WHAT PRESSURE?

Best man Henderson, who finished 10th in the 180.5-pound class at Barcelona, will have completed his competition by Sunday after preliminaries begin today. Most of the pressure, he says, is behind him.

“I felt a lot of pressure the last four years,” said Henderson, 25, a former Cal State Fullerton and Arizona State wrestler. “Everybody I know expected me to make the team, since I was still wrestling. I felt more pressure at the trials than I do now.”

Henderson, who overcame a herniated disk in his neck before the ’92 Games, had rotator cuff surgery on his left shoulder in 1993 and was also hampered by torn muscles in his abdomen. His experiences have inspired him to enter chiropractic school in January.

“It was a big struggle to get here,” Henderson said. “I didn’t think I’d have to struggle too much to make the team this time, since I was so young in ’92. But I felt this was a bigger struggle.”