BEST IN THE WEST
Cherrington ended doubt about nation's best at 157
Ben Cherrington not only won a national championship for Boise State, the Bronco senior also ended any doubt who was the best 157-pounder in the Pac-10 Conference. He defeated Arizona State’s Brian Stith, 7-3, in the NCAA title match in Oklahoma City’s Ford Center.
For it was Stith, who was also on the losing end of the duo’s conference championship match, Feb. 27, in Palo Alto, Calif., where Cherrington recorded a 6:21 pin of
the Sun Devil in what was a “one-second” fall by the Bronco while the two fought for a takedown.“(Cherrington) had a high crotch on us and Brian was trying to hold on to his weight and was going on his back, back and forth, and they called the pin,” said Arizona State coach Thom Ortiz, pointing out that the “one-second” pin was a new rule this year.
And Stith was not happy about the rule, nor the call by the Pac-10 official, which also led to Stith being seeded No. 10 and Cherrington, No. 5, in Oklahoma City. Stith was so upset that he said he could not look at nor speak to Cherrington prior to their championship match
“It has given me the motivation to make it to the NCAA finals this year,” said Stith, shortly after he defeated Lehigh’s Derek Zinck in one of the national semifinal bouts. “After (the Pac 10s), I was really down for two or three days. But now I am in the (NCAA) finals and it has given me a lot of motivation to win.”
Unfortunately for the Sun Devil, Cherrington was more motivated … or at least had more offense than Stith as the Bronco jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two periods and tallied two takedowns and nearly three minutes of riding time in the championship match.
Cherrington admitted that he thought of the conference title bout prior to the NCAA finals.
“I knew that I had pinned him in that first match,” said Cherrington. “They showed the replay over and over and everyone else knew it too. This gave me a chance to prove I could beat him.”
And Cherrington, a native of Granby, Colo., also earned just his school’s second NCAA championship; joining former Bronco Kirk White, who won the 165-pound title in 1999, and who was sitting matside with BSU head coach Greg Randall in the Ford Center.
“He was there my (true) freshman year (2001-02) but had been gone for the past three years,” Cherrington said. “(Randall) brought him back as a second assistant this year. He’s been a tremendous help. I know I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for him. That goes for all my (You can read the rest of this article by subscribing to W.I.N. Magazine. Either contact our office at 1-888-305-0606 or subscribe through this website by selecting the “Subscribe” section on our front page.)