Padden sets sights on All-American status <\/p>\n
By JOE BONGE \/ Daily Nebraskan<\/p>\n
The scene plays over and over in B.J. Padden’s head.<\/p>\n
The 2004 national tournament was his first trip to the national meet. He was the No. 5 seed at 197 pounds and sat 2-1 going into his first consolation match. All-American status was in his sights.<\/p>\n
Just over two minutes into the match, Padden attempted to throw Cornell’s Matt Greenberg, but illegally threw Greenberg to the ground injuring him immediately.<\/p>\n
Padden was disqualified and sent home with a 2-2 record and a bitter taste in his mouth.<\/p>\n
“I was so mad,”\u009d Padden said. “I had to look at my style and change some things, but it has made me a lot more solid.”\u009d<\/p>\n
Padden ended 2004 with a 25-7 record after the disqualification at nationals.<\/p>\n
After a slow start this year, Padden is back on the All-American track for the Nebraska wrestling team.<\/p>\n
Padden has won his past seven matches and is 27-9 overall, helping NU to a 16-1-1 record.<\/p>\n
He currently is ranked No. 12 in the country at 197 pounds.<\/p>\n
“He’s had some things not go his way and that’s a little bit like life,”\u009d NU Coach Mark Manning said. “It proves he’s got great character and a big heart and that’s what makes him special.”\u009d<\/p>\n
Like the 2004 season, Padden’s career has been up and down.<\/p>\n
As a freshman in 2003, Padden won 11 of his first 12 matches, before injuring his left shoulder and finishing the year 17-16.<\/p>\n
“He’s had to overcome some disadvantages,”\u009d Manning said. “He’s been through some bad luck, but I’m glad he’s my 197-pounder.”\u009d<\/p>\n
In his four years at NU (one redshirt), Padden has compiled a 69-40 record wrestling at 184 and 197 pounds.<\/p>\n
Manning said Padden’s never- say-die attitude is the reason for his success on the mat.<\/p>\n
“He’s got the heart of a champion and that’s what I like about B.J. He doesn’t know the meaning of the word quit.”\u009d<\/p>\n
Padden said his strong work ethic on the mat comes from growing up in a small town.<\/p>\n
He attended Harding High School near Camp Crook, S.D. With an enrollment of 100 students, his graduating class of 28 was smaller than the NU wrestling team’s roster.<\/p>\n
“I think it helps me when it comes to wrestling,”\u009d Padden said. “It has helped me to stick it out no matter what because this is a tough sport.”\u009d<\/p>\n
After the devastating finish in 2004, Padden is looking forward to proving what he can do in pressure situations.<\/p>\n
Padden said he thinks this is his year to become an All-American.<\/p>\n
“My weight class is wide open this year,”\u009d Padden said. “I feel like I am going to be an All-American and get a national title.”\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Padden sets sights on All-American status By JOE BONGE \/ Daily Nebraskan The scene plays over and over in B.J. Padden’s head. The 2004 national tournament was his first trip to the national meet. He was the No. 5 seed at 197 pounds and sat 2-1 going into his first consolation match. All-American status was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wrestling"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":6}},"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2B7Di-bV","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingpod.com\/wrestling-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingpod.com\/wrestling-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingpod.com\/wrestling-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingpod.com\/wrestling-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingpod.com\/wrestling-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingpod.com\/wrestling-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingpod.com\/wrestling-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingpod.com\/wrestling-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingpod.com\/wrestling-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}