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Wrestling
Logan Stieber: Latest Sign in an Emerging Trend
By Kevin Schlosser

With some great OSU teams in the early nineties; three top-five team finishes made the Buckeyes the up-and-coming team of the day. Somewhere along the line that momentum was lost and the team dropped out of the top-ten, then the top-twenty, and into the thirties. What wasn’t lost was Tommy Rowlands watching those teams and growing up an Ohio State wrestling fan. When he committed to OSU as a member of the class of 2000; the Buckeyes were back on the rise.

As a two-time national champion Rowlands led the Buckeyes to sixteenth, sixth, fifteenth, and third place team finishes at the NCAA Tournament between 2001 and 2004. In the process of becoming the first four-time All American in school history; Rowlands became a role model and inspiration to the youth wrestlers of Ohio. To keep the momentum going, the Buckeyes signed one of the top recruiting classes in the country and Rowlands joined the coaching staff to show them the way.

J.D. Bergman picked up the torch from Rowlands when he placed third at the 2004 NCAA Tournament as a true freshman. Injuries and missed opportunities characterized the next two seasons for the Buckeyes; Bergman would remain a bright spot. In becoming the fifth three-time All-American at OSU, Bergman reached the finals of the 2008 NCAA Tournament to lead Ohio State to a team high second place finish. Like Rowlands, Bergman plans on staying at OSU.

National champion J. Jaggers picked up the torch from Bergman last season. As a senior this year he will try to match Rowlands two titles and looks to join Bergman as a three-time All American. Just like Rowlands and Bergman before him, Jaggers will pass the torch next season and remain with the program. Two-time All-Americans Lance Palmer and Mike Pucillo will lead the team as seniors in 2009 and will pass the torch on to the next generation.

“There is a buzz around the state that has never been there before and that is important to us as a program,” said J. Jaggers after the NCAA Tournament. “This weekend shows that you can win a title at Ohio State.”

“I came to Ohio State to help build the team into a national title contender,” commented Palmer upon arriving at OSU. “I want all the great wrestlers in Ohio to wrestle at Ohio State.”

With hungry wrestlers like Nikko Triggas, Will Livingston, Sean Nemec, Colt Sponseller, and John Weakley already in the room and incoming recruits like Tony Jameson, Cody “C.J.” Magrum, and John Hiles; there will be no shortage of wrestlers to carry on the momentum. Wrestlers like J. Jaggers, Lance Palmer, and Logan Stieber could have named their college; they chose Ohio State and that means something.

“I wasn’t really thinking about any other colleges. It has been my dream to go to Ohio State since I was a little kid,” commented Magrum. “When you get a stud like Logan Stieber to verbal already; kids from all over are going to say if he is going there I want to go there. It is going to start a chain reaction and hopefully all the studs want to join us here.”

There is now a new generation of in-state wrestlers that have grown up watching their idols achieve their goals at Ohio State. Some of the best have made the choice to join the coaching staff. The next generation of Ohio wrestlers has grown up with the Buckeyes in all sports and that makes a difference.

“I grew up a Buckeye football and wrestling fan my entire life. I have always wanted to go Ohio State,” said John Hiles at the 2008 NCAA Tournament. “As Ohio wrestlers we all want to be a part of Ohio State winning a team national championship.”

Tom Ryan’s goal was to build the Ohio State program into a college wrestling power. That has been accomplished by the hard work of the coaching staff he brought in and retained, the wrestlers he inherited, the wrestlers he has recruited, and the fan base he has awoken. Russ Hellickson had the same goals as the head coach and shares in the success by the new staff. Everyone can come together and be pleased with where the program is at because what is happening now was decades in the making.

The Buckeyes have had recent All-Americans like J.D. Bergman, Tommy Rowlands, Keaton Anderson, Jeff Ratliff, Blake Kaplan, and Kirk Nail. Wrestlers like Nikko Triggas, Reece Humphrey, J. Jaggers, Lance Palmer, Jason Johnstone, Colt Sponseller, and Mike Pucillo are the present. As a result of the past and present, wrestlers like Sean Nemec, Tony Jameson, Cody Magrum, and Logan Stieber are the future of Ohio State wrestling. There is depth, talent, and a fence going up around the border; the future is now.

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