Donald Trump stopped abruptly with reception from – Sports News
President Donald Trump welcomed the 2026 NCAA Wrestling National Champion Penn State Nittany Lions to the White House Rose Garden on Tuesday, receiving an enthusiastic reception from the crew as he honored their dominant championship run.
Video and social media posts from the occasion captured the president stepping out to greet the crew, with the wrestlers erupting in loud cheers upon his arrival.
The go to got here as half of a broader journey to Washington for the Nittany Lions, who additionally spent time on the Pentagon a day earlier, sparring with service members on wrestling mats earlier than assembly with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, in keeping with a video posted by the U.S. Department of War. It comes after Trump made a grand entrance on the NCAA wrestling championships final yr.
Penn State clinched its fifth consecutive national title and thirteenth total in program historical past in March, dominating the competitors at Cleveland’s Rocket Arena with a level whole almost 50 factors forward of the sphere, in keeping with Penn State Athletics.
The Nittany Lions are coached by Cael Sanderson, who has constructed this system into one of essentially the most adorned in collegiate wrestling historical past.
Among these in attendance was Bo Nickal, the previous Penn State three-time national champion and present UFC middleweight fighter, who has developed a public relationship with Trump in recent times. Nickal shared his gratitude for the go to on social media following the occasion.
“I am so grateful to President Trump and team for hosting myself and the Penn State wrestling team at the White House today,” Nickal wrote. “For our President to take time out of his day to spend with us is so humbling.”
He added: “He spoke with us, told amazing stories, and took group photos as well as individuals with every single member of the team. His team is so down to earth, caring, and hospitable.”
Trump has been a vocal supporter of collegiate wrestling and fight sports activities all through his time in workplace, having beforehand attended Penn State’s national championship win in Philadelphia in 2025 and hosted Nickal for a UFC combat held on the White House garden in July.
He additionally attended the Nittany Lions’ 2023 national championship victory in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Nickal, one of essentially the most achieved wrestlers in Penn State historical past, gained three NCAA Division I national championships during his collegiate profession and earned the 2019 Dan Hodge Trophy because the nation’s prime wrestler earlier than transitioning to combined martial arts.
He has continued to make appearances alongside Trump at numerous occasions, together with a UFC card on the White House earlier this summer season and a Trump marketing campaign stop at a Mack Trucks facility in Pennsylvania in June, the place Nickal recounted first assembly the president during his time at Penn State.
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