Chandler leads wrestling to success
The junior attributes his success to his teammates.
Feb. 15, 2008
Wrestling coach Brian Smith prides his wrestlers on their tremendous work ethic.
A perfect example of his words coming to fruition is No. 14-ranked junior Michael Chandler.
So far this season, Chandler is 21-3, including 3-0 in the Big 12.
He qualified for the NCAA Tournament twice in the past two seasons, but came away empty-handed both times. But he said this season is different.
“One of the biggest changes is my confidence,” Chandler said. “If I don’t become an All-American this year, it would take a really big upset. I deserve to be on the podium. A lot of it is just confidence and knowing that every time that I step on the mat, I’m better than anyone else that I wrestle.”
Chandler said he’s focused on this wrestling season and isn’t worried about what happened at the end of the previous two seasons.
“I try not to dwell on my shortcomings,” he says. “I’ve fallen short of my goals the past couple of years, but wrestling is constantly evolving, so I still workout and get in the room everyday.”
Last Friday against Oklahoma, Chandler wrestled No. 20-ranked senior Chad Terry. Chandler tech-falled Terry, defeating him 18-1, taking the lead for Missouri in their match. Missouri went on to defeat the Sooners 23-10.
“I take pride in how hard I wrestle,” Chandler said. “I had that edge on (Terry) right from the beginning, and guys break down mentally after a while, which is exactly what happened. My goal in every match is to try and score bonus points for the team, and I was able to accomplish that tonight.”
The win over Terry was in front of a record-setting 6,308 fans at the second annual Beauty and the Beast event, which featured the Missouri wrestling and gymnastics teams competing simultaneously.
“It was a different atmosphere with more people here, so that added to the emotion of the matches a little bit,” Chandler said.
Smith also spoke highly about Chandler’s hard work ethic.
“Chandler knows how to work hard,” Smith said. “He basically came here as a walk-on and has just trained himself into the spotlight. It sends a good message to the team that people who put the time in, work hard and commit themselves are going to have a lot of success.”
On Sunday, Chandler defeated freshman Dan Brascetta of Oregon State 12-1 in Missouri’s final home meet.
Chandler attributes his success to his teammates.
“I’m absolutely convinced that no one trains harder than Missouri wrestlers,” Chandler said. “If you look at anyone else that we wrestle, they take timeouts for their headgear, timeouts for their inhaler or timeouts because their shoes are untied. We never do that. We have probably the deepest team we ever have had here at Mizzou. By the end of the season, we’re going to have all 10 guys wrestling at their peak, and it’s going to be scary.”
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