The world becomes small for Oregon wrestler Chael Sonnen when he steps onto the wrestling mat. All he sees is his opponent in front of him and the crowd around him.
“I wrestle for two reasons: One, to excite the crowd, and two, to win,” Sonnen said. “I don’t come in with any other game plan — just to win.”
Sonnen has been “just winning” for more than 15 years at the amateur, high school, junior national, college, national and international levels. Last year, Sonnen, then a junior All-American, left the Oregon wrestling team to train with the U.S. Olympic team.
“There really was no weighing the decision, it was time to go,” Sonnen said. “The whole point of doing an amateur sport is to make the Olympic team and to win a gold medal.”
Sonnen used up a redshirt season in order to fulfill his dream of reaching the 2000 Olympic games in Sydney.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” Sonnen said. “I want to make my mark on the sport, be an Olympian, represent my country, bring honor to my family and pass the torch to younger generations.”
When he left Oregon for the Olympic trials, he also left behind the freestyle technique used in college for the Greco-Roman style of wrestling.
“I consider myself a two-sport athlete,” he said. “Freestyle and Greco-Roman are completely different. [Greco-Roman] goes at a much faster pace.”
Sonnen spent 18 months with the team, honing his skills with the nation’s best wrestlers.
One of Sonnen’s training partners was Randy Couture, the Ultimate Fighting Champion of the world.
“Battling with guys like that every day takes a lot of fear out of your mind,” he said. “I don’t get scared of much anymore. I had to butt heads with him twice a day for 18 months.”
Last summer at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Dallas, Sonnen won four matches to put himself in contention for an Olympic bid.
“I’d beaten all of the guys in the tournament before and they’d beaten me as well,” Sonnen said. “I knew it wasn’t a shoe-in by any means. But I was put in really good position.”
In the 187.25 kilogram semifinal match, Sonnen faced Ethan Bosch for a spot in the championship match. After two minutes and 22 seconds of back-and-forth takedowns, throws and exposures, Bosch wound up the victor by fall.
“It was real disappointing,” Sonnen said. “It’s a pretty big deal and you want to win. It was close, but it wasn’t heartbreaking.”
Now, Sonnen is back with the Oregon team and is a big reason why the Ducks are ranked No. 12 in the nation with a 7-3 dual match record.
“Chael is in a weight class where he’s as good as anyone,” Oregon head coach Chuck Kearney said. “He’s very technically sound and is a great athlete who moves well. He’s big enough and better now than ever.”
“Chael’s one of those kind of guys who loves to pin all the time,” former Oregon coach Ron Finley said back in 1998. “He’s extremely talented and has so many different moves in his arsenal to throw guys and pin them down.”
Sonnen is on a tear this season, with a 22-4 overall record and a team-high 13 pins. He has already secured a spot in the school record book in career victories, winning percentage and career and single season pins. Sonnen needs only eight more pins this season to surpass Don Brown for the record.
Ranked seventh in the Amateur Wrestling News poll, he’s scored upsets over No. 5 Rusty Cook of Boise State, No. 3 Zach Thompson of Iowa State and No. 13 Zach Brietenbush of North Carolina State.
But don’t tell that to Sonnen.
“The goal is just to win,” he said. “I have absolutely no interest in anything else, polls, team scoring, nothing. I’m there to win the 197-pound match. I try to not come up with too much of a plan. Bruce Lee said ‘Not having a way is a way.’”
The closest thing Sonnen has for a goal is winning the NCAA Championships at 197 pounds.
Beyond that, Sonnen doesn’t have many plans besides wrestling.
“I would like to get in to Ultimate Fighting just for the fact that it’s the big one in mixed martial arts,” Sonnen said. “I’m ready for the 2004 [Olympics] but I’m also looking forward to this year’s World Championships.”
Wherever he ends up, his goal will be the same. Just to win.
Just win, baby
Daily Emerald
January 17, 2001
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