There is one big man on the Ohio State campus who takes his game to the mats, rather than the field.

He competes with a passion one can see only in the nation’s top heavyweight wrestler and Olympic hopeful. Tommy Rowlands, OSU wrestling phenom, is ready to take on the world.

Rowlands, a junior, competed in Russia two weeks ago as a member of Team U.S.A. He won his group and placed fourth overall, the highest among U.S. competitors.

The tournament featured the 2000 heavyweight Olympic silver medalist as well as the Turkish European champion.

“It’s no doubt the toughest tournament I’ve ever competed in. Russia’s got the best tradition in wrestling,” Rowlands said. “If you want to excel at the highest level, it’s pretty important to head to Russia and compete there.”

Rowlands is no stranger to international competition. Since his days at Bishop Ready High School in Columbus, the Hilliard native has competed overseas in France, India and Australia.

During his freshmen year at OSU, he claimed more wins than any wrestler in the nation with a 43-4 record and went on to a national runner-up finish at the NCAA championships.

This past March, Rowlands claimed the national title in the heavyweight class division at the championships in Albany, N.Y.

“Winning the NCAA title this March was the greatest experience I’ve ever had in my life,” Rowlands said.

His goals are to win the title the next two years and to lead the OSU team to a championship of its own.

“I think our team has the potential to be NCAA champions as a team, and I want to get that done by the time I leave here,” he said.

Rowlands began wrestling at the age of 6 with the guidance of his father, Tom Rowlands, a former wrestler and coach at Lancaster Fisher Catholic in the early 1980s.

“The fact that he’s been around wrestling and is a big fan of it, I was exposed at a very young age,” the younger Rowlands said. “He’s a very important part of my wrestling career and also my development as a person today.”

Tommy Rowlands wrestled in Dublin and Ready youth leagues before competing at the high school level, where he was named National High School champion at Ready in 1999.

Rowlands’ assistant coach at Ready, Jim Edwards, said the wrestler is at his best under the fiercest of competition.

“When the pressure’s on his shoulders, you just see it in his eyes before a match. He just loves it,” Edwards said.

Edwards, a long-time friend of the family, has watched Rowlands wrestle since the seventh grade. The former All-American offered his own words of wisdom.

“I started telling him, it’s not how good you are, it’s how good you can be,” Edwards said. “He knows he’s great and he’s on the verge of doing some things that kids only dream about, but he’s not cocky about it. He’s just an all-around good guy.”

Rowlands attributes some of his success to the support of his family. The oldest of four, Rowlands has three sisters, all fans of the sport. His mother knows more about wrestling than almost anybody, Edwards said.

“My parents have been very good to me, and I owe a lot to them,” Rowlands said.

His father, who wrestled at Ohio University, recalls Tommy getting picked on as a young teenager. Tommy was a late-bloomer, but he really broke out his sophomore year in high school, he said. By his senior year, he had four national titles under his belt.

“His senior year in high school he really started dominating. No one could compete with him,” he said. “I’ve always enjoyed that he’s managed to keep things in perspective. The thing that sticks out in my mind is his persistence. He just never quits.”

Rowlands is finding as much success in the classroom as he is in the gym. Last week, he was accepted into the OSU Fisher College of Business and plans to persue a degree in business management there.

Rowlands said the experience of being a student-athlete is a continuous struggle, but his love for the field has kept him going.

“There’s always competition in business, and that’s something I always want to be a part of,” Rowlands said. “I love everything about it.”

His plans for graduation in the spring of 2004 coincide with a major goal on his wrestling agenda: the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece.

His father said his son is the odds on favorite to make the team.

“I think time is in Tommy’s favor,” he said.