Ohio State excellence is not exclusive to the football field or the basketball court. Around the Oval is our way of keeping you informed of the amazing things happening with the other 34 varsity sports on campus.
"the seasons pass, the years will roll..."
The 2014-2015 athletic season has come to a close. History was made, titles were won, records were set, and streaks were broken.
Although Ohio State will not finish first in either the Capital One Cup, or the Directors Cup, an argument could still be made that they had the best athletic program in the nation top to bottom. Of the programs 36 varsity teams, an astounding 25 qualified for national post-season play, which is by my count the most in the nation. To put that in prospective, Ohio State had more teams qualify for the national post-season than all but five schools even have teams.
Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith sat down with our own Eric Seger earlier in the year and talked about the success of the athletic department this season:
"It's a proud moment, just like for the coaches. You're ecstatic for the kids and it kind of validates everything we as a team in athletics do to try and create an environment for our coaches and our athletes to be successful," Smith said. "It says that the culture that we create works, where our coaches are able to recruit talent, develop them, and ultimately win championships."
"Win championships" is exactly what this program did. Ohio State took home five different national titles this year, making up half of the Big Ten Conference tally of 10. Some of the titles were repeats, while some ended long droughts. Some were expected, and some were, to say the least, not. There was much diversity in these championships, and we're glad for that. We wouldn't want winning to become trite, would we?
final 2014-2015 'ship count: 5
1) Football: The Team That Forced Us to Accept Fairy-Tales as Reality
You know the story, and I could never do it justice. Your memory is better than my words will ever be.
I will simply leave you with this:
2) Wrestling: Youth, and One of the All-Time Greats
For the first time the team's 94 year history, the Ohio State wrestling team can call themselves national champions.
The huge story, of course, was Logan Stieber. Stieber became just the fourth wrestler ever to become a four-time national champion. He is also the first Buckeye to win the Dan Hodge trophy, presented to the nations top wrestler, and is the school's all time leader in match win percentage (.975). Stieber will go down as one of the greatest athletes in Ohio State history, joining names like Jesse Owens, Jack Nicklaus, and Archie Griffin.
The team championship, however, was not won by just Stieber. Three freshmen came up huge in the championships to lock up the title for the Buckeyes. Nathan Tomasello won the 125 national title, while fellow freshmen Kyle Snyder and Bo Jordan finished second and third respectively. Junior Kenny Courts finished fifth, also earning him All-American honors. The team finished with a score of 102.0, beating second place Iowa's score of 84.0, and locking up their first ever national championship.
3) Pistol: Back to Back Champs
For the second time in as many years, and seventh time in program history, the Ohio State pistol team took home the Pistol Intercollegiate National Championship.
The title was won on the back of two outstanding freshmen: Irina Adrianova and Glenn Zimmerman. Adrianova won the first national title of her career in women's Sport Pistol, and Zimmerman took home his first national title in 3-Gun Aggregate. The freshmen were the only Buckeyes to take home individual national titles, which carried the team to the team title.
4) Synchronized Swimming: Winningest Program Wins Again
The Ohio State synchronized swimming team already had more national titles than any other Buckeye team, and this year they added another.
The team had their best all around performance of the season in the NCAA Championship meet, posting a score of 93.0 to edge second-place Lindenwood (89.0).
In addition to the team National Championship, the record 29th in program history, Ohio State took home a number of individual titles. Heidi Liou was named U.S. Synchro Athlete of the Year, head coach Holly Vargo Brown was named U.S. Collegiate Coach of the Year, and eight Buckeyes took home All-American Honors.
5) Rowing: Three-Peat. Dynasty.
The last Buckeye team to win a title was perhaps the most dominating. The Ohio State women's rowing team won their third national title in three years — a "three-peat."
The team also swept the Big Ten Awards, winning Freshman of the Year (Sarah Davis), Athlete of the Year (Ashley Bauer), and Coach of the Year (Andy Teitelbaum). Ashley Bauer was also named Ohio State Female Athlete of the Year and will be placed on the ballot for Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year. Bauer becomes the third consecutive member of the rowing team to win the award.
Other Great Seasons
While winning a national title is always the goal, it doesn't always happen. That doesn't mean the season is a failure. Here are some highlights of seasons that didn't quite end with a banner or a ring.
- Fencing: Finished fifth in the NCAA Championships, extending streak of top-5 finishes to 14 seasons.
- Men's Lacrosse: Beat the defending champion Duke Blue Devils to advance to the Elite Eight before losing to the would-be national champion Denver Pioneers. They were one of just two teams to beat Denver on the season, besting them in the regular season 13-11.
- Men's Soccer: Ohio State defeated Akron in the 15th Round of penalty kicks to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
- Men's Tennis: The NCAA-Record 201 home match win streak ended this season when the Buckeyes were defeated by top-ranked Oklahoma. The Buckeyes also ended their 97 match Big Ten win streak with a loss to Illinois. They did, however, extend their streak of reaching the sweet sixteen to 10 seasons, and won a share of their 10th straight Big Ten Title.
- Women's Basketball: Despite the extreme lack of depth, the Buckeyes were able to put together a season to be proud of, losing in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to North Carolina on a buzzer beater. Freshman phenom Kelsey Mitchell led the nation in scoring and was named NCAA Freshman of the Year.
With that, our 2014-15 season has come to a close. Now, we have a year full of 36 more seasons to look forward to.
To quote Braxton Miller: "Guess what, we got another year to do it. Go Bucks."
