OSU Wrestlers Finish Season With One All-American – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/25/1999 12:00:00 AM | General, Wrestling
March 25, 1999
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State Buckeyes finished the 1998-99 season on a high note when they had one wrestler – Robert Sessley (133) – reach All-American status. The Buckeyes now begin preparations for next season in hopes of improving on this years 40th place finish.
THE ALL-AMERICAN
Robert Sessley has been the most successful Ohio State wrestler this season, something that did not change at the NCAA Wrestling Championships, March 18-20, in State College, Pa. Sessley carried the flag for the Buckeyes, finishing in eighth place and becoming OSUs lone All-American.
Sessley’s journey began with a first round match against Sean Shea of George Mason. The Columbus native jumped out to an early lead and never relented, cruising to a 7-4 victory. In his next match, he wrestled against a familiar foe – Iowa’s Eric Juergens. It was the third meeting of the year between the two rivals, Juergens winning 11-5 in the dual meet Jan. 22 and 3-1 at the Big Ten Championships March 7. But it was evident from the beginning that Sessley would give Juergens all he could handle. He escaped from Juergens late in the third period to tie the score at 2-2. When the horn sounded signifying the end of regulation, that was still the score, meaning overtime would be needed.
Sessley and Juergens jostled for position throughout much of the first part of overtime, neither wrestler stepping up and taking any chances. With less than a minute remaining in the extra stanza, the two wrestlers were tied up near the edge of the mat when Sessley rolled off, which should have forced the action to return to the middle of the mat. But the referee instead called Sessley for stalling, giving Juergens a point and the victory.
A stunned Sessley dropped to the wrestlebacks, where he took his anger out on Pennsylvania’s Jason Nagle, defeating him 5-4. Sessley then faced Oklahoma’s Dane Valdez, and it was a case of the OSU 133-pounder just being too tough as he took out Valdez, 8-2.
Now in the quarterfinals of the wrestlebacks, Sessley faced his toughest opponent of the tournament in Michigan State’s fourth-seeded Pat McNamara. After jumping ahead 2-0 and building a large amount of riding time, McNamara came back to eventually tie the score at 3-3 in the second period. But Sessley was in control, and he scored two points for a takedown late in the second period to make it 5-3. McNamara cut the lead to 5-4 with an escape early in the third period, but time was running out on the MSU 133-pounder. He tried to attack Sessley late in the contest but got careless, and that’s when OSUs team-leader in wins sealed the deal, taking down McNamara to make the score 7-4.
The win over McNamara not only gave Sessley an upset over the tournament’s No. 4 seed but it also assured him of All-American status. Unfortunately for Sessley, the euphoria of becoming an All-American was coupled with two consecutive losses to end the tournament. Nonetheless, sophomore Robert Sessley will be returning to Ohio State next year an All-American at 133 pounds.
BUCHER FINISHES HIS BUCKEYE CAREER
Jeff Bucher (149) participated in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in his OSU career and finished with a 1-2 record. He lost in his first round championship bracket match to 11th-seeded Ryan Bernholz of Lehigh, 9-4. He dropped to the wrestlebacks to face John Pozniak of Virginia. Bucher had things going well early, taking down Pozniak on numerous occasions to build up an early lead he never relinquished on his way to a 15-7 major decision victory.
But that would be that last taste of success Bucher would have wearing the scarlet and gray. He lost to Joe Carr of West Virginia, 8-7, in his next match, eliminating Bucher from the tournament.
The Toledo, Ohio, native wrapped up his OSU wrestling career with a 89-47 record, including a 22-12 mark this year. He had his best season his junior year, going 30-13 (16-5 dual) and winning two matches at the NCAAs. From a statistical standpoint, this season did not measure up to Bucher’s previous seasons, but the slight drop in numbers can be attributed to an injury he sustained at the Las Vegas Invitational Dec. 4. He sat out the next three weeks to rehabilitate the injury, coming back to finish fifth at the Big Ten Championships and qualify for the NCAA Championships a third consecutive season.
ROGERS AND PRESTON FINISH UP
Two Buckeyes – Peter Rogers (165) and Nick Preston (184) – had their tournament end earlier than they had hoped. Preston lost his championship bracket match to Oregons Doug Lee, 8-3, then was defeated in his first wrestleback match by Paul Jenn of Iowa, 11-6. But Preston is a freshman who is looking to take the experience learned from competing all year at 184 and make himself a better wrestler for next season.
The road for Rogers was rocky right off the bat. His first match of the tournament came against Brian Pitzer of Bucknell. It was against Pitzer on Dec. 20 that Rogers lost, 8-7, which was the last time he was defeated until March 6 at the Big Ten Championships. Sandwiched in between those two losses was a team-high 12 consecutive wins.
This version of Pitzer vs. Rogers was just as intense as the last, with both wrestlers going at each other looking for the upper hand. The score was tied 5-5 when regulation ended, and overtime was necessary. In the overtime period, Rogers and Pitzer fell to the mat, with neither appear to have control of the other. Unfortunately for Rogers, the referee felt that Pitzer did have control and awarded him two points for a takedown, giving Pitzer the win. Rogers’s shock was matched by that of the OSU coaching staff, who argued in Rogers’s defense, but it was to no avail – Rogers had lost and was headed for the wrestlebacks.
The junior began his wrestleback competition with a victory over Dan Calhoun of North Carolina, 5-2. His next match against Tim Ritchie of Citadel was much more difficult. For the second time in three matches, Rogers found himself involved in an overtime. But unlike his match against Pitzer, Rogers took control early, scored a takedown and walked away with a sudden victory, 4-2.
That was the last piece of good news in this tournament for Rogers, however. He faced Illniois’s Bill Zeman in his next match, a wrestler he lost to at the Big Ten Championships, March 7. Like the match at Big Ten’s, Zeman took control early and defeated Rogers, 14-5.
HELLO BOYS AND GIRLS…I’M GOOD
Despite Peter Rogers’s finish at the NCAA Championships, he has established himself as a force to reckon with going into the 1999-2000 season. He completed the season with a 27-12 record and a sixth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships, March 6-7.
The year for Rogers changed dramatically on Feb. 12 against Indiana when he wrestled against Butch Hildebrand. With a 4-0 lead late in the third period, Rogers was slammed to the mat and fell awkwardly on his shoulder. Finishing out the rest of the match in extreme pain, Rogers did gain a victory, but it would be at quite a cost – he had suffered a separated shoulder.
The injury caused Rogers to miss the remaining three weeks of the regular season. He entered the Big Ten Championships not having wrestled in almost a month. Ironically, his first bout at Big Ten’s came against Hildebrand, against whom he won with a technical fall, 15-0. Although fighting valiantly, Rogers was unable to advance much further, finishing up the tournament with a 2-3 record.
Although the sixth place finish was not what Rogers had hoped for, he did qualify for the NCAAs for the first time, where he went 1-2 and gained valuable experience that will help him lead the Buckeyes his senior season.
NCAA RECAP
The Minnesota Golden Gophers won the Big Ten Championships this season, breaking Iowas string of 25 consecutive Big Ten Championships. That obviously did not sit well with the Hawkeyes, who came back to win their fifth straight NCAA title by narrowly defeating Minnesota, 100.5-98.5.
The Gophers actually led 89.5-86 going into the final day, but Iowa made a run behind Doug Schwab, who won the 141 pound weight class, and T.J. Williams, who capped off his perfect season with a win at 149 pounds. Iowa was the only team to have two wrestlers win individual championships.
The potential showdown at heavyweight between top-seeded Stephen Neal of Cal State Bakersfield and Brock Lesnar of Minnesota was the marquee matchup going into the tournament. When Iowa’s and Minnesota’s national championship hopes rested on the outcome of that match – the final bout of the tournament – the spotlight on the bout shined even brighter.
The dominant Neal, who had given up only two offensive points the entire season coming into the match, took an early 2-0 lead. An escape in the second period made it 3-0. With 40 seconds remaining in the contest, Lesnar picked up two points to cut the advantage to 3-2. With wrestlers and fans on their feet, Lesnar tried desperately to pick up points to win the bout, but Neal held him off to win the heavyweight division, clinching the National Championship for Iowa.
THE KEATON WATCH
Freshman Keaton Anderson came to Ohio State with potential written all over him. Having posted a 146-14 career record at Pickerington High School in suburban Columbus, the biggest question surrounding Anderson was if he could carry his success over to the collegiate circle. Early this season, that question was answered with a resounding yes.
In his first tournament as a Buckeye, Anderson won six matches and finished third in the Michigan State Open. He kept up his winning ways in Ohio State’s first dual meet against Iowa State, defeating Tim Bradley by major decision, 11-2.
Anderson’s record improved to 10-2 when he went 3-1 at the Las Vegas Invitational, but it was during that tournament that he sustained a knee injury that would force him to drop out of the tournament. He took a couple of weeks off to rehabilitate the injury before making a brief comeback. On Dec. 20, Anderson wrestled against Bucknell’s Rocky Miller and won by technical fall, 21-3. He continued to roll in OSUs dual meets against Brown and Navy, winning both of his matches at 141 to run his record to 13-2.
But the injury that Anderson suffered in Las Vegas was still bothering him, and he was held out of the next four meets. He was hopeful of a return against No. 3 Iowa Jan. 22, but two days prior to the meet he injured his other knee in practice, ruling out any chance he had at wrestling again soon.
After weighing the options, Anderson and the OSU coaching staff have petitioned the NCAA for a medical redshirt. If granted, Anderson would receive another freshman season.
Despite not wrestling for the entire second half of the season, Anderson is amazingly still near the top in two statistical categories – back points (second on the team with) and technical falls (1st, 4).
THE TREND CONTINUES
Robert Sessley has kept two Ohio State streaks alive in the past three weeks. He went over the 30-win plateau in the Big Ten Championships, the 20th consecutive year a Buckeye wrestler had won at least 30 matches.
He also received All-American honors at the NCAAs, which means that Ohio State has had at least one All-American each year in the 90s. They are one of only seven schools that can make that claim.
MORE BIG TEN DOMINANCE
Three Big Ten teams finished in the Top 10 at the NCAA Championships – Iowa (first), Minnesota (second) and Penn State (fourth). A total of eight Big Ten teams finished in the Top 25, more than any other conference. Four of the 10 individual National Champions came from the Big Ten, which is also more than any other school.
THE HOUSE WAS ROCKING
Fans from everywhere flocked to Penn State University to witness the 1999 NCAA Wrestling Championships, and it showed in the attendance figures. Each of the six sessions was a sellout. A total of 80,654 people witnessed the NCAAs, the third time in history a Championships reached the 80,000 mark. Only the 1997 Championships at Northern Iowa (90,064) and the 1997 Championships at Iowa (81,516) had higher attendance marks.
FOLLOWING THE BUCKEYES
Keep up to date with everything involving the Buckeye wrestling team in the offseason on the official web site of the Ohio State Buckeyes, www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com. Releases and other information will be updated when events occur.
