by Michael Leonard

Sports Editor

Throughout his high school career, J. Jaggers was an unstoppable force for the St. Peter Chanel wrestling squad. The Northfield Village native won four state titles and often looked invincible.

However, Jaggers' college career at Ohio State University had been filled with more pain than glory. Injuries plagued Jaggers during his first three seasons, forcing him to redshirt his freshman season and forcing him to miss the NCAA Tournament after he qualified for it his second year.

This year, however, Jaggers finally got back his accustomed place -- on top the podium.

Jaggers won the NCAA Division title at 141 pounds March 22 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. He defeated top-seeded Chad Mendes of Cal Poly 5-2 to win the title. It was the second straight year Jaggers was named All-American, after he finished seventh at last year's championships. He finished the season with a record of 25-6.

"I definitely had to cross some hurdles to get here," Jaggers said. "Nobody has a free walk to the finals. The fact I had those two big injuries my first two years just makes it all the more sweeter that I got it done."

Jaggers said it took awhile for him to realize the magnitude of the win.

"[Sunday] when I sat down and I got my phone turned back on, that's when it hit me," Jaggers said. "From all the messages I got, I just realized how many people were behind me. It meant a lot to a lot of people."

Now a redshirt junior, Jaggers helped Ohio State take second place in the Division I team race with 79 points, giving the Buckeyes their best ever finish at nationals. Iowa won its 21st national title with 117.5 points.

According to St. Peter Chanel wrestling coach Graham Coghill, Jaggers is the first NCAA Division I champion ever to come out of Chanel.

"I knew he had probably the best shot of anybody to win a national title," Coghill said. "I'm just so happy for him because of all the injuries. He's overcome a lot."

Jaggers came into the tournament seeded sixth after taking third place at 141 at the Big Ten Championships the previous week.

"I definitely wanted to win the Big Ten title first," Jaggers said. "After I wrestled all the way back to third, I realized if you wrestle that weight class 10 different times, you could have 10 different champions."

At nationals, Jaggers beat Nexi Delgado of UC-Davis 13-10 and beat Pittsburgh's Drew Headlee 7-2 on March 20, then ran into third-seed Kellen Russell of Michigan, the Big Ten champion. Jaggers was able to squeeze out a 5-3 win to reach the semifinal.

In the semifinal, Jaggers faced second-seeded Charles Griffin of Hofstra. It was another close one, but Jaggers pulled out an 11-9 win to reach the final.

Jaggers faced Mendes in the finals March 22, which were broadcast live on ESPN. Mendes came into the finals undefeated at 30-0.

"He's a really strong guy," Jaggers said of Mendes. "I think he wanted to hit his cement mixer. He's pinned so many good guys with that move. When I didn't give him one position to hit it, it kind of threw off his strategy. It was a hand fight for most of the match."

After a scoreless period, Jaggers took the down position to start the second period and escaped in 11 seconds. The rest of the second period was a defensive battle, until Mendes got into a deep double-leg shot with near the end of the period. Jaggers was able to get to his side and hold on to not allow the takedown as time expired.

Mendes took down to start the third period and was able to escape.

With about 45 seconds remaining, Jaggers took command.

"He shot a double on me," Jaggers said. "I just needed him to switch to a single, because I'm pretty good at sitting my hips and getting around the corner. Once he switched his lock to a single, I said 'Thank You,' and sat around him. Once I threatened his back, he bailed out. I was to get a quick two count as well."

The takedown and two-point nearfall gave Jaggers a commanding 5-1 lead.

With time winding down, Mendes attempted to roll through from the bottom and both men ended up holding onto a leg. During the scramble, Jaggers' leg was wrenched hard and the referee called for injury time with 26 seconds left. Jaggers could be heard screaming "He broke my ankle!" as trainers attended to him.

"The first thing I thought was 'Oh no, not his knee again,'" Coghill said.

"It was bent in a weird way," Jaggers said. "He was a little desperate. My foot did like a 90-degree turn from my ankle and my heel was touching my shin. I knew that there was only 25 seconds left. I just told myself 'This is something you've got to suck up. You won't feel it in 26 seconds when you're national champ.'"

Jaggers was able to compose himself before injury time expired, though he was limping heavily. Jaggers chose to release Mendes for the escape to make it 5-2. Jaggers spent the final 13 seconds of the match backing up, but Mendes couldn't find the takedown as time expired.

Jaggers said March 24 a visit to the doctor revealed no breaks but several torn ligaments. He said he was going to rest and enjoy the win for now before getting back to his athletic endeavors.

"In two weeks, my intramural softball team gets back on the diamond," Jaggers said, with a laugh. "We're going to rehab this and get back in place for the team."

As for the distant future, Jaggers said he has no doubt how long he'll be involved in wrestling.

"Probably the rest of my life, either in coaching or training for international competition," Jaggers said. "I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet."

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