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No. 20 Buckeyes send most wrestlers to nationals since 2002-03


Flowrestling
March 12, 2007
Six Wrestlers Make a Bid for All-America Status at 2007 NCAA Championships

No. 20 Buckeyes send most wrestlers to nationals since 2002-03

COLUMBUS, Ohio - In his inaugural season as head coach of the No. 20 Ohio State wrestling team, Tom Ryan will coach six Buckeyes at the 2007 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships Thursday-Saturday in the Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Mich.

Representing the Scarlet and Gray are T.J. Enright (133), J Jaggers (141), Lance Palmer (149), Chris Vondruska (165), Mike Pucillo (184) and J.D. Bergman (197).



2007 NCAA Championships Qualifiers

133 ? T.J. Enright (13-8: 4-4 Big Ten)

141 ? J Jaggers (16-8; 5-3 Big Ten)

149 ? Lance Palmer (30-13: 7-1 Big Ten)

165 ? Chris Vondruska (30-14; 4-4 Big Ten)

184 ? Mike Pucillo (21-2; 7-1 Big Ten)

197 ? J.D. Bergman (22-7; 5-3 Big Ten)



HOW TO GET THERE

Tickets to the 2007 NCAA championships are sold in three-day, six-session packages only. Prices are $150, $130 and $120. To order tickets, call the Palace of Auburn Hills box office at 248-377-0100.

Prices include on-site parking and unlimited readmittance.



EXPANDED COVERAGE

The NCAA and ESPN announced in October expanded live television coverage of the 2007 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.

For the first time, in the 77-year history of the Division I Wrestling Championships, the Saturday morning medal round will be televised. Scheduled for 10 a.m. EST March 17 on ESPNU, the championships medal round determines the third through eighth-place finishers who are honored as All-Americans.

LIVE RESULTS

Live results will be available on ncaasports.com.

IT?S GOOD TO BE BACK

T.J. Enright and J.D. Bergman will return to the national championships after a one-year hiatus. Enright, who wrestled at 141 pounds last season, did not place at the Big Ten championships last year, while Bergman was forced to take a medical redshirt in 2005-06.

In 2005, Enright finished sixth in the conference championships at 133 pounds to qualify for the national event as a freshman. Bergman also was an NCAA qualifier at 197 pounds in 2005, a year removed from earning All-America status with a third-place finish at nationals in 2004.

FIRST TIMERS

A pair of freshmen in Lance Palmer and Mike Pucillo will get their first glimpse of the NCAA championships after placing in the Top 7 at the Big Ten championships. Palmer finished third at 149 pounds, while Pucillo was sixth at 184 pounds.

THIRTY-SOMETHINGS

So far, Lance Palmer and Chris Vondruska have registered 30 wins on the year. Palmer owns a 30-13 record and Vondruska is 30-14.



TWENTY-SOMETHINGS

J.D. Bergman and Mike Pucillo have tallied more than 20 wins this season. Bergman has 22 victories to his credit (seven losses) and Pucillo is 21-2.



DROP IT LIKE IT?S HOT

J Jaggers recorded the fastest fall time at the 2007 Big Ten Championships. Jaggers dropped Purdue?s Nick Bertucci in 25 seconds in the second round consolation.

SECOND TIME AROUND

After qualifying and missing the NCAA championships because of a knee injury last season, J Jaggers will seek his first All-America honor during the three-day event this year.

ALMOST PERFECT

Mike Pucillo owns the highest winning percentage on the team (.950). His mark stands at 21-2, with losses against the Nos. 1 and 2 wrestlers in the nation.

SAME OLD SONG

For Chris Vondruska, it does not matter where he wrestles because for the second-consecutive season he qualified for the NCAA championships. Last year, the Lakewood, Ohio, native won the 165-pound weight class in the Colonial Athletic Association championships and this season he finished fifth in the Big Ten championships.

AND THEN THERE WERE THREE

Lance Palmer is the first freshman to place in the Top 3 of the Big Ten championships for Ohio State since Ryan Hieber (174 pounds) and assistant Tommy Rowlands (HWT) finished second and third, respectively, in 2001.

HITTING HIS STRIDE

After finishing third in the Big Ten championships, Lance Palmer now has won 13 of his last 16 matches. Going into the conference championships, Palmer had won six-consecutive bouts and extended that streak to eight when he won his first two match-ups in East Lansing. Palmer?s lone loss at the Big Ten event was against the No. 2 seed and third-ranked Josh Churella of Michigan in a close 3-2 decision.

JUST SO YOU KNOW

J.D. Bergman defeated the No. 1 seed and Big Ten defending champion Philip Davis of Penn State, 6-4, in the semifinal of the conference championships. Philips also was a two-time NCAA finalist at 197 pounds.

THE MORE THE MERRIER

Ohio State?s six qualifiers to the NCAA championships are the most for the Buckeyes since the 2002-03 season. During that campaign, OSU sent seven wrestlers to the national event, including assistant coach Tommy Rowlands.

For the first and only time in program history, the Scarlet and Gray advanced all 10 weight classes to nationals in 2001.

CAN WE SAY 63?

With its six NCAA qualifiers, Ohio State will seek its 63rd All-America selection, while thirty-nine OSU wrestlers have earned the coveted honor. The Buckeyes have nine two-time All-Americans, three three-time All-Americans and Tommy Rowlands is the only four-time Buckeye All-American (2001-2004).

NCAA HISTORY

The Buckeyes had their best finish at the national championships in 2004 when they tied for third with 77.5 points.

During its run in 2004, Ohio State sent five Buckeyes to nationals and all five placed in the Top 8. Tommy Rowlands led the contingent, capturing his second national title at heavyweight. As a freshman, J.D. Bergman finished third at 197 pounds. After dropping his first bout, Bergman preceded to win seven-consecutive matches, including recording a pair of falls in the first and second round consolations. John Clark and Blake Kaplan earned fifth-place finishes at 165 and 184 pounds, respectively, and Jeff Ratliff was eighth at 149 pounds.

Ohio State has 11 national champions, most recently two-time NCAA champion Rowlands at heavyweight (2002 and 2004).

A STEP BACK IN TIME ? 2007 BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Ohio State qualified six wrestlers to nationals at the conclusion of the Big Ten championships March 3-4 at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Mich. Leading the OSU contingent was 197-pounder J.D. Bergman, who finished second. In his debut at the league event, Lance Palmer executed a third-place showing as a freshman at 133 pounds. Competing at 165 pounds, Chris Vondruska was fifth in his first Big Ten championships. Vondruska wrestled at Hofstra from 2002-2006. T.J. Enright and Mike Pucillo finished sixth after both wrestlers were forced to take medical forfeits. J Jaggers qualified for his second-consecutive national championships after he finished seventh.

As a team, the Buckeyes finished ninth with 68.5 points.

ONLY THE BEST

Ohio State owned one of the toughest schedules in the Big Ten Conference, taking on nine teams that were ranked in the Top 25 of the USA Today/InterMat/NWCA poll. At the time of competition, five of the Buckeyes? opponents were in the Top 10 (Missouri-No. 3, Illinois- No. 7, Cornell-No. 9, Iowa-No. 10 and Northwestern-No. 10).

NOT TO BE OVERLOOKED

Ohio State defeated its third-consecutive ranked opponent after beating then-No. 10 Northwestern, 18-16, Feb. 4 and its fourth overall. Prior to the upset over the Wildcats, the Buckeyes bettered No. 19 Michigan State, 19-14, (Feb. 2), No. 16 Indiana, 19-14, (Jan. 28) and No. 9 Cornell, 18-17, (Nov. 26).

MAKE IT 110

Tom Ryan earned his 110th career victory with the Buckeyes? 18-17 win over Cornell Nov. 26. Ryan gathered his first win as the head coach of the Scarlet and Gray, while his other 109 wins came at Hofstra, where he was the head coach for 11 seasons. Ryan?s career record is 117-90-1.

BUCKEYES IN THE STANDINGS

In the latest edition of the USA Today/InterMat/NWCA Coaches? Poll (Feb. 20), four Buckeyes are ranked in the Top 20. At 149 pounds, Lance Palmer is 16th and at 165 pounds, Chris Vondruska is 17th. Mike Pucillo continues to hold down the No. 3 spot at 184 pounds, while classmate J.D. Bergman No. 10 at 197 pounds.

CONFERENCE LAURELS

Mike Pucillo and T.J. Enright earned Big Ten Wrestler of the Week honors during the regular season. Pucillo was the first OSU honoree (Dec. 4), capturing the award after finishing first in the 184-pound division at the 25th annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Dec. 1-2. A redshirt freshman who transferred from Hofstra, Pucillo defeated Top 4 opponents Raymond Jordan of Missouri (No. 4) and Tyrel Todd of Michigan (No. 3) in the semifinal and championship bouts en route to the title.

Enright garnered the laurel Feb. 5 after producing one of the more memorable wins of his collegiate career. Enright (133) began the weekend with a 4-2 sudden victory over No. 1 Nick Simmons of Michigan State in Columbus, Ohio, to help propel the Buckeyes to a 19-14 upset over the No. 10 Spartans. He again was at the center of a dramatic win for OSU, as he defeated Eric Metzler of Northwestern, 7-2, to pull the Scarlet and Gray within one point (16-15) with one match left at 141 pounds. Classmate J Jaggers won a 7-5 decision and the Buckeyes rallied for the 18-16 win over the No. 10 Wildcats in Lakewood, Ohio.

LAS VEGAS INVITATIONAL CHAMPION

Redshirt-freshman Mike Pucillo won the 184-weight class at the 25th annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Dec. 1-2 in Primm, Nev. Pucillo recorded two major decisions and a fall en route to the semifinal where he defeated No. 4 Raymond Jordan of Missouri, 3-1. In the championship bout against Michigan?s and No. 3 Tyrel Todd, Pucillo notched a 12-6 victory for the title.

Pucillo became the first Buckeye to win a title at the event since assistant coach Tommy Rowlands won in 2003 at heavyweight.

BERGMAN FINISHES SECOND AT SCUFFLE

J.D. Bergman captured a second-place finish at the 2006 Southern Scuffle in Greensboro, N.C., Dec. 29-30, 2006. Bergman, who wrestled at 197 pounds, had an impressive outing on day one of the event, recording two falls and a major decision en route to the quarterfinals. The following day, Bergman notched a decision to advance to the semifinals where he was slated to meet No. 2 seed and nationally No. 2-ranked Jerry Rinaldi of Cornell. However, Rinaldi was forced to take a medical forfeit and that set up a rematch between Bergman and No. 1 seed and top ranked Max Askren of Missouri. After leading 2-1 going into the third period, Askren pinned Bergman in 5:48.

UPSET CITY, BABY!

T.J. Enright was no stranger to upsetting top-ranked wrestlers when he beat No. 1 Nick Simmons of Michigan State, 4-2, in sudden victory Feb. 2. During his freshman campaign in 2004-05, Enright defeated then-No. 4 Sam Hiatt of Northern Illinois in the Michigan State Open (Nov. 21, 2004) and in Big Ten Conference dual action in 2005, he upset then-No. 3 Mack Reiter of Minnesota (Feb. 13, 2005).

Junior J.D. Bergman continued the upset trend during the weekend against Northwestern when he beat second-ranked Mike Tamillow at 197 pounds, 4-2.

Lance Palmer followed those two acts with an impressive win of his own over No. 2 Josh Churella (6-4 2TB) of Michigan Feb. 11.

GOING DOWN TO THE WIRE

For the second time in his OSU career, T.J. Enright produced the winning points for Ohio State in the final bout. With the Buckeyes down, 17-15, against No. 9 Cornell going into the concluding match at 133 pounds, Enright tallied a 5-3 decision over Nick Bridge to give Ohio State the 18-17 victory. It was nearly the same scenario for Enright and the Buckeyes during the 2004-05 season. Enright recorded a 7-2 win over Bloomsburg?s Joe Hassenman to lift the Scarlet and Gray over the Huskies by the same 18-17 margin at the Buckeye Duals in St. John Arena.

Classmate J Jaggers? 7-5 win over Northwestern?s James Kohlberg in the deciding match at 141 pounds completed Ohio State?s rally for the 18-16 victory over the 10th-ranked Wildcats.

WE?RE GOING STREAKING

Chris Vondruska tallied a nine-match win streak from Dec. 17, 2006-Feb. 2, 2007. In that period, Vondruska knocked off 14th-ranked Max Dean of Indiana, 2-1, in overtime.

J Jaggers owned a six-match win streak from Jan. 14-28, defeating three conference and nonconference rivals. During that span, Jaggers recorded two major decisions and a fall en route to a 12-3 overall record.

Lance Palmer completed the regular season on a six-match win streak, finishing with a 26-11 overall record.

JUST A NUMBER

Redshirt freshman Mike Pucillo (184) has faced eight ranked opponents in 2006-07 and has compiled a 7-1 record against his Top 20 rivals. Pucillo began the season with a 16-0 record before losing his first match to No. 1 Jake Herbert of Northwestern Feb. 4.

In dual action, seven of J.D. Bergman?s 15 opponents were ranked in the Top 20. He went up against five ranked wrestlers in January and February and overall finished with a 9-3 record in those two months.

CLEVELAND?S CELEBRATED CELEBRITY

Freshman Lance Palmer was a finalist for the 2005-06 Cleveland Outstanding High School Athlete Award, which was presented at the fifth annual Greater Cleveland Sports Awards, created by The Greater Cleveland Sports Commission (GCSC), Jan. 29 at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel, Grand Ballroom.

Palmer, who compiled a regular-season record of 26-12 during his freshman campaign, was a four-time Ohio high school national champion from 2003-2006. During his senior year, Palmer helped lead St. Edward High School to its 10th-consecutive team title at the Ohio High School Athletic Association wrestling tournament at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio. A two-time Most Valuable Wrestler for the Eagles, Palmer compiled a high school career record of 150-6 and was considered the No. 1 recruit nationally by several wrestling media publications.

ROSSELLI TO COACH U.S. FREESTYLE WORLD TEAM

Assistant coach Lou Rosselli was selected as a U.S. Freestyle World Team Coach for the 2007 World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 17-23. Rosselli will join USA Wrestling National Freestyle Coach Kevin Jackson of Colorado, Springs, Colo., and Kerry McCoy, who is the head coach at Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif.

?It is always exciting to get the opportunity to work with the best athletes and coaches in the nation,? Rosselli said. ?Hopefully we can improve on last year when we won four medals and were close to winning as a team. We will work together to again put ourselves in the position to win. As our weight classes become deeper, it will help our effort. If it is difficult to make the U.S. team, then the No. 1 athletes go up to a higher level. We have the guys to get the job done. We have the talent to do what we need to do. Our athletes train hard and I am excited to work with them once again.?

As a world team coach in 2006, Rosselli helped guide the freestyle squad to a third-place finish, while coaching four individual medalists, including world champion Bill Zadick. Rosselli also was the assistant coach of the 2005 U.S. World Team at the World University Games, which placed third in the team standings and had three individual gold medalists, including fellow Buckeye assistant Tommy Rowlands.

ASSISTANT COACHES TAKE GOLD

Ohio State wrestling assistant coaches Joe Heskett and Tommy Rowlands claimed titles at the Henri Deglane Challenge in Nice, France, and the American Airlines/New York AC Holiday International in New York, respectively, at the end of November.

In his first season as the volunteer assistant coach for the Buckeyes, Heskett defeated 2000 Olympic silver medalist and 2006 Russian National Champion Arsen Gitinov in the championship match to win the gold medal at 74kg/163 pounds in the freestyle competition at the Nov. 24-25 tournament. For his efforts, Heskett was named TheMat.com Athlete of the Week for the week of Nov. 21.

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