ABOVE: Augustana’s Jaxon Rohman (left) grapples with an opponent. Photo courtesy of Kage Lenger.

FAIRMONT — Now that Jaxson Rohman has finished his collegiate wrestling career with a third-place finish in the NCAA Division II Championships and a second-place team finish, he is getting the chance to reflect on his past accomplishments.

Rohman’s college career came to a close this past Saturday at the National Tournament in Indianapolis, Indiana, as he pinned Trevon Gray of Pitt.-Johnstown in the third-place match at the 2:20 mark of the first period.

Rohman’s wrestling success came at a young age, being born into a family of grapplers. With most of the influential men in his family being wrestlers, it only made sense that he would someday take the mat himself.

In high school, Rohman set records as a Martin County Area Red Bull, becoming the all-time win leader with 264 wins. He also secured all-state wrestling awards, finishing in the top six during his six years of varsity wrestling. In addition, Rohman claimed two state titles, one in 2018 and the other in 2021.

Rohman headed to Augustana after his senior year of high school, where he remained dominant on the mat despite a higher level of competition.

“It was tough right away,” said Rohman. “Every single match in college is tough. There’s a lot better competition. Everyone is super good. There are no easy matches.”

Rohman remained focused and continued developing his skill set as his career progressed, focusing on becoming more skilled in hand fighting and more explosive from the bottom.

“College is a lot more mat wrestling and hand-fighting,” said Rohman. “You have to be pretty tough in a hand fight, and it’s a lot more mat wrestling. So, being able to get out from the bottom and ride people is a lot more important in college, and you don’t really learn those things super well in high school. So that was a big transition, especially for me.”

The work Rohman put in paid off. In 2021-22, Rohman was a National qualifier at 125 pounds, an NWCA Scholar All-American, and finished 4-1 at the NCAA DII Super Region V Tournament and went undefeated at the Jimmie Open to lock in first place.

In his Sophomore year at Augustana, Rohman again earned a spot as an NWCA Scholar All-American and qualified Nationally again at 125 lbs. Rohman also became an NCAA DII All-American, CSC Academic All-District, and NSIC All-American Team of Excellence. He also took home the title at the Jimmie Open and was runner-up at the Super Region V Tournament while going 2-1 against Division I opponents.

He continued to add to the family pedigree his junior year when he was an NCAA All-American, CSC Academic All-American, CSC Academic All-District, NWCA Scholar All-American, and All-NSIC and went 3-1 at the NCAA Championship. Rohman was again runner-up at the Super Regional V and won four matches to lock in first place at the DWU Open.

“You have to be ready for a war every single time you go out there,” said Rohman. “If you’re not, it’s not going to go well for you. So I’d say just being ready to go to battle and to give it your all every single match is important.”

Rohman maintained the same intensity in his final year and closed his career with a third-place match win. Rohman finished his time at Augustana with a record of 23-5 for the season and 80-23 for his career.

Preparing for this year’s National Tournament, Rohman focused on sharpening his skills and remaining consistent.

“Just the last couple of weeks,” said Rohman. “We’re just focusing on honing in on my own skills and not really doing anything different, just keeping the same schedule that I did all year.

I’d say just fine-tuning my skills to make sure I was ready.”

Rohman is headed back home after graduating and is ready for the next chapter in his life, getting married and helping train his siblings.

“It was fun to be able to help Carver and help him get better,” said Rohman. “And now Pierce, he’s got both Carver and I to help him to get better too. So I’m looking forward to wrestling with him a lot this summer to help him achieve his goals next year.”

Accolades aside, Rohman is also looking back on what he contributed to his teammates and friends. Winning was fun, too.

“I hope people know that I was a man of God,” said Rohman. “I really used my faith and tried to help other people get to him too through sports. I’d say my favorite memories are from college,

making the National finals last two years, last year and the year before, and then winning state

titles in high school and then doing well at Team State too.”