Wrestling
Buckeyes in Seventh after First Session
By Kevin Schlosser

(ST. LOUIS, Mo.) Ohio State had high expectations entering the NCAA Tournament and lived up to them so far with a strong first session. Only six wrestlers had a match in the first two rounds but five came up with wins. With a much better performance than the Big Ten Tournament, they ended the session in seventh place as a team.

The Buckeyes had three wrestlers earn bonus points in victory; J.D. Bergman won by fall while Lance Palmer and Mike Pucillo each had major decision wins. Also staying alive in the championship bracket with decision wins were Reece Humphrey and J Jaggers. With only seven wrestlers in the competition, OSU can not afford to lose any wrestlers and need as many championship wins and bonus points as possible.

“We are doing great as a team. We had one set back but we are counting on him to come back and score some points. Everyone else has done well and J.D. Bergman ended it with a big pin, said Pucillo. “We just need to keep doing the same things we have done all year; take it one match at a time and wrestle as hard as you can.”

Jason Johnstone did not wrestle in the first session and advanced to the second round with a bye. Nikko Triggas lost a 9-0 major decision against the defending national champion. Triggas will have to come back with some wins in the consolations to help Ohio State stay in the team race.

“It was a great start for the team and there is a lot more to come. I think we are going to have a great tournament. This is an unbelievable competition out here and we have a team that came to wrestle,” stated Bergman. “There will be a lot of teams trying to do the same thing we are and it is our job to get things done.”

With the first session completed the team left for their hotel to eat, relax, and refocus. All seven wrestlers will compete in the second session on Thursday night. Starting at 7:30, they will wrestle two rounds of consolations and the championship second round. The Buckeyes hope to have all seven wrestles still in the tournament on Friday.

OSU: First-Session Results:

Ch.R1.22: 125: #3 Paul Donahoe (Nebraska) WBMD 9-0 Nikko Triggas (OSU)

Ch.R1.31: 133: Reece Humphrey (OSU) WBD 4-3 Rickey Deubel (Edinboro)

Ch.R1.57: 141: #6 J Jaggers (OSU) WBD 13-10 Nexi Delgado (UC-Davis)

Ch.R1.64: 149: #9 Lance Palmer (OSU) WBMD 14-3 Kyle Larson (Oregon St)

Ch.R1.78: 157: Jason Johnstone (OSU) received a bye

Ch.R1.138: 184: #2 Mike Pucillo (OSU) WBMD 11-2 Ian Murphy (CS Fullerton)

Ch.R1.170: 285: #2 J.D. Bergman (OSU) WBF (:27) Patrick Walker (Liberty)

Session One Wrestler Notes & Quotes:

“I feel pretty good about my how I wrestled in my match. If I had to pick out something to go back to, I may have warmed up a little bit too early. There were some matches before that took a little longer than we expected, commented Mike Pucillo after his match. “I came out and wrestled as well as I could and got a nice win.”

“I don’t think my match could not have gone any better. I knew he had a good double leg and I wanted to stay low and things worked out well,” said J.D. Bergman after his match. “It was good to get things started with a win.”

Top Team Standings: Session One:

1. Iowa (19 points; Championship: 7; Consolation 2)

2. Central Michigan (18 pts; CH: 9; CO: 0)

3. Iowa State (16 pts; CH: 9; CO: 1)

4. Minnesota (15.5 pts; CH: 6; CO: 3)

4. Nebraska (15.5 pts; CH: 7; CO: 1)

6. Oklahoma State (18 pts; CH: 6; CO: 2)

7. Ohio State (13 pts; CH: 6; CO: 1)

7. Penn State (13 pts; CH: 5; CO: 2)

9. Missouri (12.5 pts; CH: 6; CO: 1)

10. Wisconsin (11 pts; CH: 4; CO: 4)

Session One Coaching Quotes:

“We were 5-1 in the first round; we took one hit but the team looked pretty good. The thing about this tournament is that we have to wrestle better each round,” said OSU assistant coach Lou Rosselli. “If we can keep we want to keep pushing forward and elevate our performance, we can climb into the top five range and look to take it from there.”

OSU Session Two: Championship (CH) and Consolation (CO) Pairings:

Co.R1.195: 125: Nikko Triggas (OSU) vs. Caleb Flores (UNI)

Ch.R2.200: 133: Reece Humphrey (OSU) vs. #1 Frank Gomez (MSU)

Ch.R2.221: 141: #6 J Jaggers (OSU) vs. Drew Headlee (Pitt)

Ch.R2.233: 149: #9 Lance Palmer (OSU) vs. Jake Patascil (Purdue)

Ch.R2.248: 157: Jason Johnstone (OSU) vs. Gregor Gillespie (Edinboro)

Ch.R2.300: 184: #2 Mike Pucillo (OSU) vs. Ryan Goodman (NCST)

Ch.R2.300: 285: #2 J.D. Bergman (OSU) vs. Joe Fendone (Endiboro)

Session Two Notes:

Nikko Triggas wrestled a defending national champion in the first round. Jason Johnstone faces one in the second round. Triggas never wrestled Donahoe before, while Johnstone lost a 6-0 decision to Gillespie in the OSU-Edinboro dual.

Reece Humphrey will face the top seed in the second round. Frank Gomez was the 2007 Big Ten champ. Last season he was knocked out of the Big Ten Tournament by Ohio State freshman Will Livingston and did not qualify for the NCAA Tournament. The two wrestlers have not met in college.

J. Jaggers was defeated in the second round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament and battled through the consolations to place seventh. In his second match in 2008 he is hoping for better results.

Mike Pucillo lost his second round match at the 2007 NCAA and is also looking for a similar reversal of fortunes this year.

Making his fourth trip to nationals, J.D. Bergman won his first match ever in the first round with a pin. Bergman won a 4-0 decision against his second-round opponent in the OSU-Edinboro dual.

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