Five years ago, when Shane Webster decided to wrestle for Oregon, he boasted the title of No. 1 recruit at 184 pounds in the nation. Today, 91 wins later, Webster is a step closer to his second straight Pacific-10 Conference Championship.
Already second all-time in wins at Oregon, Webster is in a position this weekend in Palo Alto, Calif. to become the first wrestler in Oregon history to win a NCAA National Championship.
“He is on track,” Oregon coach Chuck Kearney said. “He’s doing the things he needs to do, and we’ve got some things that we are going to put into his training that will help him with a national championship.”
In his final season at Oregon, Webster has put an exclamation point on his career with 30-plus wins and only one loss. As the defending Pac-10 Champion preps for another conference championship this season, Webster has taken motivation from an unlikely source: A loss.
“Everything in life has an up and a down. Everything has a positive and a negative. The negative of that match was that in my mind and Shane’s mind the best wrestler didn’t win,” Kearney said regarding Webster’s loss in Reno.
Northwestern’s Mike Tamillow beat Webster 2-0 in the 184-pound final Dec. 18 at the Reno Tournament of Champions. The loss has helped Webster understand he can only wrestle one match at a time.
“Thirty wins? Nah, right now I haven’t won a match,” Webster said. “After each match I’ll be 1-0. Then I’ll be 0-0 again.”
That mindset has prepared Webster for the Pac-10 and NCAA championships. He wants to make sure he has a strong training schedule so he can hit his peaks at this weekend’s Pac-10 championships and eventually the Nationals, Webster said.
“If you want to win a national championship you are going to wrestle five matches where you are evenly matched,” Kearney said.
Oregon’s coaching staff has challenged all of the Ducks to wrestle better. Kearney believes that the focus has to be on getting better and mastering the sport, which will give the Ducks a better chance at winning matches on a regular basis.
The defending Pac-10 champion at 165 pounds, Joey Bracamonte, is projected to close out his season similarly to Webster, according to the Oregon coaching staff.
For many of these Ducks, the Pac-10 championships will be the last time they take the mat for Oregon. To continue to Nationals, wrestlers must place in the top four at the conference championship. Skyler Woods, Chet McBee and Martin Mitchell will fight for top spots in pursuit of possibly joining Webster and Bracamonte in Oklahoma City for the NCAA Championship on March 16-18.
Redshirt freshman Ryan Dunn is projected to compete for the 125-pound Pac-10 Championship. He has a record of 25-7 on the season.
Oregon finished the season with a 49-0 victory over Portland State and wrapped up a 7-7 overall record and 5-6 in the Pac-10. Last year the Ducks finished third at Pac-10 championships.