Tommy Rowlands

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Tommy Rowlands
Rowlands in 2012
Personal information
NationalityAmerican
Born (1981-06-03) June 3, 1981 (age 42)
Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
Weight229 lb (104 kg)
Sport
CountryUnited States
SportWrestling
Event(s)Freestyle and Folkstyle
College teamOhio State Buckeyes
TeamUSA
Medal record
Men's freestyle wrestling
Representing the  United States
Pan American Games
Silver medal – second place 2007 Rio De Janeiro 120 kg
Collegiate Wrestling
Representing the Ohio State Buckeyes
NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
Gold medal – first place 2002 Albany 285 lb
Gold medal – first place 2004 St. Louis 285 lb
Silver medal – second place 2001 Iowa City 285 lb

Tommy Rowlands (born June 3, 1981) is a former American freestyle and folkstyle wrestler.

High school and college[edit]

Rowlands graduated from Bishop Ready High School in Columbus, Ohio in 1999. He was a two-time Ohio state champion (1997–99) and the 1999 National High School champion, with a career high school record of 167–10 with 98 pins.

He would wrestle collegiatley for The Ohio State University from 2001 to 2004. During his career at Ohio State, he was a two-time NCAA Champion, three-time NCAA Finalist, four-time NCAA All-American and two-time Big Ten Champion. Rowlands is the career record holder at Ohio State for takedowns (705), wins (164) and team points (703). He was also the 2001 Big Ten freshman of the year.

International[edit]

Following graduation from Ohio State in 2004, Rowlands had a successful international wrestling career. From 2004 to 2012, he was a University World Champion, Pan-Am Champion, 2x U.S. Open Champion, and 6x U.S. National Team Member. Rowlands was narrowly defeated in the finals of the Olympic Trials in 2008 & 2012 and became one of the few 2x Olympic Alternates in American wrestling history. He retired from competition following the 2012 Olympic Trials.

References[edit]

The Columbus Dispatch (Wed. 4/23/2008) Sports page article by Jim Massie

The Columbus Dispatch (4/15/2012) Sports page article by Rob Oller

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