BRAVO:  Buckeyes Finish 2nd at NCAA’s, Lead by National Champions Jaggers and Pucillo

It was approximately two years ago at this time that Tom Ryan arrived in Columbus.  After building a nationally elite program at Hofstra (that had been near extinction when he took the helm), Ryan was immediately  heralded as the savior of the Ohio State Buckeyes struggling wrestling program. 

He has not disappointed.

For the last two years, it’s been one success after another for Tom Ryan.  First, he compiled an elite staff.  Ryan kept home-state favorite Tommy Rowlands in the fold while adding Joe Heskett and Olympic Coach Lou Rosselli and former Olympic Coach Jim Humphrey as Assistants.  Then, the nation’s #2 recruiting class fell into line as Colt Sponseller, Sean Nemec, Nikko Triggas, and John Weakley all came aboard.  The team experienced an immediate resurgence in his first year, finishing in 10th place at NCAA’s (after back to back 11th place finishes in the Big Ten) with four All-Americans.  That success has culminated in an incredible Runner-up finish at the NCAA’s- finishing behind only the Iowa Hawkeyes (in truth, a combination of two teams as Tom Brands brought Metcalf, Slaton, and Laclere with him from Virginia Tech). Ryan and his staff would no doubt argue that it’s just the beginning. 

Truth be told, there is so much parity in college wrestling right now that this year’s runner-up finish could easily be 8th or 9th place next year with a few injuries or bad breaks (just look at how close the scores were).  Nevertheless, with NCAA Champions J.Jaggers and Mike Pucillo back, along with 2x NCAA All-American Lance Palmer- plus Reece Humphrey (match away from AA), Colt Sponseller having shown he is capable of big things, and Nikko Triggas and Jason Johnstone possible AA contenders next year- if everything fell into place, it’s not out of the question that this team could challenge the Hawkeyes next year in my view.  For that to happen,the Buckeyes will need Jagers and Pucillo to repeat, and Palmer to move up in the insanely loaded 149 lb. weight class (note that he beat runner-up Jenkins this year and came the closest to beating Metcalf of anyone in the nation besides Caldwell).  Furthermore, Sponseller will need to develop into the NCAA Title contender that I envision (with Perry and Tannenbaum graduating), with the lessons learned from this past season (and additional strength training) combined with the hunger to compete he showed in racing out to a 16-0 record; Humphrey will need to move up to the middle “AA” finish that I believe he is capable of and tOSU probably needs to get one more AA out of either Triggas or Jaggers.  Even if all that falls into place, with only Perry and Fields graduating among key performers for the Hawkeyes- a little luck may still be needed. Nevertheless, it cannot be argued -it’s a good time to be a Buckeye Fan!

Jaggers, Pucillo capture NCAA Titles!

I’ve previously made reference this year to just how often the conventional wisdom is turned upside-down in this sport.  A year ago, heading into NCAA’s, many had written off the career of J.Jaggers as all but over.  His record was hovering a little over .500, and frankly, even won he won (struggling against backup 133’s from Ashland and Northwestern) his performances were so dismal that it was almost tough to watch this once-great competitor so completely under-perform.  Theories abounded- he was cutting too much weight, he was out of shaped due to injuries (in hindsight, the best answer), he had lost the passion to compete. So- I was truly stunned when Jaggers turned it around at NCAA’s and became an All-American last year.

I was not, however, stunned that Jaggers won the whole thing this year. After finishing 7th a year ago, Jaggers started slow once again this year- with his loss to Dan Laclere in early January being his fifth of the year- however, even then it was obvious he was performing much better than a year ago.  The Laclere loss seemed to be a catalyst for him to begin fulfilling his enormous potential, and from that point on he was a different wrestler, with big wins down the stretch over Laclere, Kellen Russell, Manny Riveria, Jake Strayer, and Keith Sulzer (versus only a single loss to Riveria at Big Tens).   At NCAA’s, Jaggers won the rubber match with Russell, setting up a rematch with Charles Griffin who had beaten him at National Duals.  Jaggers had already wrestled two wrestlers this year who had beaten him previously (Laclere and Russell) and beaten both, and has long made a habit of avenging losses (including against Ryan Lang, Troy Tirapelle, Josh Zupanic, and Nathan Morgan).  This time was no different.  After scoring a head outside single takedown and yielding an escape, Jaggers shot another single, ducked the middle, and converted it into a nearside cradle that was simply beautiful.  Jaggers then found himself in trouble as Griffin- himself an outstanding mat wrestler and scrambler- locked up a cradle of his own for a reversal.  Only Jaggers flexibility- and the buzzer- saved him from more damage as he completed the first period up 7-3.  Yet another single leg takedown in the third extended his lead to 9-4, and from there he held off a late charge by Griffin for the win.  (OWS Note: you can view this match at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8h77mqmA4U).

In the finals, Jaggers was forced to wrestle an uncharacteristically down-tempo match against the very strong and conservative Chad Mendes of Cal Poly.  With the score tied at 1-1 with under a minute to go in the third, the match came down to one sequence of action (as so many big matches do).  Mendes shot a single and initially appeared to be in good position.  However, Jaggers quickly forced his head outside and put himself into the “crackdown” position.  Having seen Jaggers score from this position so many times- I knew the title was all but his.  Jaggers quickly scooted behind with a leg in, and locked up a tilt from the position to go up 5-1 as he seemed to be on his way to a textbook Jaggers win. 

With the title seemingly in the bag, Mendes captured Jaggers ankle, and yes, he appeared in my view to intentionally ”torque” it, maybe not with the intent to injure, but without a clear scoring technique intended either.  Jaggers fell down in extreme pain and the video replay was gruesome.  However, with under :30 to go, having watched J.Jaggers compete for years, there was little doubt in my mind that Jaggers would tough it out for the win- and that’s exactly what he did, not even allowing a takedown as he prevailed 5-2. 

At this point, with a year to go in the brilliant career of the former Bedford Chanel grappler, J.Jaggers has won everything there is to win short of at the World/Olympic level- four state titles, a Senior National Title, and Junior National Freestyle crown in Fargo, and now an NCAA Championship. 

Like Jaggers, Pucillo has made a mockery of conventional wisdom.  I think back to his junior year, when he was defeated by Cody Butzer in the state finals- the second straight year he had finished as state runner-up.  If someone would have said that this wrestler- with no state titles or noteworthy national achievements to his credit at that point- would become an NCAA Champion just four years later- well, there would have been doubters, to put it mildly.

The next year, Pucillo made the jump from 152 to 189, seemingly not so much from hours in the gym as through frequent helpings of pasta.   However, he would go on to experience more and more success as the season continued- defying all “rules” of the sport (i.e. that you don’t balloon from 152 to 189 in a season and do markedly better).  However, Pucillo followed up beating Hudson Taylor and Patrick Bond (then ranked #1 in the nation) to win Beast of the East by running the table for the rest of the year, including triumphing over one of the toughest fields ever assembled at Senior Nationals (a field so difficult that neither Taylor nor Bond placed).  He capped off that great run by defeating the seemingly-invincible Jake Varner in the finals.  Still, I was not convinced that his success was not some sort of aberration.  Apparently I was not the only one- perhaps the most hotly debated topic in the fall of 2006, some of you may recall, was who was going to emerge as the starter between Pucillo and incumbent Alex Picazo.

Suffice it to say that I was finally on-board when Pucillo began his freshman season (after a year under Ryan at Hofstra) with a dual meet win over Raymond Jordan followed by winning the grueling Las Vegas Open.  Pucillo has never looked back, and far from the flash in the pan I imagined he might be his senior year- you cannot look at his collegiate career and say that he has a single bad loss.  In fact, he has yet to lose to a wrestler that was not an All-American.  Gone is the baby-fat from his senior year- now the sophomore is among the most physically intimidating and powerful wrestlers in the 184 lb. class- and is almost certainly the most relentless competitor. 

Even when Mike Pucillo lost by fall to Tyrel Todd in Vegas, this site maintained that he was a bona-fide NCAA Title contender.   Last year two wrestlers clearly had the edge on him- Jake Herbert and Roger Kish.  With Kish struggling with injuries, and Herbert on Olympic Redshirt- only Todd and Varner seemed to be legitimate threats to him.  My reasoning has been that he was 1-0 versus Varner, and back and forth with Todd, so thus very much in the running.

Much has been made on some sites (i.e. the www.themat.com) about watch a boring match Pucillo had in the finals with Varner.  True- but in Pucillo’s defense, he is generally far from a boring wrestler, but was wrestling possibly the most conservative wrestler in the nation.  Sure, there are many who win with a controlled, even defensive style- but somehow the  previously unbeaten Jake Varner “takes the cake” in my view.   At least most make an occasional feint, or half-shot, or get some motion going…..Varner seems to spend most of the seven minutes with approximately as much movement as a statue (as an aside perhaps the most embarrassing moment for ESPN in the broadcast was when the their commentator compared his style to that of his Coach, Cael Sanderson).

With Varner not even making the pretense he was going to shoot, it was pretty clear that his intention was simply to wait for Mike Pucillo to take one bad shot and then counter.  Therefore, it made little sense for Pucillo to play into his hands- rather, he beat Varner at his own game, and in triple overtime, showed great heart and conditioning to outlast Varner on the strength of more riding time in the last stanza.

Dustin Fox Triumphs over JD Bergman

In an All-Ohio final, JD Bergman and Dustin Fox met for the third time this year, and for the third straight time, Fox- a native of Galion, prevailed over tOSU’s Bergman.    At the end of the day, Bergman- a 197 last year- could simply not solve the riddle of how to score on the Fox, who goes the full 285.  The thing with Fox is that not only does he move very well for a man of his immense size, but he is very disciplined about sticking to his game plan.

That game plan, quite clearly, was not to give the quicker Bergman and angle.  In the first overtime stanza, both wrestlers escaped in their up and down periods, but Fox’s escape came in about two seconds whereas Bergman had to work for a good portion of the period to get his escape.  It was pretty clear that if the match went to triple overtime that Bergman would not emerge the winner.  Bergman seemed to realize this too- and that his chances of winning an NCAA Title hinged on a one minute period to get a takedown.  To his credit, he went down swinging, committing fully to his best shot of the match.  However, Fox was ready, and dropped the full 285 on Bergman.  As Fox sprawled Bergman tried to pull back, but Fox was immediately in on a single which he easily finished for the title. The former 2x state champion has now added an NCAA Title to go with junior national titles in Freestyle and Greco-Roman Wrestling.  I imagine that we will see both of these competitors compete in future years for spots on the World and Olympic Team, very likely joining fellow Ohio native Harry Lester in Greco-Roman.  

Collapse of the Schlatters

There is no way to spin it really.  Perhaps the two best Ohio high school wrestlers of their generation, it is difficult to find a silver lining in the performances of either Dustin or CP Schlatter this weekend.  CP finished 1-2- losing to two wrestlers he had beaten twice beforen(including squandering a four pont lead to Josh Zupanic, formerly of Walsh Jesuit), while Dustin took 7th.  It is indisputable that both competed in two of the toughest weights there were- and both were undeniably slowed by nagging industries but- I think the example of J.Jaggers shows that injuries are something that a determined athlete can work through.  The fact remains there is almost no explanation for why both had NCAA production that they were realistically capable of by their junior year in high school.

By my count, CP Schlatter owns wins over at least eleven NCAA Finalists during either his high school or collegiate career (Michael Poeta, Eric Tannenbaum, Trent Paulson, Craig Henning, Joe Johnston, Gregor Gillespie, Shawn Bunch, Bubba Jenkins, Ben Cherrington, Steve Luke, Alex Tirapelle) while Dustin owns wins over at least nine (Zach Esposito, Gregor Gillespie, Brent Metcalf, Ryan Lang, Eric Tannenbaum, Jordan Leen, Ty Eustice, J.Jaggers, Josh Churella).  Injuries may have played a role, to be sure, but in my view, after a lifetime of national dominance first at the youth and then at the high school level (incredible stat: Dustin Schlatter was never beaten at a National Tournament until his sophomore year in college, a streak spanning six Fargo competitions, Senior Nationals, and NCAA’s his freshman year), when both lost what you might call the “aura of invincibility” that surrounded them (CP during his relatively dismal freshman year that was plagued by an ACL tear and weight class issues, Dustin with the lost to Gillespie at NCAA’s last year), both had trouble psychologically rebounding from their losses and lost some of the drive to compete- almost as if their careers had run out of “momentum”.  Maybe it’s the injuries- this is all speculation on my part- but late-season injuries do not explain CP’s early losses to Chase Pami or Cyler Sanderson, or Dustin’s inexplicable Southern Scuffle loss to Mike Roberts.  This is not to say that they haven’t worked hard or aren’t wrestling hard- but maybe that extra “spark” which is so irreplaceable has gone out, or at least dimmed a bit.

Maybe the injuries played a role, maybe Minnesota hasn’t been a good fit- but the fact is that two years ago- when he was smacking around older superstars like Zach Esposito, Eric Tannenbaum, and Jon Masa- it was inconceivable that Dustin Schlatter would lose to then high school stars like Darrion Caldwell, JP O’Conner, and Lancer Palmer- all highly regarded, but none really even close to Schlatter at the high school level, much less the level he reached his freshman year in college.  He would have beaten any of the above by a major decision at the time.  To me, there is no explanation for why Schlatter has failed to improve between the ages of 19 and 21, and in fact has indisputably gotten worse, other than he was very inspired about competing then, and is not so much now. Hopefully, it’s something that he can regain heading into his senior season. 

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