COLUMBUS, Ohio — At Butler High, Joe Smith was just another body in the wrestling room.

The 2001 graduate didn't start in the sport until his junior year and posted a pedestrian 30-20 record at heavyweight.

"In high school, I never got my name in the paper," Smith said.

When he moved on to Penn State University, he still wanted to wrestle, but he knew he wouldn't make the Nittany Lions' varsity team.

"They were just too good for me to walk on," Smith said.

Undaunted, he helped start a club wrestling team at the school while coaching the elementary program in the State College school district.

Now a graduate student studying to become a veterinarian, Smith's active wrestling career has been reborn.

At the age of 24, Smith finds himself in the National Collegiate Wrestling Association Championships as a 197 pounder.

"I was ready to call it a career," Smith said. "I never thought I would have an opportunity like this."

Smith thought he had used up all his college wrestling eligibility. But after looking into it further, it was found he had one year left.

And the Ohio State club team was in desperate need to fill out some of the heavier weight classes.

"I was real happy to have him," said OhioState coach Brian Church. "We didn't have a lot of guys in the upper weights. Plus, with his experience, he was definitely a real positive impact on the team."

Smith, though, hadn't wrestled competitively in two years. He had been involved in the sport as a coach and a wrestling partner, but that was a far cry from taking on other seasoned athletes.

"I was coaching and, at Ohio State, I worked out with the club just as an extra body," Smith said.

Suddenly, that extra body became a teammate.

Smith worked his way through the difficult 197-pound bracket at the North CentralConference Tournament last weekend, defeating two defending national qualifiers in the process on the way to an eighth-place finish.

That was good enough to get him to nationals, which will be held inLakeland, Fla., beginning Thursday.

Part of Smith's late success is his knowledge of the sport. As a coach, he often would pull wrestlers aside and critique them.

While wrestling, he found he was more analytical and cerebral.

"He's looked at it from both sides of it," Church said. "This year, he put both of those together and wrestled at his best. He did a great job. Hopefully, he'll be able to come home as an all-American."

Smith is reveling in his late success. Call him a late bloomer.

"I figure no matter what happens, this is a pretty good way to end my career," Smith said.