What's old hat for Cowboys is new for Drexel

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
03/19/2004


Friday night at the NCAA Championships is the night of dreams. The semifinals are held this session, and 20 fortunate athletes are able to lock up a spot in the finals, and a chance at a possible national championship.    The semifinals are on the center mat, and are now televised live across the nation on a syndicated basis. Everybody is watching these bouts.    There are matches on four other mats while the semifinals go on. These matches are also the bouts of dreams for many athletes. The winners of the first consolation round of the night have earned All-American status. The losers leave the tournament without a national award.    It can also be a night for celebration for teams. This semifinal night, Oklahoma State had much to celebrate. The Cowboys won eight of 11 matches for the night, including three of four semifinal matches. After this round, Oklahoma State was a full 27.5 points ahead of second place Iowa.    Basically, college sports most successful team ever, the Oklahoma State wrestling squad, has locked up its 32nd NCAA wrestling team title. Nobody has crunched the math yet (but they will), but for all intents and purposes, the tournament team race is over.    Also on one of the side mats ton ight, Drexel Univ., a college in Philadelphia that competes in the Colonial Athletic Association, was also celebrating. Their 125-pounder, unseeded junior Rob Rebmann, won his wrestleback match and became the first All-American in school history.    What has become old hat for Oklahoma State, celebrating at the NCAA Wrestling Championships, is a brand new experience for Drexel.    "It was a good night," said Oklahoma State coach John Smith. "We won the tough ones."    Smith was asked what it felt like watching three semifinalists win, Zach Esposito, Tyrone Lewis and Chris Pendleton.    "It's a good feeling. It was important for us in the team race for this to be a good round for us. If you have an average round, you don't know where you are going to land. In a couple of matches, we put ourselves in position to get bonus points. We took athletes down to their backs, and we kept them there for the pin," said Smith.    Smith was looking ahead beyond even this year.    "It was important for us as a team," he said. "This is the kind of round that will help us in the future."    He was very happy for his heavyweight, Will Gruenwald, who won his consolation match to become an All-American. Even though he will be in the seventh place bout on Saturday, he was one of seven Cowboys to be an All-American this year, and joins a tremendously long list of past Oklahoma State wrestlers in history to come home with national hardware.    "I was happy to see one of our seniors get in there," said Smith about Gruenwald. "He has fought through some disappointing losses. It was good for him to win here, and end up with something."    For Drexel, having just one athlete "end up with something" was a celebration. After Rebmann won his match to earn a top-eight finish, he hugged his coaches, friends and family. His victory in the deciding round was over an old rival, Hofstra's Tom Noto, a 6-4 sudden death decision. With everything on the line, Rebmann got the takedown to become an All-American.    "He was ranked 10th in the nation earlier this year," said Drexel coach Jack Childs, who has coached the team for almost three decades. "He beat Noto in the New York Open. Then he got a high ankle sprain. Then he popped a rib, which slowed his progress. He got back in time for the conference meet, lost to Noto and took a third."    Rob Rebmann was given a wild card by the Colonial Athletic Conference. Obviously, he was not seeded. But Rebmann and his coaches, (which includes past NCAA All-American Joe Melchiore), believed in him.    "He was healthy coming in," said Childs. "He was wrestling well in practice. He had two good weeks of training.    Drexel had high hopes for an All-American this year. The 197 pounder Chris Jones was seeded No. 7, but lost to Iowa's Ryan Fulsaas in the second round, then was eliminated by Missouri's Jeff Foust. It was Rebmann who came through instead.    Rebmann won his first two matches in the meet, a 8-1 decision over Matt Pitts of Chattanooga and a 2-1 win over Jeremy Hartrum of NC State. In the quarterfinals, he was pinned by No. 1 seed Jason Powell of Nebraska.    In the wrestlebacks, Rebmann drew his old rival Noto. The winner would be an All-American. The victory was very meaningful for Rebmann, as well as the entire Drexel program.    "He broke the ice," said Childs. "It gives us credibility. It is not that we didn't have it, but this verifies it. For recruiting, it helps us. It will lead to more good athletes. And with Robbie being back next year, he will lead by example. He is one of our co-captains for next year."    During the seventh place matches tomorrow, Will Gruenwald will be added to a long list of Oklahoma State All-Americans, while Rob Rebmann will become the first on the list of Drexel All-Americans. For both athletes, it will be a time of great pride and achievement.    Friday night is truly the evening of dreams at the NCAA Championships.