RICH GET RICHER?
Transfer of Mocco makes Oklahoma State No. 1 team
It wasn’t an exactly an earthquake that hit Oklahoma and the country when heavyweight Steve Mocco announced that he was transferring to Oklahoma State, the two-time defending NCAA team champion.
But it certainly drew a reaction from other coaches around the country.
"It was not one of bliss," laughed University of Oklahoma coach Jack Spates after hearing that Mocco, the two-time NCAA finalist and 2003 national champion at Iowa, had left Iowa City for Stillwater. "Oklahoma State had a great team to begin with, but they were mortal. With the addition of maybe the most dominant national champion in the sport, it’s going to be very difficult to beat them."
"That really puts Oklahoma State in driver’s seat," said Michigan coach Joe McFarland, who at least won’t have to deal with the former Hawkeye at the Big Ten tournament.
But once the nation’s top teams arrive
in St. Louis next March for the 75th annual NCAA Division I Championships, they will be faced with something that has become common in wrestling: overcoming a dynasty.
For in the history of the national tournament, only 11 different teams have won team titles and since 1975 only five schools have been on the top step of the NCAA ladder: Oklahoma State (four and 32 times since the tournament’s inception), Iowa (20), Minnesota (twice, 2001 and 2002), Arizona State (once, 1988) and Iowa State (1987 marked the Cyclones’ eighth team championship).
So why is it that few teams have reached the promised land"
"There has to be the pressure to excel and we have that at Oklahoma State,"
said OSU coach John Smith who returned the Cowboys to the top in 2003 after a ten-year hiatus. "It’s not accepted to not be there."For us that is something want to always keep in our program. I know our administration always wants Oklahoma State challenging for a national championship."
Smith also is adamantly opposed to the view that it’s easy to stay on top once you get there.
"That comes from people who have not won a whole lot," Smith said. "It’s very tough. It’s one thing working for a national championship if you haven’t won it for a while;
| Many of those celebrating Oklahoma State's 32nd NCAA championship last March were former Cowboys now competing on the international scene, including 2004 Olympic silver medalist Jamill Kelly (right). |
"But after you’ve won several titles — I experienced it individually and now I’m experiencing it as a coach — it becomes tougher and tougher. Staying on top is not something that happens. It’s something that is earned through a lot of hard work."
With Mocco, the Cowboys have four wrestlers who have won national championships or appeared in a final — joining Chris Pendleton at 174, Jake Rosholt (who has moved up to 197 after winning the 184-pound crown in 2003) and 149-pound NCAA finalist Zack Esposito.
Among the teams who appear to have the best shot at catching Oklahoma State are Lehigh and Illinois (each with five returning All-Americans), Iowa State (4) and Oklahoma and Michigan (both with 3).
"If we won the national championship, it would be the biggest thing that ever happened here, based on the (academic) standards it takes to get in here and the size of our school," said Lehigh coach Greg Strobel, well aware that an Eastern team has not won an NCAA championship since 1953 when Penn State wore the crown.
"It would be absolutely the event of the century," he added. "It would open people’s eyes."
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