3yardsandacloud
Administrator Emeritus
NCAA WRESTLING TOURNAMENT
Buckeyes set school mark with 5 All-Americans
Strong run eases frustrating season
Saturday, March 20, 2004
Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
ST. LOUIS — Early yesterday, a few faint cheers trickled down from the upper reaches of the Savvis Center.
Ohio State wrestling fans, banished to section 301 just under the rafters, showed their appreciation as Buckeye competitors successfully fought their way through the morning consolation brackets of the NCAA tournament.
By day’s end, the high-but mighty cheering section was booming out "O-H-I-O" and doing its best to drown out the much larger (and lower) contingent of fans from Iowa and Oklahoma State, to name a few.
They had plenty to get loud about.
All five OSU qualifiers gained All-American honors, setting a school record. The previous high was four All-Americans, done each year from 1991 through 1993, considered the heyday era of the program.
Heavyweight Tommy Rowlands (43-1) will compete for a title today. That was expected of the top seed. He also became the school’s first four-time All-American.
But Jeff Ratliff (149-pound class), John Clark (165), Blake Kaplan (184) and J.D. Bergman (197) all will finish between third and eighth today. The top eight are All-Americans.
Jake Percival of Ohio University (157) also reached the finals.
Coming into nationals, it was considered a disappointing season for OSU, which finished eighth at the Big Ten meet two weeks ago.
The book was rewritten in St. Louis.
"Everyone wrote us off all year," Kaplan said. "Even our biggest supporters of our program have wrote us off. It was something that angered us and motivated us at the same time."
OSU stands in fifth place with 65 points and is just five points out of second (Iowa has 70). Oklahoma State will be the runaway defending champion today — the Cowboys lead with 106½ points.
The Buckeyes haven’t finished in the top five since 1993.
"It’s unbelievable," Rowlands said. "Four of these guys I’ve wrestled with for the past five years (all are seniors except for Bergman, a freshman). For us to be All-Americans together is one of the very special moments of my life."
En route to the five All-Americans, the Buckeyes won 12 of their first 13 matches yesterday. The only loss was Clark getting pinned in the quarterfinals.
But he, like Ratliff, Kaplan and Bergman, all won several consolation matches in a row.
It was Clark’s second All-American berth, and the first for Kaplan, Ratliff and Bergman. Clark and Ratliff said they wrestled with some sense of desperation.
"It’s your last match, and when you realize you might not put on a singlet again, you get a little extra motivation," Clark said. "And to do it for coach (Russ) Hellickson — he’s been under scrutiny — it just means an incredible amount."
Kaplan, too, expressed strong feelings for the coaching staff. "I did it for myself but for Russ, too, because I love my coaches," he said. "They’re like another group of fathers to me." And yes, the Buckeye wrestlers heard their fans. "They screamed their lungs out," Kaplan said. "We have special people."
[email protected]
Buckeyes set school mark with 5 All-Americans
Strong run eases frustrating season
Saturday, March 20, 2004
Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
ST. LOUIS — Early yesterday, a few faint cheers trickled down from the upper reaches of the Savvis Center.
Ohio State wrestling fans, banished to section 301 just under the rafters, showed their appreciation as Buckeye competitors successfully fought their way through the morning consolation brackets of the NCAA tournament.
By day’s end, the high-but mighty cheering section was booming out "O-H-I-O" and doing its best to drown out the much larger (and lower) contingent of fans from Iowa and Oklahoma State, to name a few.
They had plenty to get loud about.
All five OSU qualifiers gained All-American honors, setting a school record. The previous high was four All-Americans, done each year from 1991 through 1993, considered the heyday era of the program.
Heavyweight Tommy Rowlands (43-1) will compete for a title today. That was expected of the top seed. He also became the school’s first four-time All-American.
But Jeff Ratliff (149-pound class), John Clark (165), Blake Kaplan (184) and J.D. Bergman (197) all will finish between third and eighth today. The top eight are All-Americans.
Jake Percival of Ohio University (157) also reached the finals.
Coming into nationals, it was considered a disappointing season for OSU, which finished eighth at the Big Ten meet two weeks ago.
The book was rewritten in St. Louis.
"Everyone wrote us off all year," Kaplan said. "Even our biggest supporters of our program have wrote us off. It was something that angered us and motivated us at the same time."
OSU stands in fifth place with 65 points and is just five points out of second (Iowa has 70). Oklahoma State will be the runaway defending champion today — the Cowboys lead with 106½ points.
The Buckeyes haven’t finished in the top five since 1993.
"It’s unbelievable," Rowlands said. "Four of these guys I’ve wrestled with for the past five years (all are seniors except for Bergman, a freshman). For us to be All-Americans together is one of the very special moments of my life."
En route to the five All-Americans, the Buckeyes won 12 of their first 13 matches yesterday. The only loss was Clark getting pinned in the quarterfinals.
But he, like Ratliff, Kaplan and Bergman, all won several consolation matches in a row.
It was Clark’s second All-American berth, and the first for Kaplan, Ratliff and Bergman. Clark and Ratliff said they wrestled with some sense of desperation.
"It’s your last match, and when you realize you might not put on a singlet again, you get a little extra motivation," Clark said. "And to do it for coach (Russ) Hellickson — he’s been under scrutiny — it just means an incredible amount."
Kaplan, too, expressed strong feelings for the coaching staff. "I did it for myself but for Russ, too, because I love my coaches," he said. "They’re like another group of fathers to me." And yes, the Buckeye wrestlers heard their fans. "They screamed their lungs out," Kaplan said. "We have special people."
[email protected]