No. 2 Wrestlers Play Host To No. 3 Iowa, Wisconsin – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/24/2002 12:00:00 AM | General, Wrestling
Jan. 24, 2002
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COLUMBUS, Ohio– The No. 2 Ohio State wrestling team (15-1, 0-0 Big Ten) welcomes No. 3 Iowa and No. 21 Wisconsin to St. John Arena this weekend for its first Big Ten Conference action of the year. The Hawkeyes invade Columbus for a 7 p.m. dual Friday while the Badgers come calling at 2 p.m. Sunday.
3-1 EQUALS 2
A 3-1 record and a spot in the finals of the 2002 Cliff Keen/National Wrestling Coaches Association National Duals over the weekend earned the Buckeyes’ the highest national ranking in the history of the program at No. 2. The previous standard was established by the 1992 squad when it climbed to No. 3 following a third-place finish at the National Duals.
ON A ROWL-ANDS
Tommy Rowlands stepped up in a big way at the National Duals posting a perfect 4-0 record in competition. Rowlands earned decision wins over Minnesota’s No. 5 Garrett Lowney (3-2) and Oklahoma State’s No. 12 James Huml (5-1) along with a forfeit win in the Lock Haven dual. His biggest win was an overtime pin of No. 4 Leonce Crump of Oklahoma in the semifinal round to give OSU a 19-17 team win and a spot in the finals. Rowlands is 23-2 on the year and a perfect 16-0 in duals.
ALL-STAR NOD FOR ROWLANDS
Tommy Rowlands has accepted an invitation from the National Wrestling Coaches Association to compete in the NWCA All-Star Meet Jan. 28 at Hofstra. Rowlands, ranked No. 1 in the nation at heavyweight, will face No. 3 John Lockhart of Illinois. In the series between the conference foes, Rowlands holds a 3-2 advantage including an overtime decision in the third-place match at the Midlands this year. Lockhart’s wins, though, came in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament and the national championship bout a year ago. In the event held last year at Franklin and Marshall College, the No. 1-ranked Rowlands handed a 5-3 decision to No. 13 Josh Pearce of Edinboro.
ANDERSON STEPS UP
Keaton Anderson put together an impressive weekend at the National Duals, posting a 3-1 record against four opponents ranked higher in the national rankings. Anderson, ranked No. 11 at the time of the matches, scored upsets of previously undefeated No. 2 JaMarr Billman of Lock Haven (5-2), No. 6 Jerrod Sanders of Oklahoma State (4-0), and No. 4 Jerod Frayer of Oklahoma, (6-4). His lone loss came to No. 3 Jerod Lawrence of Minnesota in a 7-2 decision. Anderson is ranked as high as No. 6 this week.
CLARK’S CAREER YEAR
Though this is only his second year of competition for the Buckeyes, John Clark is having a career year. After a 22-15 campaign last year, Clark has already equalled his win total of a year ago with his 22-5 record. Clark went 3-1 on the weekend at the duals to break the 20-win plateau for the second year in a row. One of his wins was a 3-2 decision over No. 5 Robbie Waller of Oklahoma to tie the dual at 10.
STREAK HALTED
Ohio State’s consecutive wins streak was snapped at 15 following a 26-8 loss to No. 1 Minnesota in the National Duals final. The Buckeyes’ streak is the best in program history and is a tie for the most consecutive wins at any point in the season, set a year ago. The 2000-01 squad opened and closed the year with three-consecutive losses and sandwiched in 15 wins to go 15-6 on the year.
ALL-CENTURY TEAM
The Touchdown Club of Columbus held Ohio State Century Night at the Jerome Schottenstein Center Tuesday to honor the top athletes of the century from all of OSU’s 35 varsity sports. Five Buckeye greats made the list of wrestlers including Kevin Randleman (1991-93), Mark Coleman (1987-88), Rex Holman (1992-93), Mitch Clark (1994-98) and Adam DiSabato (1989-93). Randleman also was named the top wrestler of the century at OSU after winning national championships in 1992 and 1993.
Coleman (1988), Holman (1993) and Clark (1998) also won national titles with DiSabato making the team as a three-time All-American.
HELLICKSON BEGINS 16TH YEAR AT OSU
Russ Hellickson enters his 16th year of head coaching duties with the Scarlet and Gray and his 20th overall. Hellickson stands 290-146-6 overall and 219-124-6 with the Buckeyes. Under Hellickson’s guidance, OSU has produced at least one All-American 12 years in a row and four wrestlers have captured a total of five national championships. He began his coaching duties in the 1982-83 season with his alma mater Wisconsin and coached the Badgers to a 71-22-0 record in four seasons prior to arriving in Columbus.
300 AND COUNTING
Russ Hellickson recorded the 300th win of his career Jan. 5 following a 41-3 defeat of Eastern Illinois and a 4-0 record in the Buckeye Duals. During his 19-plus years in the coaching profession, Hellickson has posted a 305-147-6 career record. He is 234-125-6 all-time at the helm of the OSU program and 71-22 with his alma mater, Wisconsin, from 1983-87.
SCOUTING REPORT: IOWA
Iowa, under the guidance of fifth-year coach Jim Zalesky, enters the dual with a 10-2 record (0-0 Big Ten) after finishing third at the National Duals last weekend. The Hawkeyes boast nine starters with national rankings including No. 1 Mike Zadick at 149 and No. 3 Steve Mocco at heavyweight. In all, seven starters are ranked in the Top 10.
BUCKEYES VS. HAWKEYES
The Buckeyes and Hawkeyes will meet for the 30th time dating back to the start of the series in 1929. UI holds a 27-2 advantage in the series and has won the last 25 meetings. The Hawkeyes won the last meeting, 34-11, last year (Feb. 16) in Iowa City, Iowa.
IOWA PROBABLE STARTERS
125- No. 8 Luke Eustice (13-5)
133- No. 5 Cliff Moore (16-1)
141- No. 11 Marc Juergens (20-4)
149- No. 1 Mike Zadick (21-0)
157- No. 6 Matt Anderson (21-6)
165- No. 14 Ben Shirk (9-7)
174- No. 9 Tyler Nixt (21-6)
184- No. 5 Jessman Smith (25-3)
197- Trey Clark (8-7)
285- No. 3 Steve Mocco (24-1)
SCOUTING REPORT: WISCONSIN
Barry Davis enters the ninth year of his coaching tenure with Badgers and his team is off to an 8-5 start in 2002. UW has two of its projected starters ranked nationally in No. 10 Tony Black (125) and No. 18 Ralph DeNisco (184). Kevin Black (133) and Grant Hoerr (141) join DeNisco and T. Black as returning NCAA qualifiers from a year ago.
BUCKEYES VS. BADGERS
After a two year layoff, the Buckeyes and Badgers renew a series in which UW holds a 25-15-1 record. The Badgers are winners of the last three meetings including a 22-15 decision in 2000.
WISCONSIN PROBABLE STARTERS
125- No. 10 Tony Black (13-1)
133- Kevin Black (14-3)
141- Grant Hoerr (17-8)
149- Tyler Laudon (12-13)
157- Adam Turner (12-7)
165- Ryan Lewis (7-14)
174- Brady Reinke (17-9)
184- No. 18 Ralph DeNisco (17-6)
197- Jareck Horton (4-9)
285- Justin Staebler (9-5)
HELLICKSON ON IOWA AND WISCONSIN
“This will be a tough weekend for us. I feel we match up well with both teams but we are the No. 2 team in the nation and it is time for us to go out there and defend that ranking. The Big Ten is a tough conference to compete in and we have to be ready.”
THE NATIONAL POLLS
Ohio State is No. 2 in the nation according to the latest national polls released Tuesday by the National Wrestling Coaches and InterMatWrestle.com.
NWCA/THEMAT.COM TOP 25 COACHES POLL
Team Record Last 1. Minnesota 11-0 1 2. OHIO STATE 15-1 7 3. Iowa 10-2 5 4. Michigan 9-2 4 5. Iowa State 12-3 6 6. Oklahoma 13-4 3 7. Oklahoma State 14-3 2 8. Pennsylvania 3-4 8 9. Missouri 11-0 9 10. West Virginia 4-2 10 11. Arizona State 5-2 11 12. Lehigh 6-5 13 13. Michigan State 3-3 17 14. Lock Haven 11-3 11 15. Illinois 5-1 16 16. Edinboro 7-2 14 17. Central Michigan 4-4 23 18. Northern Iowa 5-4 15 19. Wisconsin 8-5 18 20. Hofstra 6-5 19 21. Pittsburgh 10-3 21 22. Nebraska 8-5 20 23. Penn State 3-6 22 24. Purdue 8-1 23 25. Fresno State 7-5-1 NR Rankings are from Jan. 23 poll 2001-02 opponents in bold
INTERMATWRESTLE.COM TOP 25 POLL
Team Record Last 1. Minnesota 11-0 1 2. OHIO STATE 15-1 7 3. Iowa 10-2 5 4. Iowa State 12-3 6 5. Oklahoma State 14-3 2 6. Michigan 6-2 4 7. Oklahoma 13-4 3 8. Pennsylvania 3-4 8 9. Missouri 11-0 9 10. Arizona State 5-2 11 11. Lehigh 6-5 10 12. West Virginia 4-2 12 13. Michigan State 3-3 16 14. Illinois 5-1 18 15. Northern Iowa 5-4 14 16. Central Michigan 4-4 23 17. Lock Haven 11-3 13 18. Edinboro 7-2 15 19. Hofstra 6-5 19 20. Purdue 8-1 21 21. Wisconsin 8-5 17 22. Pittsburgh 10-3 20 23. Fresno State 7-5-1 NR 24. Nebraska 8-5 22 25. Boise State 6-3 NR Rankings are from Jan. 22 poll 2001-02 opponents in bold
LAST TIME OUT: NATIONAL DUALS
Ohio State entered the Duals as the No. 7 seed in the tournament but walked out of the event as the second-place finisher. The Buckeyes improved to 15-1 overall (0-0 Big Ten) following a 3-1 record against some of the top competition in the nation. Second place is the highest finish for a Buckeye team since the 1992 Duals when OSU took third.
LAST TIME OUT: NO. 11 LOCK HAVEN
The Bald Eagles jumped ahead quickly in the opening round of the Duals with a decision win at 125. The Buckeyes reversed their fortunes by winning the remaining nine bouts, including a 5-2 win for No. 11 Keaton Anderson over previously unbeaten and No. 2 in the 149 class JaMarr Billman.
LAST TIME OUT: NO. 2 OKLAHOMA STATE
OSU’s improbable journey to the finals went through No. 2 Oklahoma State in the quarterfi0snals. The Buckeyes built an early lead that had evaporated into a tie a 13 before No. 4 Nick Preston and No. 2 Tommy Rowlands won decisions to give OSU the 19-13 team win.
LAST TIME OUT: NO. 3 OKLAHOMA
Ohio State, coming off one of the biggest wins in the history of the program, fell behind 10-0 after three matches before coming back to tie the dual at 10 following the 165 bout. The Sooners took the two of the next three matches to build a 17-13 lead. Needing a major decision to tie or a tech fall or pin fall to win, Tommy Rowlands brought the home crowd to its feet with a pin at 7:27 (27 seconds into overtime) for the six team points and a 19-17 OSU win. Rowlands pinned No. 4 Leonce Crump who defeated Rowlands earlier in the year, 2-1, at the Missouri Open.
LAST TIME OUT: NO. 1 MINNESOTA
The Golden Gophers jumped all over the Buckeyes early and often to take the National Duals team title, 26-8. No. 8 Robert Sessley’s 7-3 upset of No. 2 Chad Erikson was one of three OSU victories in the duals. Tommy Rowlands and No. 9 John Clark also won matches for the Buckeyes.
HISTORIC ST. JOHN ARENA
St. John Arena, the former home of men’s and women’s basketball, houses Buckeye wrestling, men’s and women’s volleyball and men’s and women’s gymnastics. Constructed in 1956, the 13,276 capacity venue has hosted three men’s NCAA championship basketball games and will be the home of the NWCA Cliff Keen National Duals for Division I and the placing matches for Division II and III.
NEXT TIME OUT
Ohio State takes to the road for a conference road trip through the Hoosier State starting at 7 p.m. Feb. 1 at Indiana and ending at 2 p.m. at Purdue. OSU’s next home dual is 2 p.m. Feb 10 when the Michigan Wolverines visit St. John Arena.
