Norman — By John Shinn
Transcript Sports Writer
All of the 330 wrestlers set to compete at the NCAA Championships today had to win tough matches to get there. The difference between Oklahoma’s Shane Vernon and many of the rest is how many times he had to do it.
The overwhelming majority are proven starters who had spots in their teams’ lineups sowed up well before the season began.
Vernon, a senior who will be making his first appearance in the three-day event when it begins today at the Quest Center in Omaha, Neb., didn’t have that luxury.
“I’m used competing at a very high caliber in the room every single day,” he said.
He had to. Anything less wasn’t going to get him in the lineup.
Vernon and Chad Terry spent the entire 2009-10 season as No. 1 and No. 1A on the 157-pound depth chart. Each spent earned time at the top spot.
Terry beat Vernon in a ranking match at the start of the season. Then Vernon beat Terry at the Brockport/Oklahoma Gold Classic in November and reclaimed the spot in a ranking match to secure the spot for the rest of the semester.
At the beginning of January, Terry, also a senior, won another ranking match and had an 8-2 record before he got hurt. Vernon moved back into the lineup, started winning and has stayed there since.
“He’s the perfect example of what can happen when you do the right things,” OU coach Jack Spates said.
The battles between Vernon and Terry were wrestling-room epics. One match went 21 minutes. Others went into overtime.
Most were decided by one point.
“They were all really tough. We had to make weight and everything that goes with competing with a top 10 guy every day in the wrestling room,” Vernon said.
March 6, he won a Big 12 title. But Vernon believes his biggest achievement of the season was topping Terry in the final ranking match prior to the Big 12 tournament.
“I felt like what really won me the Big 12 was being the man at Oklahoma. That’s what really got me there,” said Vernon, who carries a 20-5 record into the NCAA Championships. “Chad probably would have been Big 12 champion if I hadn’t been, and I had not been in there. I think I won that the tournament in the ranking matches.”
There’s no doubt having to win the job every day has boosted Vernon’s confidence.
If it didn’t, winning a conference title in the always rugged Big 12 didn’t hurt.
No matter what happens over the next three days, Spates is thankful he has a story he can give to younger wrestlers about what can happen if you’re willing to compete.
OU has a Big 12 champion and ranked wrestler at 157 pounds because neither Vernon nor Terry were willing to give up.
“Chad Terry beat him out for the spot and he decided he wasn’t just going to pack it in,” Spates said. “He kept working hard. He stayed faithful and was going to see what happens.”
“It was stressful. It was hard on me emotionally and physically. I think in the end, it made me a better wrestler. It made me work harder on my technique. It made me work harder on days I ordinarily wouldn’t,” Vernon said. “I didn’t like it and I didn’t want to do it. But looking at where I’m at right now, I wouldn’t want to do it any other way.”
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
