One-on-One with Tommy Rowlands

Tommy Rowlands has quickly become the face of Ohio State wrestling. He finished his collegiate career in 2004 as the most decorated wrestler in Ohio State history after winning two NCAA titles and earning four All-American medals.

Tommy Rowlands

As an international competitor in freestyle, Rowlands has fared well at many prestigious world-level events. He won a gold medal at the 2005 World University Games in Turkey. In 2004, he won both the New York AC Christmas International and Sunkist Kids International events. He has been runner-up at both the U.S. Nationals and World Team Trials.

Now, after the recent retirement of longtime Ohio State coach Russ Hellickson, Rowlands is one of four finalists for the coveted Ohio State head coaching position.

RevWrestling.com's Andrew Hipps recently caught up with Rowlands to discuss why he believes his youth is a positive as he hopes to become Ohio State's next head coach, his thoughts on his performance at U.S. Nationals, his rivalry with Steve Mocco, his experience in Real Pro Wrestling, and what lies ahead for the former Buckeye star.

You have obviously built a relationship with Russ Hellickson over the years. Were you surprised that he retired after this last season? Or was this something that had been discussed for a while?

Rowlands: Russ is obviously a legend of the sport and I think he's going to have a great retirement. It's something that has been on his mind for some time. I think he'll be happy in the long run with everything that happened.

Do you know if he has plans to stay involved with wrestling?

Rowlands: Russ is just enjoying retirement right now. He went to Italy with his wife. He's up at his lake house in Wisconsin. I don't think he's really thought much past what he's doing right now.

It has been widely discussed that you're one of four finalists for the Ohio State head job. Can you confirm that?

Rowlands: Yeah, I'm interviewing Friday.

What is the timetable, if you know, on when you expect the Ohio State administration to make a decision?

Rowlands: I would assume that the decision will be made in the next two weeks.

I'm just going to play devil's advocate. Many people across the country believe that you can be a successful head coach in a big time program right now. But still there others out there who say Tommy Rowlands is too young, he doesn't have the experience. How would you respond to that?

Rowlands: Well, I consider my youth to be a positive. The greatest collegiate coaches ever started at a young age -- John Smith, Dan Gable, Myron Roderick. I feel like it's a young man's game. My youth is a positive. I can maintain a physical involvement with the athletes. Even though I am young and don't have any head coaching experience, I feel like I have enough of a passion for Ohio State wrestling to not let any potential roadblocks stand in the way of me helping our program be as successful as it can be. I've been bound to this program. I grew up eight miles from Ohio Stadium. I've dedicated my adult wrestling career to helping make Ohio State national champions. Unfortunately, we've come up short. But I would like to continue that as the head coach. And I feel like I have the ability to do it. I wouldn't apply and set the kids back on the team right now if I didn't think I was ready to make an impact immediately.

Many people consider Ohio State to be a potential goldmine with a lot of potential. What makes the wrestling program so enticing for head coaches across the country?

Rowlands: I think Ohio high school wrestling is arguably one of the best youth wrestling states in the entire country. And the only reason that it's an argument is because of our next door neighbor, Pennsylvania. So you're right in the middle of the hotbed for recruiting, great wrestling talent. Ohio State Athletics has the largest athletic budget in the country. We have great resources. It's a great haven for wrestling. I don't think there's any other program that has more potential for success than Ohio State.

You placed third last weekend at the U.S. Nationals in Las Vegas. How would you asses your overall performance?

Rowlands: I don't think I was overly happy with my performance. Obviously, what's been going on the past two or three weeks has been somewhat of a distraction, and one that I've accepted because I'm willing to move on and be the head coach if that opportunity presents itself. But I feel like if I don't get the job, I'll have a clear head for the World Team Trials and I'll accomplish my goal of making the team and competing in the World Championships. It's something that I've been training for the past two years. And I certainly won't have a problem continuing that dream if I'm not the head coach.

You had some great battles with Steve Mocco during your collegiate career. What was the biggest difference you noticed this time compared to the last time you met him in college?

Tommy Rowlands and Steve Mocco have battled numerous times throughout their careers (Photo/John Sachs).

Rowlands: There was a closer size difference and strength difference. I would say that Mocco still has the advantage strength-wise and size-wise. I was surprised by the little variance between us in size. I think as a result, I didn't move as much as I should … because I wasn't getting pushed all over the mat like I was used to. I think, instead of that being a positive for me, it was a negative because I was overly comfortable with just standing there with him. That was mistake that I made.

When did you make the decision to move up from 211 pounds to heavyweight? And what were the main reasons for your move up in weight?

Rowlands: I went to the University World Championships in late August. I had been cutting weight throughout the year at the Yarygin and the U.S. Open, things like that. The cut was very, very difficult for me. It was a constant effort for me to maintain my weight at 240. That was a battle to just stay at that weight to be within striking distance of making 211. The cut in Turkey for the University World Championships in August was just absolutely insane.

I had a lot of people who are close to me and my career, and a lot of people who I really respect in the wrestling community, tell me that I needed to go up. I'm just as competitive, if not more, at the weight class. I have more upside. And my speed can be utilized as more of an advantage at the heavyweight weight class. Obviously, I've been able to lead a better lifestyle. I've been able to focus entirely on my training, which was something that I wasn't used to with cutting the weight. I've never cut weight my entire life, and although I truly believe I'm mentally tough enough to get the weight down, it's not a lifestyle that I became accustomed to. I think the guys who suck a lot of weight on the international level had been doing it all through college and possibly all through high school. So it's a lifestyle they're accustomed to. I think to have the focus you need to be an Olympic champion, you need to be just tunnel vision on your goals. And I think at the heavyweight weight class, I enable myself to do that.

Overall, how would you assess the strength of the current group freestyle heavyweights in the United States?

Rowlands: I think that it's a great group of heavyweights. I think whoever represents our country is going to be a strong contender for the world title, and should be a medalist at the very least. I think there are plenty of us who are capable of doing that. Hopefully, I'm our representative -- unless I'm to be the head coach at Ohio State where I'd have to forfeit that dream and pickup the new one with Ohio State wrestling.

Talk about your current training situation. Where are you working out? And who are your main workout partners?

Rowlands: I train with J.D. Bergman, Ross Thatcher, Kirk Nail, and Mitch Clark. I spend a lot of time at the Olympic Training Center. I've also been to Stanford three times to train with Kerry McCoy. I've basically made myself available to the best training environment that I can possibly be in. I think the best environment out there right now for someone who wants to be an Olympic champion is to be at the Olympic Training Center. It's an environment that's conducive to freestyle. You've got world-class coaches who wake up every morning who are paid to worry about you and your development. And If I were to continue my career, that's certainly a place that I think I'm going to have to head.

What area of your wrestling do you think you've improved the most since your collegiate career ended?

Tommy Rowlands

Rowlands: Well, I think the area that I've improved the most is still the area that I need to improve more in. In terms of match strategy and match awareness, I've become better at. I still think it's my main area of concentration. At the international level, it's a huge, huge strategy game. You need to have a plan with each opponent. It's something that I've never really worried too much about or possessed in college. I just went out there and threw in the kitchen sink and hoped for the best. And it actually worked out. But at the international level, there are too many good wrestlers, too many smart wrestlers. You have to have a plan. I think that I've improved on that, but at the same time, there's much, much more room for improvement on that end.

You finished second in Real Pro Wrestling's Season One. How would you describe your experience?

Rowlands: I thought RPW was a great thing, great for wrestling. Anytime you can get wrestling into the mainstream media, I think it's going to be great for the sport. This is certainly something that I hope continues to grow into Season Two in the fall. And I think it's a good thing.

So do you plan to compete in Season Two?

Rowlands: If I continue my career as a competitive wrestler, I will definitely be part of RPW.

What are your competitive wrestling goals, assuming that you're still competing, both short term and long term?

Rowlands: Short term is to make the U.S. World Team in May and compete for the world title at the end of September. Long term, I want to be an Olympic champion in 2008.

Hypothetical: Tommy Rowlands wins the 2008 Olympic gold medal in Beijing. Is he done competing?

Rowlands: I'm pretty certain that it would be over. I know a lot of people have continued their careers as Olympic champions and world champions, and that's very admirable, but to me it's about reaching the pinnacle of the sport. Once I've done that, I think I'd like to focus on other things.

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One-on-One with Tommy Rowlands

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