FENCING
With eight seasons under his belt as head coach the Ohio State fencing program, Vladimir Nazlymov has the Buckeyes geared up for another run at a national championship. The team returns all but three letterwinners from a season ago, when they finished fifth at the NCAA Championships and took a fifth-consecutive Midwest Conference title.

Altogether, eight All-Americans return from the 2006-07 season, including Andras Horanyi, the reigning national champion in men’s foil. Last season, Horanyi recorded a men’s team best 45-3 record en route to a Midwest Regional title and the national title.

Joining Horanyi in national title hopes is fellow junior Mikhail Momtselidze, who last season finished fourth at the NCAA Championships in sabre. After compiling a 31-4 regular season mark, Momtselidze took first at both the Midwest Championships and the Midwest Regional Qualifier. Sophomore Sergey Smirnov will look to improve upon his impressive debut season and help Momtselidze complete one of the most feared sabre units in the country.

The men’s epee squad is one of the most experienced units on the team, with the top three all seeing significant action last season. At the top is All-American Mykhaylo Mazur who last season posted a 28-12 regular season mark and finished ninth at the NCAA Championships. Jason Pryor is also no stranger to collegiate success. As a sophomore last season, Pryor went 31-11 and made a second-consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championship.

A total of 15 freshman have joined the co-ed roster, including the highly ranked foil combo of Colin Sutter and Ben Parkins. Parkins follows in the footsteps of his brother Zach, whose contributions helped lead to a national championship in 2004-05. Both will complement Horanyi in the foil and will both be part of a championship run.

GYMNASTICS
After securing its historic third-consecutive Big Ten championships title, head coach Miles Avery and the men’s gymnastics team returns in 2008 with hopes of continuing to extend its streak. The third league crown in as many seasons logged the first such run in Buckeye history.

But to finish in first again, the Scarlet and Gray has its work cut out. Losing four seniors from the 2007 team, Avery and the Buckeyes have large gaps to fill on pommel horse, parallel bars and high bar. But Avery has five seniors to rely on to continue the program’s tradition of being a national powerhouse.

Leading the senior class will be six-time All-American DJ Bucher and 2006 U.S. National Champion on vault Jimmy Wickham. Bucher brings a full arsenal of skills on pommel horse, rings and parallel bars while Wickham is a top finisher on floor and vault.

Also returning will be 2007 NCAA Champion on vault Pejman Ebrahimi. The Encino, Calif., native become only the second Buckeye to win a national title on vault when he landed a 9.3 at the championships. Avery looks for big gymnastics from his juniors Jake Bateman, 2006 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, and Eddie Hay, 2007 Big Ten Champion on floor. Bateman, along with sophomore Tai Lee, will continue to compete in the all-around for Ohio State. Hay will expand his role on the squad this year as he will likely be added to vault and high bar teams, apparatuses he aided at the end of last season.

Lee returns for his sophomore campaign after off-season surgery. As a freshman, the Orlando, Fla., native ended ranked-fifth in GymInfo national poll in the all-around, the highest placing for a rookie. Expected back in early February, Avery expects Lee to turn in another standout year.

Additions to the team this year include 2007-08 U.S. Junior National Team member Sean Regan, 2006 Region VII All-Around Champion Brandon Wynn and 2006 Junior Olympic Nationals bronze medalist on pommel horse Stephen Spencer. While Regan and Wynn will help fill the gaps in the parallel bar and high bar teams, Avery expects Spencer to be one of the nation’s best on pommel horse.

HOCKEY
The 2007-08 campaign marks a few milestones for the Ohio State hockey team under the direction of head coach John Markell, now in his 13th year as head coach of the squad. The milestones began when Markell announced a 2007 recruiting class made up of 15 student-athletes from around the United States and Canada. The group represents the largest rookie class Ohio State has seen and was ranked seventh by Red Line Report. Thanks in part to the record-setting freshman class, Coach Markell will be at the helm of a squad consisting of nine Ohio natives, the most he has had on one team in his tenure.

While Ohio State men’s hockey is welcoming the largest recruiting class to grace the team in over a decade and boasting nine hometown men, they are also celebrating a 10th anniversary. The 2007-08 season will be the 10th season in which the Buckeyes have called Value City Arena home. Garnering a 90-49-16 all time record in the venue, Ohio State hopes to close the decade with continued success.

Buckeye fans should not let the large size of the freshman class cloud their perception of the men’s hockey roster this season. While it may be easy to assume that this squad is inexperienced, they actually have plenty of hockey under their belts. Ohio State entered last season with two goalies, neither of which had any college experience on their resume. However, circumstances are quite opposite heading into 2007-08; both goalies, Joseph Palmer and Nick Filion, picked up valuable playing time last season. Along with experience, Palmer also picked up honorable mention CCHA All-Rookie Team honors.

The experience does not only exist between the pipes, as the roster also contains a veteran group of forwards, including six seniors. The backbones of this predominantly senior offense include Tom Fritsche, who led the squad in scoring during his first two seasons as a Buckeye, and Tommy Goebel, the squad’s leading returning scorer. On the other side of the puck, the team will look to seniors Jason DeSantis, who partici7 pated in all 37 games last season and posted 20 assists, and Johann Kroll, voted the Joseph W. Smith Best Defensive Player by his teammates, to lead the defense.

The hockey team has already hit a number of milestones and records before their season has even begun. If the pre-season hype and the mix of experienced veterans and abundant fresh-faced rookies is any indication of how the season will pan out, Buckeye fans could be looking at a promising and exciting year in men’s hockey.

SWIMMING AND DIVING
Ohio State head swimming coach Bill Wadley and diving coach Vince Panzano are expecting a terrific season this year from the Buckeyes, who are coming off a third-place finish at the 2007 Big Ten championships and a 12th-place finish at the 2007 NCAA Championships.

“The sky is the limit for us,” Wadley said. “Our program has a great tradition of being a Top 25 team and we show great importance of keeping that tradition. We finished last season ranked No. 12 and this year, our objective is move into the national spotlight as a Top 10 program.” “The diving team will be a great team with a lot of talent,” said Panzano. “They have great ability and really work hard. This season is going to be a positive experience with a good group of kids and I’m looking forward to it.”

Matt Voelker is the team’s top sprint freestyler. He finished sixth at the Big Ten Championships in the 100 freestyle, while also representing the Buckeyes at the NCAA Championships in the 50-yard freestyle last season. Joel Elber and Felipe Travesso will be looked upon to add depth to the event.

George Markovic, Jacob Busch, Mark Neiman and Stefan Sigrist are possibly the deepest and fastest distance freestylers ever at Ohio State. Wadley believes this group of four is quite possibly the deepest and fastest group of distance swimmers ever to wear scarlet and gray.

A group of talented freshmen will have to help establish a presence in the backstroke as the team’s two fastest backstrokers have departed.

The breaststroke could be a strong event as Trevesso, who finished in the top 25 at the 2007 NCAA Championships and posted a career best 54.26 at the Big Ten Championships in the 100 breaststroke, leads the way. Sam Pelkey and Daniel Malnik are coming off top eight finishes at the Big Ten meet in the 200 breaststroke.

Junior Matthias Sigrist and senior Daniel Novak will be team leaders in the 100 and 200 buttefly events.

Although the Buckeyes graduated their fastest swimmer all-time in Nate King, Wadley will look to sophomore Andrew Olson and incoming freshman Michael Hulme to fill the gap in the individual medley.

Leading the Scarlet and Gray divers will be junior Wes Wieser and sophomore Burkley Showe. Wieser is the reigning Big Ten Champion on the 10-meter platform and an All-Big Ten first-team performer. Showe was named Co-Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Co-Big Ten Diver of the Championship last season after winning the 1-meter competition at the conference meet.

TRACK AND FIELD
The Ohio State men’s track and field team looks toward another promising year in 2007-08 under the direction of second-year head coach Robert Gary. Last season, the Buckeyes turned a few heads while improving their status among Big Ten teams. Ohio State finished fourth in the conference, two places up from the previous year, and produced three individual champions.

Junior Jeff See brought home a first place finish in the mile, while senior Anthony Cole was victorious in the 200-meter dash. Lenny Jatsek added a title from the field events end, defending his 2006 conference crown in the weight throw. The upward motion in the rankings and the individual titles marked progress for the track and field team, but even sweeter is the fact that all three Big Ten champions are returning to the squad this season, eager to lead the team toward continued improvement.

While it is clear that the Buckeyes have the experience needed to make a run for the Big Ten title, they also have a strong freshman class to back them up. In May of 2006, Gary announced that Ohio State would welcome 13 student-athletes to the team, including six distance runners, three sprinters, three throwers and a jumper. And these rookies are good; combined, the 2007-08 recruiting class brings over a dozen high schools state titles to the table and boasts four 2007 state champions. Between the experience and the fresh talent that this Buckeye roster holds, the sustained progress and presence on Big Ten and national level that Gary envisions is attainable.

Overall, it looks to be an exciting year for the Ohio State men’s track and field team. If the stars all align, Gary may not achieve the consistent progression he is looking for; the team may just move up in the standings a little quicker than he has expected.

VOLLEYBALL
A core of returning players, led by All-American setter Daniel Mathews, has coach Pete Hanson’s volleyball team eyeing another Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association regular season championship and a return trip to the NCAA national championships.

Mathews, the 2007 MIVA Player of the Year, has started every match for the last three years. He will certainly be the driver of the team. Mathews is one of four returning starters for Hanson, who has named 2007 MIVA Coach of the Year after the Buckeyes won the MIVA regular season title. The team finished 23-4 last year but missed the NCAA championships by one match.

Also returning are starting outside hitters Robbie Klein and and Brett Versen. The junior Klein was a second-team all-MIVA choice last year and the senior Versen has nine starts under his belt. Sophomore Brian Kues played in 26 matches last year and will be an experienced replacement.

Junior middle hitter John Albertson will anchor the middle hitters. A second-team all-MIVA choice in 2007, Albertson will be joined by sophomore Ben Spurlock, who missed the 2007 season but played in 18 matches in 2006, and sophomore Ted Schoenfeldt (14 appearances in 2007).

A third second-team all-MIVA honoree returns and will lead the defense at libero: senior Conor Martin, a veteran of 89 matches. Supplying support at libero will be St. Louis University transfer Mark Wimmers and Sean Martin.

The schedule includes the always tough MIVA schools plus two matches in St. John Arena against Long Beach State and two on the road against defending NCAA champion Cal-Irvine.

Gone from last year’s eam are Layne Dreven, Sam Stevens, Dan Meske, Joerel Morales and Matthew Hankey. Dreven, Stevens and Meske were starters. Hankey chose to graduate with a year of eligibility remaining.

WRESTLING
It is year two for head coach Tom Ryan and the Buckeyes are on pace to do bigger and better things in 2007-08. After coaching four All- Americans last season and guiding the squad to a 10th-place finish at the 2007 NCAA Championships in Auburn Hills, Mich., Ryan and company are looking to add to the All-America list and let the nation know Ohio State wrestling is returning to a position of prominence.

Of the four Buckeye All-Americans from 2006-07, two were freshmen, which speaks volumes of not only the potential of the younger members of the team, but the expectations Ryan and his coaching staff have for all the wrestlers, regardless of youth.

Lance Palmer was a true freshman when he finished fourth at 149 pounds, while redshirt freshman Mike Pucillo was sixth at 184 pounds at the national tournament. In addition to that young duo, redshirt-sophomore J Jaggers received redemption when he finished seventh at 141 pounds. The year before in 2005-06, Jaggers qualified for the
national stage, but had to pull out because of a knee injury. Finally J.D. Bergman earned his second All-America laurel in the spring after finishing fourth at 197 pounds.

The 2007-08 season will mark a weight change for Bergman, who has spent his OSU career thus far wrestling at 197 pounds for the Buckeyes. A senior, Bergman will move up a weight class to heavyweight.

Up to three freshmen possibly may get the call up from Ryan. A loaded weight class full of talented freshmen at 125, Nikko Triggas most likely will start. At 165, Colt Sponseller also will quickly have to make the transition from high school to college. A third freshman may start at 157 pounds as well, with Sean Nemec or Brendan Beucler possibly getting
the nod.

In his final year, T.J. Enright will continue to wrestle at 133 pounds. Enright is a two-time NCAA tournament qualifier and has one last chance to earn the coveted All-America honor.

After taking a medical redshirt last season, Alex Picazo returns to the OSU lineup, but this time he will wrestle at 174 pounds instead of at 184. With Bergman moving up a weight class, 197 is up for grabs for several Buckeye returnees.