move didn’t sit well with folks from his former camp. Moreover, details of the stunning contract signed between the Magic Man and Oklahoma State made things more tense.

Carter Starocci even slammed Taylor’s “betrayal” as a move that was prompted by the bulky paycheck. “I was offered a big pay day too . I said go wipe your a** with that money. When it comes to money people switch like the weather. Not me. Loyalty is everything. Nothing is built without trust,” the NLWC wrestler said. And now, as fans continue to criticize Penn State’s triumphant run in the Sanderson era, it’s clear that Starocci’s boasts about the financial benefits for his fifth year haven’t escaped the community’s memory. But Bo Nickal doesn’t seem to see anything wrong with that, especially when Penn State and the NLWC continue to generate thunderous results.

But he made it clear this sort of toxicity is why he evades any chances of getting back into the collegiate scene. “Too political,” Nickal recently responded to a fan’s question on X which wondered if he would take up NCAA coaching in the future. But do you think Penn State would ever be able to convince him otherwise, especially with the fat purse many claim the program has tucked in its pocket? Tell us in a comment!