Top position again: Columbia Station's Lance Palmer named to Ohio State Hall of Fame for dominating wrestling career

Lance Palmer always seems to be ahead of schedule. The Columbia Station native won a Division I state wrestling championship as a high school freshman, earned All-American status as a college freshman, earned his first million a couple years ago and became a multimillionaire a year later. Now, at the ripe old age of 33, Palmer is a Hall of Famer. Palmer was one of 12 athletes named to the Ohio State Hall of Fame Class of 2020 last week and will be inducted during a Sept. 25 banquet. "It's really crazy because somebody that I look up to as far as someone who's a great fighter and a wrestler from there is Mark Coleman, and he hasn't been inducted into the Hall of Fame," Palmer said. "It's cool to be inducted this young, but it's kind of like … I don't know what goes into the process of getting inducted but I feel like I did all the right things that I could while I was in college and even after college. "So it's cool but it is weird to be this young and getting inducted. I think someone (in the class) is getting inducted who was in college in the '40s." After winning four state titles at St. Edward, Palmer finished on the podium four times at the NCAA Tournament as a member of the Buckeyes — just one of eight four-time All-Americans in Ohio State history. He finished with 121 career victories, which puts him in the top 10 all-time for the program, and capped his senior season in 2010 by winning the Big Ten championship and finishing as the national runner-up. It's that last item that Palmer fixates on when recalling his time with the Buckeyes. "At least for me I always have in the back of my head not winning a national title, but I feel like it drove me to get into what I'm doing now with fighting and I think it's driven me to get to this point in my fight career," he said. "Overall I feel like I did everything that I could during that time and just never won a title, and maybe it wasn't meant to be but it was meant to push me into what I'm doing now. I try to take the positives out of it, but I think a national title was the only thing that would've kept me from being in that Hall of Fame conversation." Palmer took his elite grappling skills and transitioned into mixed martial arts, where he became one of the nation's top wrestling coaches for one of the top MMA groups in Team Alpha Male based out of Sacramento, Calif. Palmer has won featherweight championships with Resurrection Fighting Alliance, World Series of Fighting and the Professional Fighters League. He's won the title at the end of the first two PFL seasons, earning a $1 million payday each time. "I felt like the second time was more like the second state title that I won," Palmer said. "I felt like there was a little more pressure put on myself to make sure I did it again when I put myself into the final. I still enjoyed it, but it was just different. I always feel like I did enough work to be there, but when you're actually there for the second time in a row, you feel like you have to do it. You have to win. "I had a really bad cold for about three weeks during that time and who knows if it was COVID or not because I was living in New Jersey during my fight camp. There was a lot going on during that camp so it was more of a relief then excitement at that point. Just to be able get through all the adversity I had during that fight camp, leading up to the final fight, and coming out with a win — 50-45 on all cards and some 50-44 or so — it was awesome. "I feel like I'm getting better every fight, I'm improving and my fight IQ is getting higher and higher every time I fight. All I can ask for is improvement and I've been able to do that for the most part." Palmer was set to try for the threepeat when PFL, along with the rest of the sports world, shut down, eventually canceling the 2020 season. Taking advantage of the downtime — and sticking with his theme of being ahead of the game — he decided to focus on his new Columbus landscaping business. "I've had nonstop work, and I've actually been busier than I would have been if I was in fight camp because I just go to the gym and train a couple times a day and hang out at home," Palmer said. "Now I'm gone from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. every day. It's a blessing in disguise because I get to grow the business and learn every day." The only drawback to the canceled PFL season is that Palmer would have had a fight scheduled in Columbus in August, which would have coincided with a documentary episode that will still be airing that month. "It's called 'The Champion's Journey' … they're still doing the episode on ESPN, but it really would have been cool if I was fighting in August, having the show come out and then getting inducted in September, so that's really the only thing that sucks," Palmer said. Palmer is staying in touch with the MMA world — he's training Joseph Benavidez in Las Vegas and then flying with him to Abu Dhabi for his UFC title fight in July — and will be ready for the 2021 PFL season if and when it starts. He is 22-3 and on an 11-fight win streak. "If it gets to that point of winning a third one and going for a fourth, and then winning a fourth, then maybe it's time to hang it up because I feel like four is my lucky number as far as being a four-time state champ and being a four-time All-American," Palmer said. "Having four PFL titles in a row, that would put the icing on the cake for sure." But for now he's looking forward to the banquet and a special halftime presentation for him and his Hall of Fame classmates at Ohio State's football game against Rutgers on Sept. 26. It's all still sinking in that he's added the prestigious accolade to his already impressive athletic resume. "It's never really something you think about until you get the phone call and they say they're going to induct you. It was pretty cool," Palmer said. "It kind of solidifies that you put in all the work, I mean you have to be deserving of it, so that's kind of nice that you become part of that elite group of athletes from Ohio State." Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @ShaunBennettct on Twitter.