Rowlands Captures Big Ten Crown As Team Finishes Fourth – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/11/2002 12:00:00 AM | General, Wrestling
March 11, 2002
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The No. 4 Ohio State wrestling team finished fourth at the 2002 Big Ten Wrestling Championships in Champaign, Ill., on the strength of Tommy Rowlands (So., Hilliard, Ohio/Bishop Ready) winning the heavyweight title, 2-1 in a tiebreaker, over No. 1 Steve Mocco. Jeff Ratliff (So., Marion, Ohio/Harding), John Clark (So., Canton, N.Y./Canton) and Nick Preston (Sr., Columbus, Ohio/DeSales) all took second in their respective weight classes to build 115 team points for the Buckeyes. Minnesota finished first with 174 followed by Iowa and Michigan with 129 and 120.5, respectively. For the remarkable season the Buckeyes put together, Russ Hellickson, OSU head coach, was selected as co-coach of the year, sharing the honor with Minnesota’s J Robinson.
“All of the hard work and preparation paid off for me today,” Rowlands said. “This is a stepping stone to the national tournament and I hope I can have the same fortune at the NCAA Championships.”
Both Rowlands, the 2001 freshman of the year in the Big Ten, and Mocco, the 2002 conference freshman of the year, scored on an escape to start the third and second periods, respectively. In overtime, Rowlands nearly took down the Hawkeye heavyweight with 36 seconds remaining but Mocco countered. The score remained tied and Rowlands chose down after winning the coin toss. He almost escaped with 26 seconds left and won the match and title when Mocco was hit with a one point penalty for locking his hands sending many fans into a loud roar.
Ratliff came out aggressive and forced undefeated and No. 1 in the nation Ryan Lewis of Minnesota to move around the mat. Both wrestlers scrambled constantly with no points scored at the end of the first. Lewis chose down in the second and escaped 14 seconds into the stanza. Ratliff quickly responded with a takedown at 1:35 only to be reversed 20 seconds later. Lewis retained the lead heading into the final period where Ratliff chose down. Ratliff cold not escape in the period and was hit with his second stalling call to give Lewis a penalty point and one for riding time for a final score of 5-2. Ratliff, though 0-3 against the Golden Gopher this year, kept the score close after losing at the National Duals in January, 13-2, and at Minnesota two weeks ago, 14-8. Clark lost a close battle with the No. 1 165 wrestler in the nation, Matt Lackey of Illinois, 6-5. Clark took the early advantage with a takedown at 2:26 with Lackey escaping at 2:18. The Illini wrestler chose down and escaped at 1:54 to knot the match at two and took the lead, 4-2, with a takedown at 0:47. Clark escaped for a point at 0:29 and again at 1:54 in the third after choosing down. Tied at four, Lackey took the Buckeye down with 26 seconds left in the match with Clark escaping with eight on the clock. Clark could not score a takedown in the waning moments of the title bout to take second place.
Preston followed and lost a close match with No. 3 in the nation Owen Elzen of Minnesota, the No. 2 seed in the tournament. Preston, seeded No. 1, got behind early when Elzen scored an early takedown and three near fall points less than a minute in to the match. Preston escaped and was down 5-1 at the end of one. Elzen escaped to start the second with Preston closing the gap to 7-5 by the end of two with two takedowns. Preston escaped to open the third when Elzen took down Preston down to make the score 9-6. Preston escaped and earned another point on the second stalling call on Elzen with eight seconds left but it was not enough to take the title.
The NCAA Championships will take place March 21-23 in Albany, N.Y., at the Pepsi Center. Competing for the Buckeyes along with the four finalists will be Jesse Leng (So., Hinckley, Ohio/Highland) at 125, Robert Sessley (Sr., Columbus, Ohio/Beechcroft) at 141, Keaton Anderson (Jr., Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington) at 149, Josh Janson (Sr., Loveland, Ohio/Moeller) at 157 and Blake Kaplan (So., Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore) at 184.
2002 Big Ten Championships * University of Illinois * March 9-10 After Session III 133- #7 Jeff Ratliff – Second Place Final #1 Ryan Lewis (Minn.) Dec Ratliff, 5-2 1st Period: No scoring 2nd Period: UM down, UM escape (1:46, 0-1) OSU takedown (1:35, 2-1) UM reversal (1:14, 2-3) 3rd Period: UM leads, 3-2, OSU down stalling OSU, point UM (0:38, 2-4) UM 1 point riding time (0:00, 2-5)
165- #2 John Clark – Second Place Final #1 Matt Lackey (Ill.) Dec Clark, 6-5 1st Period: OSU takedown (2:26, 2-0) UI escape (1:54, 2-1) 2nd Period: OSU leads 2-1, UI down UI escape (1:54, 2-2) UI takedown (0:47, 2-4) OSU escape (0:29, 3-4) 3rd Period: UI leads 4-3, OSU down OSU escape (1:54, 4-4) UI takedown (0:26, 4-6) OSU escape (0:08, 5-6)
197- #1 Nick Preston – Second Place Final #2 Owen Elzen (Minn.) Dec Preston, 9-8 1st Period: UM takedown (2:40, 0-2) UM 3 near fall (2:07, 0-5) OSU escape (1:58, 1-5) 2nd Period: UM leads 5-1, UM down UM escape (1:55, 1-6) OSU takedown (1:13, 3-6) OSU takedown (0:08, 5-7) 3rd Period: UM leads 7-5, OSU down OSU escape (1:53 (6-7) stall warning UM (1:17) UM takedown (1:01, 6-9) OSU escape (0:47, 7-9) UM stalling, 1 point OSU (0:09, 8-9)
285- #2 Tommy Rowlands – 2002 Big Ten Champion Final Rowlands Dec #1 Steve Mocco (Iowa), 2-1 tb 1st Period: No scoring 2nd Period: UI down, UI escape (1:52, 0-1) 3rd Period: UI leads 1-0, OSU down OSU escape (1:52, 1-1) Overtime: Tied 1-1, UI stalling Tiebreaker: Tied 1-1, OSU down UI technical violation (locking hands), point OSU (2-1)
* number preceding name is tournament seed
Team Standings After Session II 1. Minnesota 174.0 2. Iowa 129.0 3. Michigan 120.5 4. OHIO STATE 115.0 5. Illinois 91.0 6. Penn State 66.5 7. Purdue 55.5 8. Michigan St. 54.5 9. Wisconsin 50.0 10. Indiana 48.0 11. Northwestern 13.0
