Wrestling
2008 NCAA Tournament: Day One Notebook
By Kevin Schlosser

(ST. LOUIS, Mo.) - The Ohio State wrestling team arrived in St. Louis on Tuesday to prepare for the 2008 NCAA wrestling tournament. They wasted little time in getting ready by working out on their own and as a team. With a wrestling mat in their hotel the workouts were light, but the focus was heavy and recognizable. There is no doubt OSU will be challenged this weekend, the question is how well they will respond.

The Buckeyes (19-4) had one of the top five regular season performances in the history of the program. In dual meet competition, the team wrestled twelve ranked schools, three teams that were ranked number one this season, and registered eight come from behind wins. In tournament competition; they placed third for their best ever finish in Las Vegas, took fifth at the National Duals, and fifth at the Big Ten Tournament. While they did not accomplish every goal, they can still compete for the highest finish by an OSU at the NCAA Tournament.

The team has faced adversity all season long season and responded each time. Throughout the regular season OSU had ten wrestlers in every competition, at nationals they have seven. With a smaller margin for error, the team needs to step up. The Buckeyes are healthy and ready to wrestle; they believe they are peaking at the right time and are looking forward to getting started. As a team or as individuals; if they were disappointed with how they started or ended the Big Ten Tournament, redemption can be found at the NCAA Tournament.

Competition in the first session begins at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday with two sessions each day leading to the sixth round on Saturday night. The championship finals will be wrestled on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and broadcast live in their entirety on ESPN. The tournament is double elimination through the consolation quarterfinals and each weight class places eight wrestlers. The team champion is determined by team points scored by their individual wrestlers.

Ohio State: Championship First Round Pairings**:

Ch.R1.22: 125: Nikko Triggas (OSU) vs. #3 Paul Donahoe (Nebraska)

Ch.R1.31: 133: Reece Humphrey (OSU) vs. Rickey Deubel (Edinboro)

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

Ch.R1.64: 149: #9 Lance Palmer (OSU) vs. H. Harrison (Clarion) or K. Larson (Oregon St)

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

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

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

Wrestling with Experience and Inexperience:

Ohio State has two wrestlers making their first trip to the NCAA Tournament; they have five wrestlers making return trips. Combined the seven Buckeyes have won twenty-eight matches in eight previous tournaments. Leading the way with fourteen wins in three tournaments is two-time All-American and three-time national qualifier J.D. Bergman. Last season he was joined on the podium by J Jaggers, Lance Palmer, and Mike Pucillo.

The OSU staff feels confident the team will improve upon their 2007 tenth place team finish. With at least two title contenders from their returning All-Americans, the Buckeyes have a blend of youth, experience, and talent. They may not be ready to contend for a team title this season, but Ohio State definitely has enough fire power to match or improve on their fifth place finish at the 2008 Big Ten Tournament.

Career Records at the NCAA Tournament:

125 Nikko Triggas 0-0 (freshman*)

NQ: 2008

133 Reece Humphrey; 0-2 (RS sophomore**)

NQ: 2006 (WC), 2008

141 J Jaggers; 4-3 (RS junior***)

NQ: 2006, 2007, 2008; did not compete due to injury in 2006

AA: 2007 Seventh (4-3)

149 Lance Palmer; 4-2 (sophomore**)

NQ: 2007, 2008

AA: 2007 Fourth (4-2)

157 Jason Johnstone; 0-0 (RS junior***)

NQ: 2008

184 Mike Pucillo; 5-3 (RS sophomore**)

NQ: 2007, 2008

AA: 2007 Sixth (5-3)

285 J.D. Bergman; 14-5 (Fifth year senior****)

NQ: 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008

AA: 2004 Third (7-1), 2007 Fourth (6-2)

* Varsity letters earned.

Ohio State: Individual Tournament Notes:

The Buckeyes started four different true freshmen at three different weights this season; Nikko Triggas (125), Robel Campbell (165), Colt Sponseller (165), and John Weakley (197). Nikko Triggas will be the only one wrestling in St. Louis after a sixth place finish in the Big Ten. As a high school freshman his parents bought him a ticket for the California State Wrestling Tournament to watch his older brother John wrestle; he didn’t need it to get in as he qualified on his own. While he did not place, Triggas went onto to win a state title and placed three times. As a freshman at Ohio State, he did not need a ticket for nationals either as he again qualified on his own.

Reece Humphrey is the only wrestler on the team to own a win over the number one ranked wrestler this season. He pinned Hofstra sophomore Lou Ruggirello at the 2007 Las Vegas Invitational. With a win in the first round, Humphrey is likely to wrestle his second number one this season if Michigan State sophomore Frank Gomez also advances.

J. Jaggers was the only Ohio State wrestler to finish the last season with a win. He placed seventh at the 2007 NCAA Tournament. At 25-6 this year, Jaggers needs two wins to set a career high after going 26-7 in 2006. His ten pins are a career best and tied with J.D. Bergman for first on the team.

Lance Palmer was one of two true freshmen in college wrestling to earn All-American last season. Ironically, Harvard’s J.P. O’Connor also wrestled at 149 pounds. Both wrestlers return to the same weight class this season with O’Conner holding the third seed and Palmer receiving the ninth.

Jason Johnstone was one of eight unseeded wrestlers to qualify for nationals by placing in the top seven at his weight. Along with Purdue redshirt freshman Luke Manuel; they were the only two unseeded wrestlers to reach the consolation finals. Johnstone placed fourth at 157 pounds and Manuel was third at 165 pounds. To reach the finals Johnstone avenged two regular season losses, while Manuel got his first win at the Big Tens by knocking Ohio State freshman Colt Sponseller out of the tournament.

Mike Pucillo was on a path to meet Jake Varner in the championship quarterfinals of the 2007 NCAA Tournament before getting upset in the second round. As the third seed Pucillo won his first match by fall eventual All-American Josh Arnone. Varner won his first two matches and pinned Arnone in the quartfinals. He beat Minnesota’s Roger Kish in overtime to advance to the finals where he lost a 6-1 decision to Northwestern’s Jake Hebert.

J.D. Bergman is making his fourth-career trip to nationals but will be wrestling his first tournament at heavyweight after three trips at 197 pounds. A two time All-American, Bergman hopes a change of weight classes equals a reversal of fortune. In his first three trips to nationals, he has never won a championship round match at the NCAA Tournament. With the second-seed Bergman is predicted to reach the finals and to do so he will need to get it started with a win.

The Buckeye Bars at the NCAA Wrestling Tournament:

The best finish in Ohio State history at the NCAA tournament was third place tie in 2004.

The Buckeyes recorded additional top ten finishes as a team in 1929 (eighth), 1930 (eighth), 1940 (fourth-T), 1946 (sixth-T), 1951 (sixth-T), 1988 (ninth), 1991 (fourth), 1992 (fifth), 1993 (fifth), 2002 (sixth), and 2007 (tenth).

The 2001 OSU team advanced all ten weight classes to the NCAA Tournament.

The 2003 and 2008 teams qualified seven NCAA Tournament.

Ohio State has qualified at least one wrestler compete at the NCAA tournament for thirty-two consecutive seasons. They have qualified a freshman for the NCAA Tournament for five consecutive years.

The Buckeyes had an all time of five All-Americans in 2004. They had four All Americans in 1991, 1992, 1993, and 2007.

Ohio State has had nine wrestlers win eleven individual national championships and forty-two different wrestlers earn All-American status sixty-one times.

Tommy Rowlands is the only Buckeye to earn All-American status four times. One of ten two time All-Americans in school history, J.D. Bergman can become the fourth OSU wrestler to earn All-American status three times.

Return to the-Ozone Columns and Features

Return to the-OZone Front Page