March 18, 2001
Junior heavyweight Jake Vercelli clinched eighth place at the NCAA Championships, giving him All-America status after a solid junior season. As a team, the Boilermakers finished tied for 25th, tied with Pittsburgh and Penn State.
Vercelli was eliminated from the championship bracket by eventual National Champion, John Lockhart, of Illinois. He finished his junior season with an overall record of 24-13 this season, along with a team-high eight pinfalls. For his career, Vercelli has notched 63 career victories and 18 career pinfalls.
Nine of his matches this past season were against wrestlers who qualified for Nationals. Among his more impressive victories were his back-to-back falls to start the season at the Navy Classic, defeating Anthony LiVecchi (James Madison) and Steve Kovach (Navy). He pinned UNC-Greensboro's David Kimble, a Carmel, Ind., native and champion of the Southern Conference, at the Midlands Invitational.
Vercelli's most impressive stretch of the season came at a crucial part of the season. After the team had suffered back-to-back losses to Iowa and Minnesota, who finished as the top two teams at this years' Championships, they returned home to face a pair of formidable Big Ten opponents in Wisconsin and Michigan State. Both matches were close, both decided by four points with the Boilermakers coming out on top in both. Vercelli's wins in both matches were crucial to the outcome. Against Wisconsin, he won an overtime match against Justin Staebler, and did the same the following night against Michigan State's Matt Lamb in a double-overtime match. Both matches were won by a single point, proving the fine line that comes between a win and a loss and in the Big Ten and how much it can affect a team's season. The two victories proved to be a spark at just the right time of the season, and not only encouraged Vercelli down the stretch towards Big Ten Championships and NCAA's, but also encouraged his teammates. The Boilermakers won four of their five final dual matches to close the season with a 10-6 record. Vercelli was also named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week for his victories over Staebler and Lamb.
"Jake has done a solid job for us all year," head coach Jessie Reyes said. "He beat some quality guys in his weight class this year, and really turned it on against our Big Ten opponents."
Of the other top seven wrestlers in the heavyweight class who claimed All-America status at the NCAA Championships, five of them were from the Big Ten.
Team-wise, in the Big Ten, ten teams placed in the top 25. Minnesota and Iowa placed in the top two spots. Also placing were Illinois (fifth), Michigan (seventh), Wisconsin (tenth), Michigan State (15th), Ohio State (16th), Indiana (17th) and Penn State (25th). Individually, five National Champions represented the Big Ten. Eric Juergens of Iowa claimed his second consecutive National Championship at 133, as did Illinois' Adam Tirapelle at 149. T.J. Williams of Iowa (157) and Donny Pritzlaff of Wisconsin (165) also repeated, in addition to Lockhart of Illinois claiming a National Championship at heavyweight.