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should have slowed down and got my position. He caught me early. He had the best ankle lace in the world. He had never been able to get it on me. He never took me down in the first 30 seconds either. That part aches me because I blew it in that first 30 seconds. I look back at it now and I see my kids. I look back as a father. That must have been cool for my dad and my mom and my wife to be there and see that. For me now, it is about looking through their eyes, though my kids. If they reached that level, it would be awesome and I would be proud. I look at it that way and it makes me feel better about my experience there.
USA Wrestler: After Sydney, you continued wrestling for another Olympic cycle, but was not as active or successful. Talk about that period in your career and life. Henson: It was miserable. It took me a long time. That loss made me question a lot of things. I remember after the Olympics going to a tournament in Poland and tech falled every- body, and I felt I didn’t even want this anymore. I was burnt out, tired. I’d come back, train for a little while. My routines were not the same. It was my fault. It was something I was going through and I had nobody to talk to. I talked to Nancy Schultz one time about it. I needed time to heal, basically in front of everybody. I hated wrestling, I loved wrestling. My emotions were crazy. By 2004, I prayed to God, ‘please let me love this thing again.’ By January 2004, I wanted to wrestle full-time. I said I am going to do this.
USA Wrestler: After missing the 2004 Olympic team, you came back to make the next two U.S. World teams and won a World bronze in 2006. What gave you the edge to reach that high level late in your career? Henson: At the 2004 Trials, I took second to Stephen Abas. Part of me thought that he had been training for four years and he deserved it. At that point, though, I knew I could train again. I figured out I couldn’t train hard all year long at that pace. I con- densed it. I’d train five weeks hard, go to a tournament for a week. I’d come back and take two weeks off, just play wrestle with the college kids.
I learned how to train as an older athlete, where I could main-
tain my intensity. It was awesome to be the old guy on the World Team, with those guys joking with me. That bronze medal was everything for me. I had some great wins that year. I want- ed to wrestle long enough that I enjoyed it. In 2006, when I put the shoes on, I was like a little kid. I was enjoying the experi- ence. I wrestled long enough that I could be eight years old again and enjoy it.
USA Wrestler: You served as an assistant coach at six differ- ent Division I colleges, some while competing and some after you retired. How did those experiences help mold you as a coach and a leader? Henson: It was everything. If you look at other sports like football and basketball, those coaches travel. They go to differ- ent programs, are around different people, they have a lot of changes. It’s a different lifestyle. Coaching under so many different coaches, I took what I liked and didn’t take what I didn’t like. To be the best coach I can be is a process. I know how people think. I have been around Bruce Burnett, Joe Seay, Kevin Jackson, Bobby Douglas and Mark Manning. Those are great people to learn from. It helped me understand the game, under- stand my athletes and be a better person. The system I devel- oped was my own.
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USA Wrestler: You have coached top U.S. freestyle wrestlers as the Sunkist Kids coach and with U.S. teams. What advice and training support do you provide elite wrestlers that help them succeed? Henson: It is a different level, a professional level. It’s more like what John Smith did for me. It’s on the mat, the little things, learning technique. The higher level wrestling, it has a lot to do with stance, position, seeing angles. When you get to the leg, you make it count. You hit three shots, you want to finish all three. When you get to a leg, make it count because you don’t get there often. Off the mat is even more important. Get them to believe in your system. Get them to understand you know what they are going through. They are young men, not kids. You get that personal relationship where they trust you. That’s huge.
USA Wrestler: Talk about the opportunity as head coach for
West Virginia, and how your experiences will help you bring the program to national prominence? Henson: At the time, I was at a point at Missouri where I was head assistant, I was home, my family was happy. We were in a good place. I told Brian Smith that I might not apply and he said I should. Admit it, nobody likes to move.
This was a great opportunity for us. Once my wife and I went in there, we knew it was a fit from the get-go. It was the admin- istration, the professionalism, and they wanted a freestyle pro- gram.
One of the reasons I got the job was my relationship with Sunkist and having the Mountaineer Regional Training Center there, bringing world-class people to train there. I had done that at Missouri and Oklahoma. It was a WIN-WIN.
USA Wrestler: So far in your first year, what have been the biggest challenges and most surprising discoveries for you at West Virginia? Henson: With the workload, everything falls on you. As an
assistant coach, you say do this and do that. As a head coach, you say we have to think about this. If it is a good thing or a bad thing, it comes back to me at the end of the day. I am learning every day as head coach to think a bit more before you act. But as a head coach, you don’t want to lose that aggressiveness. We will be aggressive, but do our research. You hear about a good kid to recruit, you have to look into it a little bit more. How is he off the mat?
Does he fit our program? With your staff, you want to be a good leader and make sure they want to be around you for a long time.
USA Wrestler: Based upon your career as an athlete and coach, what advice do you offer young wrestlers about what it takes to become a champion in wrestling? Henson: My philosophy is on our wall when you walk in. Consistency wins. When I came up with that, I asked had myself - what did I do throughout my life and how did I get there? Are you consistent off the mat? Are you consistent help- ing people? Are you consistent cutting weight? Are you consis- tent training harder than anybody? Are you consistent in your academic studies? Are you consistent being true to your goals? If you stay consistent, over time you are going to win. In my life, if I tried to be the best that I could in every aspect, I won. When I haven’t, I haven’t won. That is the key to success, being a well-rounded person and true to your goals. That’s our philosophy. My team knows it, the university knows it. Hopefully I can instill that in our guys and we can be the best we can be.
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