Wrestling with fate

Heinrich Barnes chose Oregon State, paid off with Olympic bid

By: Jenna Santelli

Posted: 5/20/08

Every young athlete has dreams. Some dream of winning a National Championship. Some dream of becoming an NCAA Individual Champion. Some dream of receiving a Division-I scholarship, while others dream of representing their country at the most prolific international competition, the Olympic Games.

Oregon State wrestler Heinrich Barnes was one of those dreamers. "Ever since I was a little kid, I've wanted this," said Barnes of his qualification of making the South African Olympic Wrestling team.

Barnes is a junior majoring in business administration. His future plans after wrestling involve moving back to South Africa where he hopes to take over his father's iron casting company.

In his first season with the Beavers, Barnes had a record of 22-7 in the 141-pound weight class. He had a solid dual meet record of 13-2 and an undefeated major decision record by 8-14 points of 8-0. But he struggled at the 2008 Pac-10 Championships due to knee surgery. After the Pac-10 Championships, he headed to Tunisia to compete in the FIFLA-African Senior Continental Championships at 66 kilograms (about 145.5 pounds) where he defeated three opponents, which gave him a ticket to Beijing for the summer Olympics.

"I am so proud to represent my country," Barnes said. This won't be the first time he is representing South Africa - he placed 16th in his weight class at the World Championships back in September.

"It is such a great honor for him to represent his country. This is the reason we compete in our sport, for the chance to reach the highest level of competition," said Oregon State wrestler Kyle Bressler and fellow teammate of Barnes.

While wrestling in college is hard enough, training for the Olympics is a bit different, according to Coach Zalesky.

"There are different rules and styles on the international level than on the collegiate level," said Zalesky. An international wrestling match features two three-minute matches, in which one competitor needs to win two consecutive matches to beat the opponent. In wrestling in college, also known as "scholastic wrestling," wrestlers have a seven-minute match to try and pin their opponent or accumulate as many points as possible before the end of the match.

"It's a bit like tennis in the sense that an opponent needs to win two matches," said Coach Zalesky.

While the rules may be a bit different, having an Olympian on the team provides so much more.

According to Coach Zalesky, having an athlete that has been to a world championship and the Olympic games only strengthens your team's status.

"He can set an example for the whole team and have the guys set higher goals. It also ups the level of our team," said Zalesky about Barnes' new status as an Olympic qualifier.

Bressler thinks Barnes' trip to Beijing is only going to help Oregon State's program. "It puts the Oregon State name out there and it gives us more support for our program especially when programs are dropping like flies."

Barnes gives a lot of his recent success to the coach staff and Oregon State team.

"Coming to Oregon State helped me with my training. If I did not come here, it would have been harder to qualify," he said. "The knowledge of the coaches knowing when and how to do things has helped me a lot with my wrestling," Barnes continued.

Coach Zalesky has as much praise for Barnes as Barnes does for him.

"He competes and practices hard. When he competes, he expects to win every match," said Zalesky of Barnes' great work ethic and contribution to the team.

Zalesky isn't the only one praising his skills and attitude.

"He works so hard and it is great to see compete as such a high level," said Bressler.

Praise would not have come had he chosen to stay in South Africa for wrestling.

Wrestling in the United States and in college is vastly different than wrestling back in South Africa. Barnes talked about how there is more competition here in the U.S. than back in South Africa, where wrestling is a club sport.

"I wanted to come here (the U.S.) for wrestling because there is a lot more competition that would help me to become a better wrestler," said Barnes. "If I stayed in Africa, I would not have gotten better, and I wanted to improve greatly at my sport."

Barnes is one of 266 wrestlers worldwide to qualify for the Olympics. He plans to stay here and train with all of the Oregon State coaches until it is his time to leave for China.

"We are trying to make travel plans to help coach him while he is over there," said Zalesky.

For Barnes, this is only the tip of the iceberg of his wrestling career. He hopes to compete in another Olympics and become an NCAA national champion in the 141-pound weight class. Barnes feels he still has some improving to do in order for all of his wrestling dreams to come true. To follow Barnes, viewers can catch him Aug. 8 in Beijing.

Jenna Santelli, sports writer

sports@dailybaroemter.com