By Roger Moore
STILLWATER NEWSPRESS (STILLWATER, Okla.)
STILLWATER, Okla. ”
When the 2005-06 college wrestling season started, many felt Oklahoma State’s run to a fourth-straight NCAA Championship would have very few bumps in the road.
With four returning individual champions and no team on the landscape with the ability to score a bundle of tournament points, wrestling rooms around the country echoed of the impending dominance of the Cowboys.
Oklahoma State’s perspective was and is a bit different entering next week’s NCAA Championships inside the Ford Center.
“People are always looking at that top spot … working harder to be that team or that person,” said OSU senior Jake Rosholt, a two-time NCAA champion. “I think some of the success and failures of this team this year have come from having so much pressure put on us of trying to live up to that hype. We are expected to go out and dominate everybody, but this is a tough sport … everybody gets better when they put the work in.
“I think (Coach John Smith) knew before any of us that this season was going to be harder than ever before. We set such a high standard that if we aren’t almost perfect then people will wonder ‘what’s wrong?'”
After winning the NCAA title in 1994, O-State watched Iowa and Minnesota celebrate at the end of the season for the next eight years. The Gophers ended Iowa’s run in 2001 and backed that up with another title in 2002.
But since the beginning of the 2002-03 campaign, Oklahoma State has returned to the top spot in the sport.
At the 2003 championships, OSU outdistanced second place Minnesota by 38 1/2 points. A year later, the Hawkeyes were a distant second by 41 1/2 points. And in St. Louis last March, the Cowboys won by 70 points over Michigan.
In dual meets over that same span, OSU compiled 55-2 record.
This season’s squad had to replace two-time 174-pound NCAA champion Chris Pendleton, but the nine wrestlers who returned had plenty of experience.
Game. Set. Match. Right?
“This year, as a team and as an individual, has been tough … it wasn’t exactly what we expected,” said senior Zack Esposito, the defending champ at 149 pounds. “Teams have developed styles to try and beat us. They’ve really tried to force us into making mistakes, sometimes taking advantage of our aggressive style.
“It’s kind of like facing Muhammad Ali in a boxing match. You have to do whatever you can to slow him down, maybe use a strategy that you don’t normally use to win a match.
“But there are a lot of guys, especially (at 149), that are just tough.”
Winning that fourth team title might not be as easy as many anticipated. But long before a 16-2 dual record ” both losses coming to Minnesota ” most inside the program already knew that.
Wrestling begins next Thursday.
Roger Moore writes for Stillwater (Okla.) NewsPress.
NCAA wrestle notes
Adversity?
“If you are a returning champ, you expect to go undefeated that next season and dominate everybody,” said OSU head coach John Smith. “That’s not always the way that it works. I’ve had to do some extra one-on-one sitdowns with this team, but I knew it was going to be a tough year with the expectations put on us.
“That is what we like and if it wasn’t like that at Oklahoma State then something would be wrong.”
Most teams would certainly take this kind of adversity:
“¢ Esposito, coming off his third Big 12 title, is 22-3 and takes a 115-11 career mark into his final collegiate tournament.
“¢ Rosholt, a three-time All-American, is 22-4 and coming off a loss in the Big 12 finals to Nebraska’s BJ Padden. Rosholt has won just one conference crown but is 15-1 in NCAA Tournament competition.
“¢ Senior Steve Mocco took an 85-match win streak into the National Duals in January. Since, he has lost two bouts to Minnesota’s Cole Konrad and takes a 23-2 record into the NCAAs where he is a two-time champ and three-time finalist.
“¢ When the season started, there was a four-way battle for the 184-pound spot. Senior Rusty Blackmon (17-14) earned the job and qualified for his second NCAA tourney with a bronze medal at the Big 12s.
The challengers
“¢ No. 1 on the list is Minnesota (20-1). The Gophers, fourth last season with six freshmen in the lineup, own two dual wins over OSU and were the Big Ten champs for the fifth time in eight seasons. UM qualified eight for OKC, led by undefeated freshman Dustin Schlatter (149) and heavyweight Cole Konrad, also unbeaten.
Roger Kish, also a conference champ, is among a wide-open field at 184, while CP Schlatter beat Illinois’ Alex Tirapelle in the 157-pound league finals.
“¢ Although Illinois went 0-5 in Big Ten finals last weekend, the Illini qualified all 10 athletes. Freshman Troy Tirapelle beat Michigan’s Eric Tannenbaum, Wisconsin’s Troy Turner and Iowa’s Ty Eustice before losing to Schlatter in the 149-pound Big Ten final.
125-pounder Kyle Ott is a two-time NCAA finalist, while freshman Mike Poeta (165), senior Pete Freidl (184) and Alex Tirapelle are all possible point-getters.
“¢ Michigan gave Minnesota its only loss this season and has All-Americans Josh (141) and Ryan Churella (165). The 165-pound Churella is unbeaten. Heavyweight Greg Wagner lost in overtime to Konrad in the Big Ten final, while freshman 157-pounder Steve Luke is dangerous.
“¢ Oklahoma wouldn’t appear to be a title contender, but when you have two-time All-American Sam Hazewinkel (125), two-time champ Teyon Ware (141), All-Americans Matt Storniolo (149) and Joel Flaggert (197), plus Jake Hager (285), you can score a lot of points in a tournament.
Ones to watch
“¢ Penn State went 13-4 in duals and finished the season ranked 10th. But the Nittany Lions, barely inside the top 25 at the 2005 NCAAs, qualified eight wrestlers for OKC and it wouldn’t be a shock if all eight earned All-America status.
The Lions are: Jake Strayer (133), DeWitt Driscoll (141), James Woodall (149), Nathan Galloway (157), David Erwin (165), James Yonushonis (174), Eric Bradley (184) and Philip Davis (197).
“¢ Although Iowa State finished fourth at the Big 12s, the Cyclones have the ability to score plenty of points with senior Nate Gallick (141), Trent (157) and Travis Paulson (165) and Kurt Backes (184). Three of the four could be national champions.
“¢ The Central Michigan Chippewas could surprise with a top-eight finish. Mark DiSalvo (149) and Wynn Michalak (197) are both title contenders.
The Hawkeyes?
Iowa finished its dual season at 11-7 and the sixth-place finish at the Big Tens was its worst since 1969. However, the Hawks still qualified eight for OKC with Eustice (149), 2005 runner-ups Joe Johnson (157) and Mark Perry (174) and two-time All-American Paul Bradley (184) all capable of wrestling deep into the tournament.
Iowa was seventh a year ago and hasn’t won a title since 2000.
” compiled by Roger Moore
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