On July 23, 2001, about 1845 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172, N52012, was substantially damaged while landing at the Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport (MGY), Dayton, Ohio. The student pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local instructional flight. No flight plan was filed, and the flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. According to the pilot, he departed runway 20 for right closed traffic. He completed the crosswind, downwind, base, and final legs of the pattern. Once over the runway, the pilot flared and over rotated the airplane. The airplane touched down hard, and the nose wheel contacted the ground bursting the tire. The airplane came to a stop on the right side of the runway, and the pilot egressed. Examination of the airframe by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the nose section and firewall had been substantially damaged.