Quotes from the World Team Trials champions from Saturday night
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by Gary Abbott
Women
51 kg/112 lbs. - Patricia Miranda
"It was better than at nationals. I implemented more of my style on my opponent this time. Against my Japanese opponent, I have to run a lot of pressure on them.
(about thinking ahead to the foreign opponents)
"I think it would be optimal if everybody did that. There is no use trying to beat each other close here, and then go to Beijing and be a laughing stock."
(about her recent Yale Law School graduation)
"My dad came out for graduation, and (husband) Levi's father was there too. It was a symbolic close of a part of my life."
59 kg/130 lbs. - Leigh Jaynes
"That is what it's about. I was a little not feeling offensive. I know what my game plan was. I am happy. I executed to the best of my ability. I have a lot more to work on. I had a plan and it worked."
(about her career)
"I wasn't that great in high school. I lost about every match. In college, I build the foundation of my wrestling. I don't think I polished my techniques until I went to the Olympic Training Center. And now with the Army, the family unit, the unconditional love, has pushed me over the edge."
(about facing high school star Padilla in finals)
"She made me nervous. She is a talented young wrestler. They don't have anything to lose. They go out there and let it go."
67 kg/147.5 lbs. - Katie Downing
"I feel pretty good. My second match was what I should have been doing in the first match. There is no excuse. I have sat out before at the Trials. I felt better in the second match. I was taking better control of things, I think."
"I was focused on the Worlds last year also. The difference this year, at nationals, I got more conservative. At the Trials, I had to step it up a bit. My midset has to be to get more points or a pin. I've improved a lot. Being at the Training Center, it upped my game immediately and training with Terry Steiner. I got a lot of basic things shaped up. Being No. 2 a long time did a lot for me. That is mentally challenging. Going through that made me tough."
72 kg/158.5 lbs. - Kristie Marano
(when does she use the move that she pinned Lee with)
"I have no idea. Most of the time, I do it when I feel it. Sometimes, I think I use it when it isn't fresh on their mind. It was a good challenge for me. We focus on re-focusing a lot in training. Being down one period, it made me re-focus.
(about Iris Smith and Stefany Lee)
"They are both tough competitors. Between the three of us, anyone could win any day,"
(about going to her eighth World meet)
"My goal is to go there and make women's wrestling known and to make USA Wrestling proud and everyone who supports me proud."
Greco-Roman
55 kg/121 lbs. - Lindsey Durlacher
"I started a little slow, and as I progressed it got a little better. They took points away from me left and right down there. They are not giving me points I deserve. Between the two matches, I lost like nine points.
"I'm a little older, a little wiser, a little smarter. You can see the advantage of being an older, wiser wrestlers. You beat them by getting a point here and a point there."
(about losing at nationals)
"I am still feeling a sting from that. I did so well at the World Championships, and then to do that was tough. I had a big scar. I have been trying to come back from that. It was a good week for that to happen. I'm glad it didn't happen here or at the Olympic Team Trials. Now I have to go out and qualify our weight for the Worlds."
74 kg/163 lbs. - T.C. Dantzler
(about the match with Sieracki)
"At the end of last year, I had ACL surgery. He grabs my leg when I was throwing. Hard wrestling, I love it. Dirty wrestling, I get upset. When you do something dirty, you can end up back on the table. That hacks me off."
(will the intense rivalry with Sieracki continue)
"I won't know until this time next year. We went out of here on bad terms tonight, but I am sure if I see him at the Training Center in a few weeks, it will be OK."
(How long will he wrestle)
"As long as I am having fun, I will keep it up. Anybody can go to a tournament. But if you can't go to practice two times a day and still enjoy it, then it is time to quit."
84 kg/185 lbs. - Brad Vering
"He had the match won. He had to ride it out for 17 seconds. I had to take it to him and it worked."
(has his loss last year at World Team Trials been on my mind)
"It's been on my mind 365 days. It has been tough. But it has been awesome for me. I've re-done everything differently. I am back. I plan on sitting out next year after the nationals. Whatever I have to do, I'll do it. We are going to be the best team in the World coming in. We are looking to put the best U.S. Greco team the World has ever seen in Azerbaijan."
120 kg/264.5 lbs. - Dremiel Byers
"There's a lot of guys who can hang in there and hope for a coin toss. It's their stragegy and they are getting good at it. I don't win match against guys like that unless I pick it up. I have to wrestle like I am in the hole three points."
(about not having Rulon Gardner to compete against)
"Rulon never left. Guys like him, they always come back around. Brandon Paulson has been on me all day. He said to me, 'You have to represent.' I appreciate that. When you get older, you appreciate that kind of thing. I'm not seeking the light at the end of the tunnel yet, but I know it's coming and I'm going to go out strong."
Men's freestyle
60 kg/132 lbs. - Mike Zadick
Zadick declined to conduct interviews
Mike Duroe, Hawkeye WC, Zadick's coach
(about the challenges in Zadick's match)
"We train like that in the room every day. Whoever runs the practice puts them in that situation. We expect that. Bad things happen. We replicate that in practice."
"If you let your emotions get to you, you won't be successful. He kept his composure well. He didn't let his emotions dictate how the match went."
74 kg/163 lbs. - Joe Heskett
"You can't win the Worlds if you don't get there. Our weight class is just so tough."
(about his third match with Cunningham)
"I didn't know what was going to happen. All there is, I knew I had to win. Casey is such a great competitor. I had to find a way to win. In the third match, I slowed the pace to where I was comfortable."
"Winning the NCAA was unbelievable. But the excitement after that match was elating. To represent the United States, it was an unbelievable feeling."
96 kg/211.5 lbs. - Daniel Cormier
"I trained hard and I got past the friendship thing and did well. I scored takedowns in every period. It was positive. I didn't score at all the last time we wrestled."
(about facing his friend in the finals)
"We are going to battle. I'm not just going to go to the clinch. When he scored, it lit a fire under me. I meant I had to step up and compete. The friendship deal, Mo is tired of hearing about it. We hardly talked this weekend. I'll wrestle him. He won't be my training partner. If I am in Colorado, I'll wrestle him. He's tough and he'll make me better."
51 kg/112 lbs. - Patricia Miranda
"It was better than at nationals. I implemented more of my style on my opponent this time. Against my Japanese opponent, I have to run a lot of pressure on them.
(about thinking ahead to the foreign opponents)
"I think it would be optimal if everybody did that. There is no use trying to beat each other close here, and then go to Beijing and be a laughing stock."
(about her recent Yale Law School graduation)
"My dad came out for graduation, and (husband) Levi's father was there too. It was a symbolic close of a part of my life."
59 kg/130 lbs. - Leigh Jaynes
"That is what it's about. I was a little not feeling offensive. I know what my game plan was. I am happy. I executed to the best of my ability. I have a lot more to work on. I had a plan and it worked."
(about her career)
"I wasn't that great in high school. I lost about every match. In college, I build the foundation of my wrestling. I don't think I polished my techniques until I went to the Olympic Training Center. And now with the Army, the family unit, the unconditional love, has pushed me over the edge."
(about facing high school star Padilla in finals)
"She made me nervous. She is a talented young wrestler. They don't have anything to lose. They go out there and let it go."
67 kg/147.5 lbs. - Katie Downing
"I feel pretty good. My second match was what I should have been doing in the first match. There is no excuse. I have sat out before at the Trials. I felt better in the second match. I was taking better control of things, I think."
"I was focused on the Worlds last year also. The difference this year, at nationals, I got more conservative. At the Trials, I had to step it up a bit. My midset has to be to get more points or a pin. I've improved a lot. Being at the Training Center, it upped my game immediately and training with Terry Steiner. I got a lot of basic things shaped up. Being No. 2 a long time did a lot for me. That is mentally challenging. Going through that made me tough."
72 kg/158.5 lbs. - Kristie Marano
(when does she use the move that she pinned Lee with)
"I have no idea. Most of the time, I do it when I feel it. Sometimes, I think I use it when it isn't fresh on their mind. It was a good challenge for me. We focus on re-focusing a lot in training. Being down one period, it made me re-focus.
(about Iris Smith and Stefany Lee)
"They are both tough competitors. Between the three of us, anyone could win any day,"
(about going to her eighth World meet)
"My goal is to go there and make women's wrestling known and to make USA Wrestling proud and everyone who supports me proud."
Greco-Roman
55 kg/121 lbs. - Lindsey Durlacher
"I started a little slow, and as I progressed it got a little better. They took points away from me left and right down there. They are not giving me points I deserve. Between the two matches, I lost like nine points.
"I'm a little older, a little wiser, a little smarter. You can see the advantage of being an older, wiser wrestlers. You beat them by getting a point here and a point there."
(about losing at nationals)
"I am still feeling a sting from that. I did so well at the World Championships, and then to do that was tough. I had a big scar. I have been trying to come back from that. It was a good week for that to happen. I'm glad it didn't happen here or at the Olympic Team Trials. Now I have to go out and qualify our weight for the Worlds."
74 kg/163 lbs. - T.C. Dantzler
(about the match with Sieracki)
"At the end of last year, I had ACL surgery. He grabs my leg when I was throwing. Hard wrestling, I love it. Dirty wrestling, I get upset. When you do something dirty, you can end up back on the table. That hacks me off."
(will the intense rivalry with Sieracki continue)
"I won't know until this time next year. We went out of here on bad terms tonight, but I am sure if I see him at the Training Center in a few weeks, it will be OK."
(How long will he wrestle)
"As long as I am having fun, I will keep it up. Anybody can go to a tournament. But if you can't go to practice two times a day and still enjoy it, then it is time to quit."
84 kg/185 lbs. - Brad Vering
"He had the match won. He had to ride it out for 17 seconds. I had to take it to him and it worked."
(has his loss last year at World Team Trials been on my mind)
"It's been on my mind 365 days. It has been tough. But it has been awesome for me. I've re-done everything differently. I am back. I plan on sitting out next year after the nationals. Whatever I have to do, I'll do it. We are going to be the best team in the World coming in. We are looking to put the best U.S. Greco team the World has ever seen in Azerbaijan."
120 kg/264.5 lbs. - Dremiel Byers
"There's a lot of guys who can hang in there and hope for a coin toss. It's their stragegy and they are getting good at it. I don't win match against guys like that unless I pick it up. I have to wrestle like I am in the hole three points."
(about not having Rulon Gardner to compete against)
"Rulon never left. Guys like him, they always come back around. Brandon Paulson has been on me all day. He said to me, 'You have to represent.' I appreciate that. When you get older, you appreciate that kind of thing. I'm not seeking the light at the end of the tunnel yet, but I know it's coming and I'm going to go out strong."
Men's freestyle
60 kg/132 lbs. - Mike Zadick
Zadick declined to conduct interviews
Mike Duroe, Hawkeye WC, Zadick's coach
(about the challenges in Zadick's match)
"We train like that in the room every day. Whoever runs the practice puts them in that situation. We expect that. Bad things happen. We replicate that in practice."
"If you let your emotions get to you, you won't be successful. He kept his composure well. He didn't let his emotions dictate how the match went."
74 kg/163 lbs. - Joe Heskett
"You can't win the Worlds if you don't get there. Our weight class is just so tough."
(about his third match with Cunningham)
"I didn't know what was going to happen. All there is, I knew I had to win. Casey is such a great competitor. I had to find a way to win. In the third match, I slowed the pace to where I was comfortable."
"Winning the NCAA was unbelievable. But the excitement after that match was elating. To represent the United States, it was an unbelievable feeling."
96 kg/211.5 lbs. - Daniel Cormier
"I trained hard and I got past the friendship thing and did well. I scored takedowns in every period. It was positive. I didn't score at all the last time we wrestled."
(about facing his friend in the finals)
"We are going to battle. I'm not just going to go to the clinch. When he scored, it lit a fire under me. I meant I had to step up and compete. The friendship deal, Mo is tired of hearing about it. We hardly talked this weekend. I'll wrestle him. He won't be my training partner. If I am in Colorado, I'll wrestle him. He's tough and he'll make me better."
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