STUMBLING TO A TITLE
Oregon's Webster found special balance at best time
Oregon’s Shane Webster appeared to be in trouble midway through the final period of his 184-pound NCAA championship match with Minnesota’s Roger Kish.
With the score tied 1-1, the Gopher appeared to have the upper hand … or at least Webster’s left thigh in his hands … as Kish was ready to complete perhaps the ma
tch-deciding single-leg takedown with 1:14 left in the match.The only problem was that Kish first had to deal with Webster’s “stumble” as the Oregon senior used what base he had and drove the Gopher backwards, eventually grabbing the bout’s only takedown.
For many observers in the Ford Center, that move — which provided the winning margin in the Duck’s 3-2 victory — was nearly as surprising as Webster. The Ducks’ team leader earned just his school’s second national championship and first since Johnny Miller won the 115-pound title in 1969.
“(Shane’s) got a phenomenal balance where it almost looks like he will be dead to rights. We call it a stumbler’s balance,” said Oregon coach Chuck Kearney. “He stumbles around and is able to get his feet back behind him. He’s been taken down a couple times this year, but not many.”
In fact, the Oregon wrestler had hardly lost any matches — going 37-1 — before this year’s NCAA tournament, where the native of Sams Valley, Ore., was seeded No. 5. But due to the fact that he had not met any top-ten ranked wrestler at his weight prior to the Nationals, most people didn’t know too much about Webster in Oklahoma City.
“We don’t have a lot of top teams coming out (to Oregon),” said Webster, whose career record was 107-24 before this year’s NCAAs. “We have a lot of All-Americans (29 before he and teammate Joey Bracamonte, 5th at 165, placed in Oklahoma City) but not a lot of champions. So when we come out here, we don’t get a lot of the respect that we deserve.”
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