FIRST OF FOUR?
Schlatter secured first NCAA title; dreams of more
A year ago, Dustin Schlatter was celebrating his fourth Ohio state high school title.
On Mar. 18, inside the Ford Center, the University of Minnesota freshman was celebrating his first title at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.
The first of four?
“This is the first step,’’ Schlatter said after capping a 42-1 rookie season with a 4-0 victory over University of Iowa senior Ty Eustice in the 149-pound title tilt. “Ho
pefully I can keep it up, keep working hard.“That’s definitely the goal.’’
Schlatter wasn’t even sure he wanted to wrestle as a freshman after winning 154 of 158 prep matches at Perry High School in Massillon, Ohio. He had great credentials ...national high school wrestler of the year by the NHSCA and Asics, first-team All-American, senior national champ, two-time junior national champ.
Many told him to wrestle right away, but he had other ideas.
“In the beginning I wanted to redshirt,’’ he said. “Once I started training with the team, I realized this was something I wanted to do.
“My mind changed quickly once I got there.’’
The winning started quickly, too.
Schlatter won his first 12 matches, getting a technical fall, pin, major decision and another technical fall in his first four bouts.
His only loss came to Central Michigan’s Mark DiSalvo by a 1-0 count at the Northeast Duals in Albany, N.Y. DiSalvo wound up eighth at the NCAA meet.
The Gopher rookie won 30 in a row since, including a pair of wins over 2005 national champ Zach Esposito of Oklahoma State and, as it turned out, an important 4-1 decision over Eustice in a dual meet Jan. 22.
He said the bout helped him in the championship match.
“He’s a banger, he goes real hard,’’ Schlatter said of Eustice. “I had to get a takedown ... and ride him hard.’’
Schlatter did just that in the 149-pound final, taking Eustice down with 1:19 left in the first period and riding him out. Eustice chose neutral in the second period and was close on many shots, but couldn’t finish.
“I wrestled real hard and moved around a lot and got to his legs a few times,’’ said Eustice, who ends his career with a 111-29 record, including 28-3 this year. “I didn’t get enough scoring holds...I just didn’t follow through.’’
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