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Wrestler ends career with All-America honors

Photo courtesy of Jessie Reyes

DOMINATING: Senior Jake Vercelli finished his career Saturday with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships, making him the first two-time heavyweight All-American in Purdue history.

By Andrew Hershberger
Assistant Sports Editor

When senior Jake Vercelli decided to come to Purdue to wrestle, he set goals for himself. Among them, he wanted to be an All-American.

Four years and 91 wins later, Vercelli is a two-time All-American, the first Purdue heavyweight to earn that distinction.

"It feels good to do what I've done," Vercelli said. "It was one of my goals when I came here to be an All-American at least once. Last year, I had to kind of adjust my goals to try for the national championship, but I'm real happy to have been there twice."

Vercelli capped his college career with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Wrestling Championships Saturday. Last year, Vercelli garnered his first All-America honors with an eighth-place finish at the same event. The senior finished his final year as a Boilermaker 29-6. He was undefeated this season through 20 matches and led the team in pins with 10 in the regular season.

Vercelli has been in the top 10 of the national heavyweight rankings the whole season, starting at seventh place and steadily climbing. After a redshirt season in 1997-98, Vercelli posted a 17-7 record and a team-leading five pins backing up former heavyweight David Pierce. His sophomore year, he finished seventh at the Big Ten Championships to qualify for nationals.

Photo courtesy of Jessie Reyes

IMPOSING PRESENCE: A 6-foot-1 heavyweight, Jake Vercelli wrestled his way to a 91-36 record during his illustrious career.

Vercelli didn't start at heavyweight, but the experience of backing up another wrestler allowed him to grow and learn.

"He had it rough coming in here, wrestling under Pierce," head coach Jessie Reyes said. "So he came in at a time where he was able to wrestle under somebody, get the experience, have the wrestling partners and have somebody like Tom (Erikson), who is the best heavyweight coach out there in my eyes.

"Jake was very fortunate to have this combination working for him. I think what helped him the most was his work ethic. He is the best example of someone having success because he had a plan and he stuck with it. Tom would give him a game plan for a match or for workouts and he would do exactly as he was told. That's why he was able to be a two-time All-American."

Vercelli agrees that his coaching and workout partners have been key in his success.

"Tom is a great heavyweight coach as well as an all-around great coach," Vercelli said. "He's helped me a lot in my development here. Reyes is just the same. He stays out of the heavyweight stuff for the most part, but he's a great guy to have around.

"I took my lumps in my first couple years, wrestling under Pierce, but it helped me in the long run. I think it's the same with any young wrestler, including Israel (Blevins) and Josh (Ingrim). Those guys are taking their lumps now and I think that will help them as it helped me. I know Israel is ready now, he's the man next year."

"Israel and Josh, our two young heavyweights, have benefited from having a guy like Jake around," Reyes said. "With him, they have to work hard at practice just to get a takedown. I know sometimes Israel has been mad and frustrated because he can't get Jake down so he'll start yelling, but that's good for him. Now, what's going to happen is when those guys take over, kinda like how Jake took over, they'll be ready."

Blevins, the heir apparent to Vercelli's starting position agrees that the difficulty of wrestling him in practice has helped him in his progression.

"It's tough wrestling him," Blevins said, "but being frustrated and getting over that is just part of getting better. I know that wrestling him has only helped me get ready for next year when I get to take over. I'm a lot stronger than I used to be, as well as smarter. I feel like I'm ready to take over."


03/28/2002	Previous Edition 3/27