CHARACTER OF A COWBOY
Showman Hendricks enjoyed time in NCAA spotlight
Throughout the NCAA wrestling tournament’s 76-year history, there have been some colorful characters who have won national titles. But there has never been an NCAA champion quite like Johny Hendricks. And after his thrilling shootout with Ryan Churella in the 165-pound finals, Hendricks lived up to his colorful reputation.
Fo
r Hendricks — a native of Edmond, Okla. — this year’s NCAA tournament played out like an old-fashioned Western with the hometown cowboy riding off into the sunset after a dramatic come-from-behind victory. The story line began during Friday night’s semifinals match when the Cowboy junior won a controversial 4-3 decision over American’s Muzaffar Abdurakmanov. Hendricks was awarded the deciding point when the referee called Abdurakmanov for stalling in the third period. Most fans in the Ford Center except the Oklahoma State contingent booed as Hendricks played to his section of fans.
“I’ve got 13,000 (fans) hating me and 3,000 loving me,” said the OSU junior on his polarization of the Ford Center crowd
Hendricks’ match against Churella in the finals was even more dramatic. Following two first-period takedowns, Hendricks established dominance on his feet. However, a shot by Hendricks late in the second period proved costly, when Churella slapped a cradle on Hendricks for a takedown and two-point nearfall before the buzzer sounded. At the start of the third period it was Hendricks who was trailing 7-4 with everyone anxiously waiting to see how this story would end.
Like any good Western, victory is achieved by overcoming what appears to be an insurmountable setback — and Hendricks added to the suspense by using his own brand of last-second heroics.
Hendricks earned an escape and a takedown in the third period to tie the match at 7-7. He then cut Churella loose and gave the Wolverine senior a one-point lead. But with three seconds to go in the match, Hendricks wrote the ending sequence of his own script with an edge-of-the-mat takedown that clinched a 9-8 victory over Churella.
As Cowboy fans cheered with excitement, Hendricks put on an animated post-victory celebration that included hoisting head coach John Smith into the air, pointing at his section of fans, leading them in an O-S-U chant and running around the arena with an Oklahoma State flag that a fan had given him. While this may have gone over well with his own fans, the antics Hendricks employed didn’t endear him with many who were in attendance.
“I love it because I have so many fans out there who hate me,” said Hendricks. “Look at all those guys who were booing me whenever I won. They were still booing me and that’s the thing that motivates me. It’s awesome to have all these people out there that want me to lose because it makes me work ten times harder. You saw the last minute, the whole place was erupting. I ended up winning and I heard a lot of boos. That’s the kind of stuff that keeps me motivated. All these people want you to lose so it helps keep me motivated to stay on top.”
(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.)