Wrestling
Buckeyes Wrestlers Fall Just Short of National Championship
Jaggers Repeats as National Champion at 141, Ryan named Coach of the Year, Rosselli named Assistant Coach of the Year
By John Porentas
The Ohio State wrestling team concluded its season with an outstanding showing in the NCAA tournament, coming within a whisker of winning the team national championship.The Buckeyes ended the competition with 92 points, just behind repeat-champion Iowa with 96.5 in one of the closest finishes in NCAA wrestling tournament history. Iowa State finished third with 84.5 points while Nebraska and Cornell finished fourth and fifth with 78.5 and 73.5 points respectively.
The NCAA championship event drew a record 97,111 spectators over the six sessions in St. Louis Missouri.
The Buckeyes were paced by 141 pound senior J Jaggers who became just the third wrestler in OSU history to be a two-time national champion. Jaggers defeated No. 8 Ryan Williams 10-4 in the championship match to claim his second national title in as many years. Jaggers posted an overall record of 28-7 this season and a career record of 108-33 while at Ohio State.
The only other Buckeyes to win two national titles are heavyweight Tommy Rolands who won national championships in 2002 and 2004 and 177 pounder Kevin Randleman who won titles in 1992 and 1993.
OSU qualified two other wrestlers for the championship round, 133 pounder Reece Humphrey and defending national champion Dave Pucillo at 184.
In a repeat of the Big Ten championship match, No. 2-seed Humphrey, a junior, was narrowly defeated by Michigan State's Franklin Gomez who was the number one seed in the weight class. Neither wrestler scored in the first period but Humphrey fell behind 5-2 in the second. He rallied to close to 5-4 in the final stanza before running out time in his comeback bid in the match. Gomez defeated Humprey by one point in the Big Ten final as well. Humprey earned All-American recognition with his second place finish and finished the year with a record of 30-4.
Junior Mike Pucillo also reached the title match but fell just short, losing 6-3 to Northwestern's Jake Herbert. Herbert won the title two years ago but received an Olympic redshirt last year to ready himself for Olympic competition. Herbert compiled a record of 34-0 this season and was the number one seed in the weight class despite the return of Pucillo who prevailed as national champion last year. Pucillo finished his season with an outstanding 23-2 record and earned All-American honors for his second place finish.
Ohio State 149 pounder Lance Palmer also was named an All-American by virtue of his fourth place finish.
The top eight finishers in each weight class are designated All-Americans.
Following the NCAA tournament Ohio State head coach Tom Ryan was named the national coach of the year while assistant coach Lou Rosselli was named the national assistant coach of the year. The Buckeyes posted a team record of 16-2 overall and a Big Ten record of 7-1.
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