By Mike Finn, W.I.N. Editor
How good is Sam Hazewinkel as the 125-pound Oklahoma Sooner enters his senior season?
“I’m quite a bit better,” said Hazewinkel. “Unfortunately, I’m still third.”
Such is the way this three-time All-American reminds himself that he has not finished higher than third place in his three previous NCAA tournaments. Rather than mope around with the knowledge that all three chances at finishing No. 1 in the nation — including the past two years when he was seeded either first or second — ended on a sour note, Hazewinkel chooses to make fun of his setbacks.
“That’s kind of the way I look at life in general,” he said. “Life is too short not to have fun. I try to find humor in every thing.”
For the record, Hazewinkel lost in the semifinals of the past three NCAA tournaments to the eventual champion: Nebraska’s Jason Powell (who used a reversal and two-point nearfall in the final ten seconds to win 6-3) in 2004 and to Indiana’s Joe Dubuque the past two years. Unlike his freshman year, when Hazewinkel was seeded No. 5 for the NCAAs, the Sooner was rated No. 1 and 2, respectively, the past two seasons.
The NCAAs have basically been a nightmare in an otherwise dream career for Hazewinkel, who has compiled a 96-7 record in this career.
How many wrestlers, with such great potential, could turn disappointment into a punch line? Let’s just say that Hazewinkel comes by his philosophy honestly.
“Part of it is my Christianity and part of it is my Dad,” said Sam, whose father, David, is a two-time Olympic wrestler. “The Bible talks about the joy of the Lord when you walk in His steps and no one has it more than my Dad. It rubbed off on me. He was always laughing.”
That includes Sam’s NCAA setbacks.
“I don’t think anyone will argue that he’s not the third best right now,” David Hazewinkel laughed. “He’s proven that enough times.”
David could not be there to console his son in Oklahoma City. But that was no different than any other time in Sam’s college career that he wrestled without the on-site guidance of his father.
“I’ve watched him wrestle his whole life but never at the NCAAs or at any time in college,” said David, who coached at Pensacola (Florida) Christian College. “The school had a Bible conference the same week of the NCAAs the past three years.”
That will change this March. David, who now coaches at Marion Military Academy in Alabama, has been told that he will be free to attend the NCAAs in Auburn Hills, Mich.
“I know it’s harder for him than me,” Sam said. “When I’m on the mat, I’m focused on the mat. He has told me since the age of three that you have to beat your opponent, the ref and the elements. If that element is not having someone in the stands, I have to be able to overcome that stuff.”
There are some things that are impossible to overcome. It didn’t help matters last March when Sam suffered from food poisoning the night before he wrestled Dubuque.
“He had eaten some chicken parmesan at the hotel. He was up all night losing it on both ends and weighed in at least eight pounds lighter than he was supposed to,” recalled his mother, Susan, who like most of Sam’s family and friends in Oklahoma City were not aware of Sam’s stomach problems.
“He doesn’t want people to think he was looking for an excuse.”
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