From: mlabow@iat.holonet.net (Marshall Labow)
Subject: Profile of an Olympic Athlete
Summary: Article (biographical) about Olympic Wrestler
Keywords: Wrestling
Organization: HoloNet Internet BBS: 510-704-1058
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1992 20:46:15 GMT

Profile of an Olympic Athlete
By MARSHALL LABOW

     When Kendall Cross first started wrestling at the age of five
he had no dream of being an Olympic Champion. He didn't even know
what the Olympics were. All he wanted to do was to be like Kevin,
his older brother, who wrestled. As the years went by, though, he
discovered he had a talent for wrestling and was successful at it.
So successful, in fact, that the idea of being an Olympian became
a dream and then a goal. Now, the goal is a reality as he is, at
age 24, the youngest member of the U.S. Olympic Freestyle wrestling
team. 

     The road to Barcelona was not an easy one for Cross, a 125.5
pounder from Stillwater, Oklahoma. He had to beat two former
Olympians and a World silver medalist to get there. And get there
he did, in style. First came the U.S. Nationals, held in Las Vegas
in April. He won all his matches in that double-elimination
tournament, but had some close calls. In the finals against 1984
Olympic silver medalist Barry Davis, he got behind when Davis threw
him to the mat for a five-point score. Cross went on to win,
though, scoring the winning takedown with just twenty seconds left
in the match. "After the five-pointer, I knew I could come back"
said Cross. "I just had to put my mind to it and do it." His
performance was so impressive that the officials voted him the Most
Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament.

     Cross couldn't rest on his laurels, however. In May he had the
Olympic Trials in Philadelphia. That tournament was a ladder format
with the number four seed wrestling the number three seed in a
best-of-three match series. The winner of that series went on to
wrestle the number two seed, etc. While Cross was the number one
seed, he still had to defeat 1988 Olympian Ken Chertow twice. In
the first match, he pinned Chertow in two minutes. In the second
match, however, Cross had to come from behind with 45 seconds
remaining to beat Chertow 5-4.

     Cross had won the Olympic Trials, but, incredibly,  he still
hadn't made the Olympic Team. The winners of the Olympic Trials had
to challenge the top Olympic contenders, the World Team members, at
the Olympic Wrestle-offs in Pittsburgh in June. Cross had to
wrestle favored Brad Penrith, the 1991 World silver medalist, in
another best-of-three series. Once again, he won the first match
easily, 6-3. And once again, the second match provided all the
excitement anyone could ask for. Cross got behind 5-0 but then
seemed to take control. "Deficit or not, I had the will to win and
I won," said Cross. The final score was 11-6, and in the process
Cross won a berth on the Olympic team and was the only "challenger"
to do so.

     Born in Billings, Montana, Cross moved with his father, Jerry,
a business executive, and his mother, Sherry and brother Kevin to
Mustang, Oklahoma, a suburb of Oklahoma City, at an early age. With
Oklahoma being a hotbed of wrestling activity, it was only natural
that his wrestling career flourished. Cross matured slowly as a
youngster and did not develop facial or body hair until later than
his peers. As a young teenager, he would go to water slides with
his friends and would try to point without raising his arm because
he had no hair under his arms and the other boys would tease him
about it. That may have made him all the more aggressive and
determined on the mat, however. 

     In high school, Cross wrestled for coach Don Langham at
Mustang High School. Langham improved his wrestling abilities and,
according to Cross, "I got a great deal of my faith from my high
school coach." He became active in the Fellowship of Christian
Athletes while in high school and ever since has had a deep belief
in God. His wrestling continued to thrive and in his junior year he
became the Oklahoma High School State Champion with a record of 92-
2-0. 

     In college, Cross competed for Oklahoma State on scholarship,
and was a three-time NCAA All-American. In his junior year, he
became the NCAA Division I champion. He is currently completing
work on a Bachelor's degree in business economics and is a graduate
assistant wrestling coach at Oklahoma State. During his career,
Cross developed a unique, aggressive style that permits him to
score a lot of points, although it also gives his opponent
opportunities to score against him. This has made for some exciting
matches along the way! Between his unusual style and his extreme
flexibility (his nickname is "Gumby"), Cross has earned a
reputation as one of the great wrestlers. Don W. Vest, Ph.D., of
Washburn University, mentions Cross as being one of the most un-
orthodox wrestlers in his article,  "The Great Ones" in Wrestling
U.S.A.

     Growing up close to Dallas, Cross became a Dallas Cowboys fan
and as a youngster idolized Roger Staubach and Tom Landry. He is
still an avid football fan and his favorite television show is 
Monday Night Football. Now, he watches a fellow Oklahoman, Troy
Aikman, throw the passes for Dallas, but he still loves the sport
and the team.

     In Barcelona, Cross will face some tough competition. The
favorite is Russian Sergei Smal, the world champion. But Cross has
defeated Smal before. And according to Ron Good of Amateur
Wrestling News, "his style may be an advantage in Barcelona." Cross
may be an underdog, but that's a familiar role for him. Besides,
coming from behind is what Kendall Cross is all about. . . .