Thirteen Anything But Unlucky for the Buckeyes – Ohio State Buckeyes
6/30/2007 12:00:00 AM | General
by Emily Meyer
Celebrating was something Ohio State athletics became accustomed to during the 2006-07 season. Home to 36 varsity sports, OSU produced a program-high 13 conference championship and tournament titles over the span of one academic calendar. The championship number count started in the fall with the field hockey team’s first outright Big Ten regular-season championship crown and ended with the No. 6-seeded baseball team’s Big Ten tournament win in the spring. Throughout the school year, Ohio State maintained its position at the top of the conference standings while it continued to add honors and awards.
In all, Ohio State collected seven Big Ten regular-season championship titles in football, men’s and women’s basketball, field hockey, men’s gymnastics, men’s tennis and softball. In addition to regular-season titles, the men’s basketball, men’s tennis, softball and baseball programs tacked on Big Ten tournament wins to add to the list of Buckeye accomplishments.
As the year progressed, OSU turned in a standout performance as three divers from the men’s swimming and diving team swept all three diving events in the conference finals. Success abounded for Ohio State’s winter sports as the men’s and women’s fencing squads combined to secure their fifth-straight Midwest Conference championships while the men’s volleyball team claimed the No. 1 seed at its league tournament after securing the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) regular-season title.
In a glance back at the successes and honors presented to the Buckeye programs, Ohio State celebrates the continued tradition of excellence in its varsity athletic programs.
Football, Men’s Basketball & Women’s Basketball
Field Hockey
For the first time in program history, the field hockey teamcaptured the Big Ten regular-season title outright. Ohio Statedefeated Michigan State, 4-3, in double-overtime Oct. 28 to be theleague champs. Previously, Ohio State had only recorded a share ofthe conference title in 2001 when it split the honor with Michigan.The Buckeyes ended the season with a 5-1 conference record andentered the Big Ten tournament as the No. 1 seed.
Senior Saskia Mueller led the field hockey team to victory as she scored her ninth goal of the season and third gamewinner in the second overtime period. For her efforts in 2007, Mueller was selected as the Big Ten Player of the Year while teammate Yesenia Luces was named Offensive Player of the Year – the first Buckeyes to win the awards. Head coach Anne Wilkinson won her first Big Ten Coach of the Year honor at Ohio State.
Both Mueller and Luces were joined by senior Curlyne Wynn as first-team All-Big Ten selections. Buckeyes Lauren Kruse and Linda Haussener garnered second-team All-Big Ten honors and senior Florencia Stier earned the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.
Men’s Diving
The men’s diving trio of senior Kellen Harkness (3-meter),sophomore Wes Wieser (platform) and freshman Burkley Showe(1-meter) combined to sweep all three diving events and help propelthe Ohio State men’s swimming and diving team to a third-placefinish Feb. 18 at the Big Ten championships in their home pool atthe Bill and Mae McCorkle Aquatics Pavilion. By completing thefeat, OSU became the first Big Ten program to win the 1-meter,3-meter and platform at the league championships since 1995. KellenHarkness was named Big Ten Diver of the Year and shared diver ofthe championships laurels with teammate Showe. Showe also was namedBig Ten Freshman of the Year, an honor he shared with Danny Cox ofPurdue. The success of the program won Ohio State head coach VincePanzano his sixth Big Ten Diving Coach of the Year honor.
Fencing
For the fifth-consecutive year, the fencing team defended itsreputation as one of the nation’s top programs with its victory atthe Midwest Conference championships, defeating host Notre Dame by75 points, 1,320-1,245, March 4. In total, the men’s and women’steam captured four of six team competitions to secure the leaguetitle.
At the meet, the second-ranked Ohio State men’s team swept all three events. The Buckeyes defended their No. 1 seed in both the foil and sabre with the help of sophomore foilist Andras Horanyi and sophomore sabre specialist Mikhail Momtselidze. Ranked third in the epee competition, the men’s squad upset both No. 2-ranked Notre Dame and first-ranked Wayne State to take the 2007 epee crown.
The fourth-seeded women’s squad was victorious in the sabre and finished as runner-ups in both the epee and foil team competitions. At the individual championships, Ohio State had nine fencers record Top 3 finishes, including both Momtselidze and junior Siobhan Byrne, winning the men’s and women’s sabre, respectively.
Postseason action ended for the fencing team with a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships, including the program’s seventh individual national championship with Horanyi capturing the foil title.
Men’s Gymnastics
Ranked No. 1 in the country heading into postseason action, the2007 men’s gymnastics squad secured its place in the OSU recordbooks as the first Buckeye team to secure three-consecutive Big Tenchampionship titles. The team took the conference crown bydefeating Penn State, the No. 2 seed, by only one tenth of a point,217.75-217.65, March 30 at the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis,Minn.
Sophomore Eddie Hay landed the team title for Ohio State with a then-career-high 9.800 first-place finish on floor. Hay would go on to win the individual floor title with a 9.825 and teammate DJ Bucher nabbed his second-career Big Ten parallel bars crown with a 9.675.
At the closing ceremony, Hay and Bucher where joined by freshman standout Tai Lee on the 2007 All-Big Ten team while head coach Miles Avery collected his third-consecutive Big Ten Coach of the Year honor, becoming the first Big Ten coach to do so since the inception of the award in 1988.
Men’s Volleyball
With a 10-2 conference record, the men’s volleyball team grabbedits 10th (sixth outright) MIVA regular-season crown under theguidance of head coach Pete Hanson. The 3-0 title win againstMercyhurst April 14 at home in St. John Arena gave the Buckeyes aNo. 1 seed at the MIVA tournament where they finished second toIPFW.
In all, the OSU men’s volleyball program has tallied 19 regular-season championships (12 outright). Hanson was selected the MIVA Coach of the Year as six Buckeyes were named to the MIVA All-Conference teams. Junior setter Daniel Mathews earned the league recognition as MIVA Player of the Year and a first-team All-Conference selection. Mathews led the squad to its regular-season title as he averaged 12.53 assists per game in league matches to rank second in the conference, was fourth in aces per game at .42 and 15th in blocking at .79. Fifth-year senior Layne Dreven joined Mathews as a first-team selection while John Albertson, Robbie Klein, Colin Martin and Dan Meske were named to the second-team.
Men’s Tennis
The men’s tennis team added its second Big Ten tournament andregular-season titles in as many years in 2007. With a perfect 10-0Big Ten regular-season record, the Buckeyes captured the tournamentcrown with a 4-1 win over third-seed Illinois April 29 on thecampus of Purdue University. In the fourth-consecutive meetingagainst Illinois during the Big Ten championship match, Ohio Statedefended its 2006 conference tournament win. Previously, theBuckeyes had finished as runner-ups to the Fighting Illini in 2004and 2005.
Seniors Chris Klingemann and Devin Mullings clinched the doubles point for Ohio State when they upset defending NCAA doubles national champions Kevin Anderson and Ryan Rowe of Illinois, 8-6. Junior Drew Eberly clinched the match and solidified the repeat Big Ten tournament win for the Buckeyes after defeating Illini Brandon Davie at the No. 6 spot 6-2, 6-3. All-Big Ten selections Klingemann and Mullings each won their respective matches at the No. 5 and No. 3 spots to set up Eberly for the win.
Under the direction of head coach Ty Tucker, OSU owns a 16-5 league tournament record, including five-consecutive wins in Big Ten tournament matches and 26-consecutive victories in Big Ten dual matches. In 2007, Ohio State outworked its opponents as the Buckeyes only allowed the opposition to take 56 of 233 single matches. In addition, the squad maintained its home win streak through the regular season, collecting 53 straight match wins at Stickney Tennis Center, a steak that started in April 2003.
Leading the Buckeyes to a 24-1 overall record, Tucker was named the 2007 Big Ten Coach of the Year while a program-high four Buckeyes where named to the All-Big Ten team, including seniors Klingemann and Mullings and sophomores Bryan Koniecko and Steven Moneke.
Softball
Registering a 16-0 record at home, the softball team logged itsfirst perfect regular season at Buckeye Field. The Buckeyes addedto the momentous year when it made history, tallying the program’ssecond Big Ten regular-season title and first tournamentchampionship. The program’s first Big Ten tournament win came withthe 2-1 defeat over sixth-ranked Northwestern May 12 at home inColumbus, Ohio. Senior Nycole Koyano’s ground ball down thethird-base line was enough to allow Megan Schwab to score asNorthwestern’s throw from third sailed over the Wildcat’s firstbaseman. With the tournament win, the Buckeyes earned an automaticbid for their first ever back-to-back appearances at the NCAAtournament where they finished one win shy of a trip to the SuperRegionals.
As the fourth team in program history to reach 40 wins, Ohio State finished the season with an overall record of 40-18. Senior pitcher Jamee Juarez won Big Ten Pitcher of the Week laurels the last three weeks of the season and was named to the first-team All-Big Ten team after winning nine of 10 conference decisions in the regular season. Joining her as first-team selections were catcher Sam Marder and outfielder Courtney Pruner. Buckeye second baseman Brittany Vanderink was awarded a second-team selection as designated player Lauren Daykin, first baseman Christina Douglas and outfielder Megan Schwab were named to the third-team. For the team’s success, head coach Linda Kalafatis received the 2007 Big Ten Coach of the Year honor. This was Kalafatis’ second conference honor, the first came in 2002.
Baseball
In its 21st appearance at the Big Ten tournament, the baseball teambecame the first sixth-seed to win the conference tournament title.As the lowest-seed, OSU’s road to victory was a battle. TheBuckeyes had to defeat the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 seeded teams toclinch its eighth conference championship.
The 2007 Buckeyes went 4-0 at Ray Fisher Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich., including a complete game thrown by sophomore pitcher Jake Hale to knock out the No. 1-seeded Wolverines (May 24), 4-2, en route to the final two games against No. 2-seed Minnesota. OSU took the title by defeating the Golden Gophers, 10-9, in the first game (May 25) and 4-2 in the tournament final (May 27). Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Cory Luebke was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after allowing just two earned runs on seven hits in 7.2 innings of work in the title game. Ohio State began the tournament with a 10-3 win over the No. 3 Nittany Loins (May 23).
For his work in 2007, Luebke became the first Buckeye since Scott Lewis in 2003 to be named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year. In regular-season action, he compiled 50 strike outs against conference foes while only walking 24 batters. Four other OSU ballplayers also received league honors. Junior catcher Eric Freyer was named second-team All-Big Ten while outfielders Matt Angle, J.B. Shuck and Justin Miller were third-team selections. The final conference laurel went to fifth-year senior Jacob Howell as the Big Ten Sportsmanship honoree for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State owns the best winning percentage of any Big Ten team at the league tournament with a 48-29 all-time record. Head coach Bob Todd recorded his 800th win at OSU with his eighth conference title win. With the tournament win, the Buckeyes earned an automatic bid to their 18th NCAA tournament appearance.
