College Athlete of the Week

Published 10:42 pm Thursday, December 17, 2009

Kelly Kubec

RS Sophomore | Wrestling

Oregon State University

Hometown: Lake Stevens

What he did: Extended his team-best winning streak to four by winning both of his matches by a combined score of 33-10 at the Dakota Duals last weekend. Kubec is now ranked 14th in the nation in the 133-lb. weight class.

What’s next: Kubec’s 24th-ranked Beavers host Southern Oregon and Air Force in a pair of dual meets tonight.

The two-minute drill

You’re off to a good start this year, with 15 wins in 19 matches, and a team-best seventh-place finish at the prestigious Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational earlier this month. Is this about what you expected from your sophomore season?

Yeah, it’s gotten off to a pretty good start. I’ve wrestled some fairly tough guys and some guys who are ranked pretty high in the country. So now I know where I’m at. Now it’s about improving so I start to win some of those close matches instead of losing them. I just have to work on some technical aspects and the confidence I have when I’m taking on some of those tougher opponents.

After redshirting as a freshman, you’ve gone 35-14 in two seasons of college wrestling. As impressive as that record is, it’s three more losses than you had in 155 matches at Lake Stevens High. So do you ever accept losing?

It’s tough. It’s definitely more understandable that losses are going to occur at a higher level. But I never step on the mat thinking I’m going to lose or thinking it’s all right to step off the mat with a loss. I always try to prepare myself to win.

How did wrestling at a powerhouse program like Lake Stevens prepare you for college wrestling?

My coach, Brent Barnes, had wrestled at the collegiate level, at Oklahoma State. So he’s been in the situation I’m in now. When I’d started becoming successful and looked at possibly competing in college, we kind of prepared for that. We tried to improve my technique and what I was going to see at the college level. That helped a lot.

OK, so here’s your chance. There are no NCAA Division I wrestling programs in the state of Washington. Tell the athletic directors at UW and WSU why they need to add it to the curriculum.

There’s a lot of talent that goes out of the state of Washington and competes elsewhere. I just read the Wyoming roster five minutes ago, and it had seven guys from Washington. We have six or seven. I think Boise State has similar numbers. So there’s a lot of talent in the state of Washington competing at the collegiate level. It would be nice to have a place for Washington guys, people like me, to go to that’s close to home. If you grew up rooting for the Huskies or the Cougars, it would be nice to have a chance to go to hose schools.

It takes about five hours to get from Lake Stevens to Corvallis by car. What’s that drive like?

I’m usually driving alone; not a lot of people from Lake Stevens are down here. I’m a big hip-hop fan. So I usually crank the tunes and try not to speed.

You’re a 133-pound wrestler, and it can’t be easy to keep weight. What’s your typical meal during the season, and what is it like during the offseason?

Surprisingly, it doesn’t differ that much. I try to keep food going through me during the season. But it’s usually a little bit lighter. Out of season, I try to stay in shape as well, so I’m not gorging myself. And I’m on a college budget, so I can’t afford to be eating steak every night. It’s a lot of grilled chicken, rice and fruits and vegetables. I try to eat somewhat healthy, although my parents don’t always think so.

We understand you’re almost as big a success in the classroom as you are on the mat. So what are your future plans outside of wrestling?

Eventually, I would like to go to law school. It’s a long-term goal. Depending on how I feel after five years of college, I’m not sure how I might feel about it by then.

Do you plan to use the ‘I’m a three-time state champion’ line in the courtroom, just to keep jurors on your side?

Probably not. But I definitely will tell my clients that I’m a competitor. When I get into debates with my coaches (at Oregon State), they know I’m a competitor _ whether it’s on the mat or talking politics.

Does that happen often, where you find yourself debating with your coaches?

It happens a lot. As much as I get along with the coaches, we have very different views on politics and ideologies. It’s all in good fun, though. I get a lot of criticism for being a supporter of Obama. A lot of the guys on the team call me the liberal.

Your older brother, Tony, was a state champion at 135 pounds in 2004. Do the two of you ever roll around – and, if so, who wins?

I don’t think he wants to roll around with me anymore. It’s been a few years. I don’t think he would enjoy what happens. You can print that, too.

Think he might read that and take you up on the offer?

He might. If he did want to roll around, he wouldn’t want it to go long. That I know.

Scott M. Johnson, Herald Writer