All-American wrestler Billman officially deemed ineligible

By CHRIS ANTONACCI
Collegian Staff Writer

It's official.

Nittany Lion wrestling coach Troy Sunderland announced that Jamarr Billman, a 149-pound sophomore wrestler, has been declared academically ineligible for the duration of the season, ending an academic inquiry into Billman's transcript.

"It's better than sitting around not knowing," Billman said. "It means a lot that I can't wrestle for any match, but Iowa means a little more because it's Iowa.

"I let down my team, my family -- everybody."

Billman, though, has not relinquished all ties with the Lions (7-3, 1-1 Big Ten). He will still participate in practice, where he will work closely with his successor, Jean Celestin.

Celestin, now 5-11, struggled this past weekend, losing 25-10 against No. 1 Iowa wrestler T.J. Williams and 12-4 and the hands of Ohio State's Jeff Bucher.

"We're extremely disappointed as might be expected," Sunderland said. "Losing Jamarr is a big blow."

Billman earned All-American accolades for his efforts last season, finishing 35-6, and was the No. 2 wrestler in the nation at 149 pounds when he last wrestled competitively. He boasted an unblemished record this season, including individual championships at the East Stroudsburg Open, Mat-Town and the Penn State Open.

However, while Billman posted success on the wrestling mat, he failed to have success inside the classroom in spite of his 3.0 grade-point average last spring.

Sunderland said he was aware of Billman's academic woes at the latter juncture of last semester, and Billman was permitted to miss the team's two dual meets against Edinboro Dec. 11 and Clarion Dec. 12 to study for finals.

Apparently, it was too little too late.

"No one's happy about Jamarr being out, him most of all," Lion senior co-captain Glenn Pritzlaff said. "Everyone was initially upset about it -- people were upset at him, he was upset at himself.

"We're all good friends with Jamarr. We're not going to turn our backs on him because he's going through some trouble … He's a great kid. He's had some troubles with his grades, but he's not the first college athlete that it's happened to, and I'm sure he won't be the last."

Billman was one of several key Lion wrestlers out of the lineup this past weekend against Ohio State (9-6, 0-2 Big Ten) and No. 3 Iowa (9-1, 2-0).

The Lions were also without the services of heavyweights Mark Janus and Matt Calabretta, 184 pounder Ross Thatcher and 165 pounder Alex Leykikh with injuries.