Rowlands Completes Title Run at 2004 NCAA Wrestling Championships, Leads Buckeyes to Third Place – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/20/2004 12:00:00 AM | General, Wrestling
March 20, 2004
Columbus, Ohio – Ohio State senior heavyweight Tommy Rowlands capped an outstanding showing by the Buckeye wrestling team at the 2004 NCAA Championships as the first four-time All-American in OSU history completed the run to his second career NCAA championship with a 6-2 decision over Penn State’s Pat Cummins in the final match Saturday at the Savvis Center in St. Louis, Mo.
Rowlands, the final of five Buckeyes to gain All-America honors, joins Kevin Randleman, who won the NCAA titles at 177 pounds in 1992 and 1993, as the only Buckeye to win two NCAA crowns. The win by Rowlands earned Ohio State its highest finish at the national meet as the Buckeyes scored a tie for third-place with Lehigh at 77.5 team points. Oklahoma State defended its 2003 team title with 123.5 team points, while Iowa took second with 82.0 points.
Rowlands (Hilliard, Ohio/ Bishop Ready) and Cummins had met three times in the 2004 season with Rowlands winning each of the last two meetings, which included a 5-4 decision in the Big Ten HWT final. Rowlands jumped on Cummins early with a takedown less than a minute into that match and rode the Nittany Lion the rest of the period as he eclipsed the one minute ride time advantage in the first period. With the 2-0 lead in the second stanza, Rowlands upped his advantage to 5-0 with an escape and a reversal combination at the 1:29 mark of the second session. Cummins got on the scoreboard with escapes in the second and third periods, but failed to make a run at Rowlands as the Buckeye HWT built his riding time advantage to over three minutes and finished off Cummins for the 6-2 decision win and his second NCAA championship.
The title completed a decorated career for Rowlands, who set the OSU all-time mark in season takedowns in the quarterfinals, as the senior will retire his Ohio State singlet as the Buckeye record holder in career takedowns, team points and career wins.
The national title also put the finishing touches on the finest showing by Ohio State at the national tournament in the history of the program as the Buckeyes tallied third and sent an all-time program-high of five wrestlers to the Parade of All-Americans Saturday.
Leading the All-American charge was freshman J.D. Bergman (Oak Harbor, Ohio/ Oak Harbor), who placed third at 197 pounds in his initial appearance at the NCAA meet, while seniors John Clark (Canton, N.Y./ Canton) and Blake Kaplan (Cincinnati, Ohio/ Sycamore) each took fifth at 165 and 184-pound classes, respectively. The award qualified Clark as the ninth Buckeye to earn multiple All-American honors as he joined his brother and current assistant coach, Mitch Clark (1995-1998) in the distinction. In addition, fellow senior Jeff Ratliff (Marion, Ohio/ Harding) took eighth at 149 pounds to round out the All-American class.
2004 NCAA Wrestling Championships Overall Team Standings – Top 5 1. Oklahoma State 123.5 2. Iowa 82.0 3. Ohio State 77.5 Lehigh 77.5 5. Nebraska 74.0
Heavyweight Finals Play-by-Play
First Period
2:07 Rowlands takedown (2-0)
1:01 Rowlands reached ride time advantage
:07 Cummins stall warning
Second Period
1:29 Rowlands escape (3-0)
1:25 Rowlands reversal (5-0)
:56 Cummins escape (5-1)
Third period
1:46 Cummins escape
Final – Rowlands Dec. Cummins, 6-2*
*with ride-time
