By Craig Sesker, Special to W.I.N.

Ohio State sophomore Mike Pucillo developed a simple, but effective, game plan for his NCAA finals match against Iowa State sophomore Jake Varner.

            Secure the first takedown and don’t become trapped in the bottom position.

            Pucillo did not score a takedown — neither wrestler did in the slow-paced, marathon match — but his ability to get out from underneath proved to be the difference.

            Pucillo’s six-second, riding-time advantage through two cycles of overtime gave him a win over Varner in the 184-pound national finals. Varner, normally lethal in the top position, was unable to keep the powerful Pucillo down on the mat.

            “I felt like I was never really in danger,” Pucillo said. “I beat him at his own game. He’s real good on top and I feel like I’m pretty good on bottom. I guess it worked out.”

            The match was scoreless after one period before the wrestlers traded escapes in the second and third periods. The match then went to sudden victory, where neither wrestler could earn a takedown. Both wrestlers escaped in the 30-second tiebreaker periods to send it into another cycle of overtime.

            No takedowns and two more escapes later, the score was tied 3-3 after 11 minutes of wrestling. It came down to riding time and Pucillo’s six-second edge was the difference.

            Pucillo was on top in the last 30-second segment and knew exactly how long he needed to ride Varner to lock up the win. Pucillo rode Varner for 21 seconds before he escaped. That gave Pucillo a six-second edge in riding time and the win.

            “I knew roughly what 10-15 seconds feels like,” he said. “The referee actually stopped it when Varner still had a two-second edge on riding time. I knew I just had to hold him down for the first move and after I stopped the first move I knew I was OK with the riding time. I felt pretty confident that he wasn’t going to take me down.”

            Pucillo’s mindset was simply to not make a mistake against Varner, who has won his share of tight matches in his career.

            “When we got into overtime, I didn’t think either of us would take a bad shot and allow the other guy to score,” Pucillo said. “I got out quick and then held onto him and squeezed as hard as I could.”

            “We knew Varner was a master on top, but we also knew Mike was a master on bottom,” Ohio State coach Tom Ryan said. “Most people can’t get away from Varner and we knew that would be the key in the match.”

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