Russ Hellickson Named NWCA National Wrestling Coach of the Year – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/21/2002 12:00:00 AM | General, Wrestling
May 21, 2002
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Russ Hellickson, head coach of the Ohio State wrestling team, has been named the 2002 National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) National Coach of the Year, the organization announced Monday. The coaching honor is the second of the year for Hellickson after he garnered Co-Big Ten Coach of the Year honors with Minnesota’s J Robinson March 11 at the Big Ten championships in Champaign, Ill.
“I am very moved by the honor,” Hellickson said. “I am a little surprised. Usually the national coach of the year has a team that finishes higher at nationals, but I believe some of the things we accomplished this year, such as the National Duals, had an impact on why I was chosen. This is a tribute to the guys on the team and the coaching staff I work with. We were steady all year and that also helped. We made an impact and held a tough schedule. Having three guys earn All-America honors and several others come so close to that honor as well really helped me earn such a great honor. I am thankful for that.”
Hellickson guided the Buckeyes to the highest national ranking in the history of the program at No. 2 following a second-place finish at the NWCA National Duals held Jan. 19-20 in St. John Arena. OSU finished sixth at the NCAA championships on the strength of Tommy Rowlands (So., Hilliard, Ohio/Bishop Ready) winning the heavyweight national championship over Steve Mocco of Iowa. Two weeks earlier, Hellickson was named (with Robinson) as the conference coach of the year following a 20-4 campaign and OSU’s fourth-place finish at the Big Ten championships where Rowlands took the top spot in the heavyweight division and Nick Preston (Sr., Columbus, Ohio/DeSales) at 197, Jeff Ratliff (So., Marion, Ohio/Marion Harding) at 133 and John Clark (So., Canton, N.Y./Canton) at 165 taking second in their respective weight classes. In his 20 years in the collegiate coaching ranks, Hellickson has compiled a 310-150-6 record while posting a 239-128-6 record in his 16 years at the helm of the Buckeye program. His milestone 300th victory came this year at the Buckeye Duals (Jan. 5) when OSU won its fourth dual of the day in a 41-3 decision over Eastern Illinois. In his tenure in Columbus, Hellickson has guided at least one wrestler to All-American status in each of the last 13 years including six national championship titles (Mark Coleman, 190 in 1988; Kevin Randleman, 177 in 1992 and 1993; Rex Holman, 190 in 1993; Mitch Clark, 177 in 1998 and Rowlands in 2002) and 32 All-America honors. He has coached the only three-time All-Americans at OSU, Randleman (1991, `92, `93), Adam DiSabato (1990, `91, `93) and Robert Sessley (Sr., Columbus, Ohio/Beechcroft) (1999, `01, `02), as well as 12 Buckeyes that earned the accolades twice in their careers. Over his illustrious career, Hellickson, an inductee into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1989, has mentored 67 All-Americans and 17 national title holders.
