Rockets' Lierman wins in overtime

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BY TODD HENRICHS / Lincoln Journal Star

OMAHA — A few weeks ago, Ben Lierman was known as the wrestler who couldn’t finish his moves.

Lucky for him, things apparently can turn around pretty quickly in the sport.

Lierman, unranked and with eight losses this season, won a state championship Saturday to cap a remarkable from-out-of-nowhere season for the Syracuse wrestling program.

Lierman’s win in the 171-pound final was remarkable in its own right. Extended to overtime by Auburn’s Travis Cole, Lierman not only scored a takedown, he took Cole to his back and won the championship — just the fourth in Syracuse’s history — by pin.

“It’s a good way to end a career,” said Lierman, who at 26-8 was as unlikely a state champion as any of the 56 gold-medal winners determined Saturday at Qwest Center Omaha.

That Syracuse finished second behind Class B untouchable Omaha Skutt was another success story. The Rockets came into the meet ranked 10th by the Nebraska Scholastic Wrestling Coaches Association.

Syracuse went from scoring 11 points at state a year ago to 101 this time around. Five Rockets won medals, including runner-up Derek Rowe at 140. Four others won matches at state.

“As we drove home last year, I said to them that they needed to remember that feeling of disappointment,” Syracuse coach Chad Fuller said. “We knew that we had to go to work, and they really bought into it. It paid dividends all season.”

For Lierman, it paid off in a championship, a fair accomplishment considering he didn’t even make it to state last year.

And the way he won the title, executing a perfect move in overtime, well, even he found irony in that.

“We always thought he had the ability, but it seemed like he was only halfway there,” Fuller said. “He needed that next six inches to finish it.

“But the last few weeks, it seemed like it just clicked for him. That’s what you want to have happen at districts and state.”

Reach Todd Henrichs at 473-7320 or thenrichs@journalstar.com.