Published: March 23, 2008 01:36 am            

Coleman Scott wins national championship

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Nobody will remember the four tough decisions the first two days of Coleman Scott’s final collegiate tournament.

People will never forget his last one.

Scott, a runnerup as a junior, wasted little time on Saturday night, locking up Iowa’s Joey Slaton with a cradle and scoring a fall 49 seconds into the 133-pound finals of the 2008 NCAA Wrestling Championships.

It finished a 33-4 senior season, a 117-22 career that included four All-America medals, and most importantly, gave the Waynesburg, Pa., product a national title.

“Every day I walk into practice and see a picture of every national champ,” said Scott, the 12th four-time All-American in school history and the school’s 133rd national champion. “I couldn’t tell you how many there are, but there’s a lot of guys that are better than me. I worked hard and achieved my goal and that’s what I had to do.

“It’s an awesome feeling.”

Scott beat Slaton, a sophomore, in January at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The second meeting saw Scott explode to Slaton’s leg, secure the head and leg and powerfully take the Hawk to his back.

“It’s what you dream about,” he added. “You go to sleep at night, stuff is running through your head. That’s what you are picturing, getting the pin.”

“I think last year didn’t sit too well with him, losing in the finals the way he did,” said OSU coach John Smith. “There are no guarantees. All you can do is put yourself in position to be a national champion and Coleman did that this year.

“He was very greedy when he got to a position he is familiar with. He looked like a man chasing the quick pin. We weren’t expecting that. We were expecting a tough seven-minute match.”

Scott was one of four All-Americans for the Cowboys, who tied for fifth with Iowa State at 72 points.

Nathan Morgan (33-5) finished his career with a fourth-place medal at 141; Jared Rosholt (33-5) was fourth at heavyweight and senior Jack Jensen (18-8) seventh at 184.

The third-most-attended NCAA Tournament (94,194) saw Iowa win its first title since 2000. Under second-year coach Tom Brands, the Hawkeyes had two champions and totaled 117 1/2 points. Ohio State had its best finish in school history, crowning two champions and scoring 79 points. Penn State (75) and Nebraska (74) were third and fourth, respectively.

The 2007 champion, Minnesota, finished a distant 10th.

Iowa senior Mark Perry ended his career with a second championship, beating Michigan’s Eric Tannenbaum in the 165-pound finale. Iowa also crowned sophomore 149-pounder Brent Metcalf, a 14-8 winner against Penn State’s Bubba Jenkins.

The Buckeyes crowned 141-pounder J. Jaggers, who gave Cal Poly’s Chad Mendes his only loss this season, and sophomore Mike Pucillo, who finished a perfect season with a victory against Iowa State’s Jake Varner at 184.

Indiana’s Angel Escobedo (125), Penn State’s Phillip Davis (197) and Northwestern’s Dustin Fox (285) gave the Big Ten eight champions — 14 of the 20 finalists were from Big Ten schools.

Pittsburgh’s Keith Gavin completed a perfect season, winning the 174-pound title.

Cornell’s Jordan Leen, a No. 8 seed, beat Illinois’ Mike Poeta for the 157-pound championship.

The tournament returns to St. Louis in 2009. Iowa State returns six All-Americans; Iowa returns five; Ohio State brings back three; Penn State returns two.

The Cowboys have two top-eight finishers returning — Brandon Mason placed in the top eight in 2007 — and two NCAA qualifiers — Tyler Shinn (125) and Newly McSpadden (157).



Roger Moore writes for Stillwater (Okla.) NewsPress.

        

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