The Barometer Online

Issue date: 3/7/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Andrew Burton Eric Stevenson was hampered all season by an injured hamstring but returned to the mat for Pac-10 championships, finishing in second place and earning a spot in next week's NCAA Championship.

As Eric Stevenson's last season as Beaver started off as a stinkbomb, it ended up smelling like a rose.

The 125-pounder from Newberg shook off a bad hamstring injury in the first half of the season to finish runner-up in the Pac-10 and qualify for the NCAA Championships next week for the second straight season.

It was what he wanted from the start of the season, and even being out a large portion of time, he still believed he could finish his career strong.

"I knew that I could do well once the tournament came around," Stevenson said. "I knew that when guys would start to fade at the end that I would come in fresh and ready to go."

To finish even better than his fourth place conference finish his junior season was impressive considering the circumstances he endured at the start of this year. But it was what he trained for in the offseason.

"I definitely wanted to come out to improve on making the championships last year," Stevenson said. "To be a national champion is what you work for, and that's what I did this season."

Stevenson started off the year as one of the top returning wrestlers in his weight class and was ranked 18th nationally by Amateur Wrestling News. He injured his hamstring, however, in practice at the beginning of the season and was forced to sit out the first month of the season. Ready to go by late December, Stevenson returned in time to wrestle at the Tournament of Champions in Reno and for a tough conference slate in January. Bad luck returned again, though, as he re-aggravated the hamstring at the Reno tournament, sidelining him for another month.

The time off was tough but got him mentally prepared to come back for a late season run.

"It was extremely difficult to sit out as long as I did, especially in my senior season," Stevenson said. "But sitting out really got me ready to compete and ready to battle when I came back."

Continued...

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