Columbus East graduate and Indiana University senior Graham Rooks, right, competes in the Big Ten Championships March 4, 2023, at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Submitted photo
After qualifying for the NCAA Tournament in 2020 and 2021, Graham Rooks wasn’t happy about not making it last year.
So the Columbus East graduate and Indiana University senior went to work. He put in a heavy offseason of training in Bloomington, and the work has paid off.
Rooks has made it back to the NCAA, which begins Thursday and continues through Saturday in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
“Qualifying my first two years was nice, and not making it last year put a little fire in me,” Rooks said. “I put in a lot of work. Making it this year has been a lot of fun.”
Hoosiers coach Angel Escobedo said Rooks took last year’s miss hard.
“His offseason after not making the national tournament last year hurt him bad,” Escobedo said. “I remember he had tears in his eyes, and he said, ‘What can I do to get back to nationals.’ He stayed here all summer, and he was putting in the work. He’s doubled his wins. What a tremendous improvement that he’s had, and I think it all circles back to the offseason that he put in.”
Rooks and Escobedo thought Rooks was going through his moves too fast last year, so Escobedo helped slow him down.
“I think last year, I was really stressed with wanting to win so much,” Rooks said. “I started working with a sports psychologist, and one of those feelings was maybe feeling like I didn’t belong there. I started not putting too much pressure on myself, and that really helped. I also worked with Angel with slowing things down in practice, working on the fundamentals. You can have all these flashy moves, but if they’re not working, it doesn’t help.”
Columbus East graduate and Indiana University senior Graham Rooks, left competes in the Big Ten Championships March 4, 2023, at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Submitted photo
Rooks qualified for the NCAA by finishing fifth in the Big Ten Tournament at 149 pounds. The seventh-seeded Rooks pulled a major upset in the quarterfinals when he earned a 6-5 decision against No. 2-seed and defending champion Austin Gomez of Wisconsin.
“I think that’s probably the biggest win I’ve had so far,” Rooks said. “He’s a good wrestler. My single(-leg takedowns) were pretty open, so I just tried to keep on him and have fun out there. I didn’t want to make the match any bigger than it was.”
“He had one of the biggest upsets of the whole tournament,” Escobedo added. “Some guys had picked (Gomez) maybe to win the national tournament. That shows Graham can compete with just about anybody.”
Columbus East graduate and Indiana University senior Graham Rooks calebrates a win in the Big Ten Championships March 4, 2023, at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Submitted photo
Rooks (27-9) is seeded No. 21 in the NCAA 149-pound bracket. He will face No. 12 Doug Zapf (22-7) of Penn in the opening round.
“I don’t know much about him, have never wrestled him before,” Rooks said. “I’ve seen him in the same bracket as him in tournaments. I’m excited.”
In the second round, Rooks would face either No. 5-seed Paniro Johnson of Iowa State or No.28-seed Jared Verkleeren of Virginia.
“I like my chances,” Rooks said. “Coming off of last weekend, beating the 2-seed at Big Ten, it’s a big confidence booster, knowing I can wrestle with these upper-level guys.”
Graham Rooks
A state champion as a senior at East in 2018, Rooks redshirted his first year at IU. He qualified for the NCAA as a redshirt-freshman in 2020, but it was canceled at the onset of the COVID pandemic. He made it back in 2021 and went 1-2.
Rooks is on track to graduate in May with a degree in interior design. He plans to go to graduate school next year and use the extra year of eligibility that the NCAA granted athletes because of the COVID pandemic.
“He’s a leader,” Escobedo said. “He’s one of our captains, and it’s great to have him back for another year. It’s really great to have someone like Graham to keep that culture going.”
