LEAVING HIS MARK
Rosholt turned in best efforts when it mattered most
Th
e most important thing that can be said about Jake Rosholt’s career at Oklahoma State is that he knows how to win when it counts. In terms of college wrestling, nothing counts more than the NCAA wrestling tournament and the OSU senior has made a living out of performing well at college wrestling’s most prestigious and time-honored tournament each and every year. Perhaps even more impressive than his ability to perform at the last tournament of the year is that Rosholt has never been the favorite to win his weight class. Yet, year after year, he has found himself at or near the top of the winner’s platform. In 2003 and 2005, when he won his first two titles, he was seeded No. 10 at 184 pounds and No. 2 at 197 pounds, respectively. His only setback over the course of 16 NCAA tournament matches before this year was a semifinal loss to Northern Illinois’ Ben Heizer in 2004, when finished third as a No. 3 seed at 184 pounds.
The 2006 NCAA tournament was supposed to be the year Jake Rosholt simply couldn’t get it done. He entered the tournament as the No. 4 seed at 197 after suffering four losses on the season, including an uninspired 4-0 setback in the Big 12 finals to Nebraska’s B.J. Padden. The match-ups at this year’s NCAA tournament certainly didn’t favor Rosholt and the prospect of becoming a three-time NCAA champion looked bleak.
However, it was Rosholt who again proved his resiliency by simply outperforming the rest of the field. After the quarterfinal round the top three seeds had all been defeated and it was Rosholt who entered the semifinals as the highest seeded wrestler remaining in his weight class.
In his semifinal match against unseeded Chris Weidman of Hofstra the Cowboy senior was at his emotional best. After falling behind 2-0 in the first period, Rosholt electrified the crowd with a pin after a wild scramble by both wrestlers. In his excitement, Rosholt pointed to the Oklahoma State crowd as the Cowboy fans cheered in support of their wrestler.
“There is an extra emotion Jake has at the NCAA tournament and he’s done it every year,” said Oklahoma State assistant coach and four-time NCAA champion Pat Smith. “Jake Rosholt is a winner. He brings a lot of doubt into people’s minds during the season. He has every year.
“When it comes close to Nationals time, when it gets to be that two weeks before Nationals, he gets in the zone and focuses in. He knows he’s got five matches to wrestle and if he wins all five of them he’s the NCAA champion. This is his time of the year. It’s not December, January, February. His time of the year is March. He prepares for March. He just goes out there and captures the title. The kid wrestles well at Nationals. He always has.”
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