March 13, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ohio State/Wrestling Contact: Danielle Warner (warner.238@osu.edu/614-209-5994)

NCAA Championships Up Next for Eight Buckeyes

Logan Stieber receives No. 2 seed for national tournament in St. Louis

Ohio State at 2012 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship

Thursday, March 15-Saturday, March 17

Scottrade Center

St. Louis, Mo.

Broadcast: ESPN3, ESPNU and ESPN

Talent:  Tim Johnson, Adam Amin & Anthony Robles (ESPNU and ESPN)

Matside: Quint Kessenich

Jim Gibbons and Shawn Kenney (ESPN3)

2012 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships

(All Times are Eastern)

Thursday, March 15

Session I: Noon

Session II: 7:30 p.m.

Friday, March 16

Session III: 11 a.m.

Session IV: 7 p.m.

Saturday, March 17

Session V: 11 a.m.

Session VI: 7:30 p.m. 

Ohio State Qualifiers

125 – Johnni Dijulius (19-13; 9-7 dual; 4-3 Big Ten) Fr., Aurora, Ohio

133 – No. 2 Logan Stieber (28-2; 15-2 dual; 7-1 Big Ten) R-Fr., Monroeville, Ohio

141 – No. 5 Hunter Stieber (25-4; 13-2 dual; 5-1 Big Ten) Fr., Monroeville, Ohio

149 – No. 10 Cam Tessari (22-9; 11-3 dual; 4-1 Big Ten) Fr., Monroeville, Ohio

157 – Josh Demas (20-13; 9-7 dual; 4-3 Big Ten) R-Fr., Columbus, Ohio

174 – No. 10 Nick Heflin (23-8; 12-4 dual; 5-2 Big Ten) R-So., Massillon, Ohio

197 – Andrew Campolattano (20-12; 10-7 dual; 5-3 Big Ten) Fr., Bound Brook, N.J.

HWT – Peter Capone (14-15; 6-10 dual; 2-6 Big Ten) R-So., Johnson City, N.Y.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Eight Buckeyes will compete at the 2012 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships Thursday-Saturday at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo. Representing Ohio State at the national tournament are Johnni Dijulius (125 pounds), Logan Stieber (133 pounds), Hunter Stieber (141 pounds), Cam Tessari (149 pounds), Josh Demas (157 pounds), Nick Heflin (174 pounds), Andrew Campolattano (197 pounds) and Peter Capone (HWT).

Buckeye Bits

• Ohio State finished the regular season 13-4 overall and the Big Ten regular season with a 5-3 record.

• Redshirt freshman Logan Stieber won the 133-pound Big Ten title as the No. 1 seed March 4 in West Lafayette, Ind. Stieber beat No. 2 seed Tony Ramos of Iowa 5-2 in the final and was later named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. The Monroeville, Ohio, native leads the team with 28 wins vs. two losses and has a squad-leading 14 pins on the season, with his fastest at a time of 43 seconds.

• The Scarlet and Gray collected 91 points en route to a fifth-place finish in the 2012 Big Ten Championships.

• The Buckeyes beat six ranked teams during the season – No. 15 Virginia Tech, 21-12; No. 9 Pittsburgh, 22-9; No. 20 Kent State, 22-15; No. 2 Iowa, 21-9; No. 12 Michigan, 24-13; No. 8 Nebraska, 21-18 (National Duals).

• Amassing 129 points, Ohio State won the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Wrestling Invitational Dec. 2.

• The Scarlet and Gray advanced to the regional final of the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals Mat Mayhem Feb. 12 in Stillwater, Okla. Ohio State faced No. 1 Oklahoma State in the final and dropped a 25-6 decision.

• On average, the Buckeyes started seven freshmen this season, including a pair of redshirt freshmen and five true freshmen.

• Ohio State captured its 700th dual victory Dec. 9 at Pittsburgh.

• Head coach Tom Ryan, who is in his sixth season with the Buckeyes, won his 180th career match Jan. 12 vs. Purdue.

Seeded Buckeyes

Four of the eight Ohio State qualifiers earned a Top 13 seed in the 2012 NCAA Championships. Redshirt freshman Logan Stieber headlines the Buckeye contingent with the No. 2 seed at 133 pounds. Hunter Stieber, a true freshman, is the fifth seed in the 141-pound bracket. Freshman Cam Tessari and redshirt sophomore Nick Heflin were seeded 10th at 149 and 174 pounds, respectively.

At-Large Selections

Freshman Johnni Dijulius was an at-large selection to the 2012 NCAA Championships at 125 pounds. Dijulius will begin the tournament with a 19-13 overall record.

Automatic Qualifiers

Following the Big Ten championships March 3-4, seven Buckeyes automatically qualified for the 2012 NCAA Championships based on the Big Ten Conference’s qualifier allocations. Logan Stieber, Hunter Stieber, Cam Tessari, Josh Demas, Nick Heflin, Andrew Campolattano and Peter Capone earned automatic bids.

Ohio State NCAA Qualifiers

Wt.      Big Ten Allocation             Buckeye/Big Ten Finish 

133       7                                                Logan Stieber/1st

141       5                                                Hunter Stieber/3rd

149       9                                                Cam Tessari/5th

157       6                                                Josh Demas/6th

174       9                                                Nick Heflin/6th

197       7                                                Andrew Campolattano/4th

HWT    10                                             Peter Capone/10th

             

Broadcast Alert

The ESPN family networks will provide more than 50 hours of live full NCAA championships coverage across multiple platforms, including exclusive four-mat viewing on ESPN3. Two of the four quarterfinals, as well as the semifinals, will be televised on ESPNU in a side-by-side format. ESPNU also will air the championships medal rounds and the championships finals will be broadcast live on ESPN.

Date                    Time (ET)         Championship Round                            Network

March 15           Noon                 First Round (Session 1)                         ESPN3

                              7:30 p.m.         Second Round (Session 2)                   ESPN3

March 16           11 a.m.             Quarterfinals (Session 3)                     ESPNU/ESPN3

                              7 p.m.               Semifinals (Session 4)                           ESPNU/ESPN3

March 17           11 a.m.             Medal Round (Session 5)                     ESPNU/ESPN3

                              7:30 p.m.         Final (Session 6)                                       ESPN/ ESPN3

   

Ohio State at the NCAA Championships

Ohio State’s best performances as a team at the NCAA championships were back-to-back runner-up finishes in 2008 and 2009. Backed by three finalists and two national champions in J Jaggers (141 pounds) and Mike Pucillo (184 pounds), the Buckeyes earned their highest placing at nationals in program history in 2008. J.D. Bergman was the heavyweight runner-up.  

In 2009, the Scarlet and Gray were 4.5 points short of winning the title, as Iowa edged Ohio State 96.5-92. Jaggers became Ohio State’s first two-time titlist since Tommy Rowlands in 2002 and 2004 and third overall (Kevin Randleman in 1992 and 1993). Reece Humphrey and Mike Pucillo were the 133 and 184-pound runners-up, respectively. 

Individually Speaking

Individually, 11 Buckeyes have been crowned NCAA champions 14 times. Kevin Randleman (1992 and 1993), Tommy Rowlands (2002 and 2004) and current assistant coach J Jaggers (2008 and 2009) were two-time champions.

Seventy-three Ohio State wrestlers have earned All-America honors. Rowlands and Lance Palmer (2007-10) are the only Buckeye four-time All-Americans. Under head coach Tom Ryan, seven Buckeyes have been honored with All-America laurels 16 times.

Big Ten Champion Logan Stieber

 Redshirt freshman Logan Stieber was crowned the 2012 Big Ten Champion at 133 pounds March 4 at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. The No. 1 seed, Stieber's team-leading 28th win on the season was a 5-2 decision over No. 2 seed Tony Ramos of Iowa.

“I just relaxed out there,” Stieber, the 2012 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, said. “He took me down early, but I stayed in my offense. It was a tough match, but it was fun.”

Despite giving up the early takedown, Stieber, a native of Monroeville, Ohio, recorded four unanswered points via a pair of escapes and a takedown in the victory. Stieber also compiled a riding time advantage of 1:30. Stieber becomes Ohio State’s 35th Big Ten champion and first since 2010 when Lance Palmer won the 149-pound title.

As a team, Ohio State finished 5th with 91 points. Hunter Stieber, the younger brother of Logan, placed third in the 141-pound bracket. A quartet of Buckeyes finished in the Top 6 of their respective weight classes, including a fourth-place standing by freshman Andrew Campolattano at 197 pounds. Cam Tessari was fifth in the 149-pound bracket, while Josh Demas (157 pounds) and Nick Heflin (174 pounds) placed sixth.

 

Marathon Match

Cam Tessari’s match vs. No. 2-seed Eric Grajales of Michigan in the 149-pound consolation semifinals of the Big Ten Championships was the event’s longest bout. Tessari, the No. 5 seed, dropped a 3-2 decision in four tiebreakers. 

Stieber Wins

Redshirt freshman Logan Stieber, the 2012 Big Ten Champion at 133 pounds, has a team-best 28-2 record entering the NCAA championships. Stieber’s two setbacks were vs. Minnesota’s Chris Dardanes 5-3 Jan. 8 and Oklahoma State’s Jordan Oliver 7-3 Feb. 12 in the Cliff Keen National Duals.

Big Ten Wrestlers of the Week

This season, two Buckeyes in Logan and Hunter Stieber were awarded Big Ten Wrestler of the Week honors four times. Logan was first named WOW back in November after finishing first at 133 pounds in the Eastern Michigan Open. The redshirt freshman from Monroeville, Ohio, was again honored Dec. 6 after posting a perfect 5-0 record at the CKLV Invitational. Logan’s third WOW laurel came Jan. 17 after he downed No. 8 Cashé Quiroga of Purdue en route to Ohio State’s 27-10 win in Columbus. Hunter earned Big Ten Wrestler of the Week accolades following his 4-2 win over No. 3 Montell Marion of Iowa Jan. 20. Hunter’s win helped the Buckeyes upset the Hawkeyes 21-9 in Columbus.

2011-12 Ohio State B1G WOW

Nov. 8: Logan Stieber

Dec. 6: Tony Ramos, So., IOWA; Logan Stieber

Jan. 17: Logan Stieber; Ed Ruth, So., PSU

Jan. 24: Hunter Stieber

In the Records Book

Freshman Andrew Campolattano’s 18-second pin over Michigan’s Chris Heald Feb. 3 is the fourth-fastest time in Ohio State wrestling history. Kevin Randleman holds the record with an eight-second pin in 1992. 

In 1966

Behind seven wins, No. 7 Ohio State downed No. 2 Iowa 21-9 Jan. 20 in front of 5,684 fans in St. John Arena. The Buckeyes handed the Hawkeyes their first conference loss of the season.

“It’s great,” Tom Ryan, head coach, said. “These guys put so much time into what they do. They have six o’clock mornings, they have eight hours of sleep and studying. They have so many things going on in their lives, this was great. It was about time we beat them.”

The last Buckeye victory against the Hawkeyes came Feb. 12, 1966, 46 seasons ago. The last time OSU beat Iowa in wrestling, a gallon of gas cost 32 cents and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” debuted on TV.

Complete 180 – Head Coach Tom Ryan

Buckeye head coach Tom Ryan recorded his 180th-career win Jan. 12 vs. Purdue. Ryan, who has been a head coach for 17 seasons, also has 76 victories as the head coach at Ohio State in six seasons. For his career, Ryan is 185-113-1 and at Ohio State, he is 76-29.

Victory No. 700

Ohio State captured its 700th dual victory Dec. 9 at Pittsburgh. The Buckeyes entered the 2011-12 season with a 695-492-28 all-time dual record. Adding eight more victories since the win at Pittsburgh, the Scarlet and Gray are now 708-496-28 all-time.

Tough Schedule

The Buckeyes faced nine ranked opponents during the 2011-12 season and posted a 6-3 record. Ohio State recorded wins against No. No. 15 Virginia Tech, 21-12; No. 9 Pittsburgh, 22-9; No. 20 Kent State, 22-15; No. 2 Iowa, 21-9; No. 12 Michigan, 24-13 and 8 Nebraska, 21-18 (National Duals). Setbacks included losses to No. 14 Nebraska, 18-16; No. 3 Minnesota, 24-13 and No. 1 Oklahoma State, 25-6 (National Duals).

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