SCRAMBLE AT THE TOP
Stanford's Gentry holds on tight at 157 pounds
Is that fire in the eyes of Matt Gentry, looking to defend his NCAA championship?
No, the Stanford wrestler’s eyes are just beaten up from battling in what is considered the toughest weight in Division I.
“It started up here two weeks ago in Reno (where he won the Tournament of Champions, Dec. 19),” said Gentry, pointing to his right eye shortly after the 157-pound senior defeated Illinois’ Alex Tirapelle, 8-1, in the Midlands final, Dec. 30. “I got another little cherry last night in the last ten seconds of my semifinal match (a 5-1 win over Iowa State’s Trent Paulson) and somehow in that flurry (with Tirapelle) I got another one.”
Gentry said it doesn’t matter how many future black eyes he acquires this year as long as he’s victorious the final night of the college season this March in St. Louis, Mo., at the Div. I championships.
The Midlands in Evanston, Ill., is not the NCAAs but it could be, considering the quality of the competition in Northwestern’s Welsh-Ryan Arena.
“N
othing beats an NCAA title but this is an exciting tournament,” said the top-ranked Gentry, who was named both the Outstanding Wrestler and Champion of Champions in the 42nd annual wrestling tournament. “The crowd is awesome, the announcing is great. The competition is unbelievable.”That is especially true at 157 pounds, where the last two NCAA champions (Gentry and 2003 titlist Ryan Bertin of Michigan) compete as well as the last two runner-ups (Ohio’s Jake Percival, who lost to Gentry last March, and Tirapelle, who finished second to Bertin in Kansas City).
But considering Gentry, a native of Grants Pass, Ore., is the only wrestler, ranked in the top ten at that weight who lives west of Nebraska, the Cardinal must make trips to tournaments like the Midlands to see and wrestle his competition and make sure people don’t forget about him living on the West Coast.
“I’m not out to prove anything, except to myself,” Gentry said. “The rankings don’t mean much. It comes down to who steps on the mat and is ready to wrestle. I know that I am that guy. I will focus on myself and not let that other stuff that I cannot control affect me.
“That’s the hardest part about being the defending champ; not letting that pressure get to you. Many defending champs don’t repeat.”
For the record, four 2003 NCAA champions, who returned to defend their crowns in 2004, came up short in St. Louis: Bertin, Cornell’s Travis Lee (who moved from 125 to 133), Oklahoma’s Teyon Ware at 141 pounds and Oklahoma State’s 197-pound Jake Rosholt, who won at 184 pounds in 2003.
“In my mind, this year is going to be harder than last year,” said the unbeaten Gentry (18-0 after Midlands). “Last year, I had nothing to lose. I had no pressure as the underdog. This year I’ve got a bulls-eye on my chest. I have to work that much harder.”
But it’s hard to imagine Gentry being more confident than he is now.
“I’m riding high,” he said. “I know that I can compete with the best in the country.”
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