Quotes from NCAA individual champions and selected coaches from championship finals
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Paul Donahoe, Nebraska, 125 Pounds
On if he thought his height gave him an advantage
"No, my height didn't really matter, but I knew the longer the match went I'd have a better shot."
On if he was surprised to get the single…
"The thing is, I wrestled Hazewinkel in the quarters last year and I was in the single A three different times and two of them he scrambled and got the take down and I didn't. I never finished a takedown on him and I got the Single A and finished it."
On how it feels to be a National Champion and how it feels to beat someone he's never beaten before…
"I've never beaten Nickerson before then I beat him. Hazewinkel beat me 10-3 last weekend, or 11-3, but I knew it wasn't a good match I wrestled. I'm so happy."
On the magnitude of the moment of winning the championship…
"This is like a dream. I just want to thank all my coaches, all my high school teammates, my college teammates, my workout partners, my family, my dad and my grandma; my mom. I'm just thankful to everyone who believed in me."
Mark Manning, Nebraska Head Coach
On Paul Donahoe's development …
"Well, one his work ethic stepped up. Paul's always been a hard worker, but just his intensity of his workouts; he's got stronger, which makes a huge difference wrestling a physical guy like Sammy Hazewinkel. So that really has helped him tremendously, so that really will make him a better wrestler here for the next couple of years. He's just gotten better, when you're a freshman you come into this tournament there's a lot more jitters, and a lot more of self-doubt that creeps into your mind. But the more you come here, you get more experience and you perform better."
Matt Valenti, Penn, 133 Pounds
On how he's feeling about the whole experience…
"My adrenaline is still going right now so I don't think I'm feeling too much yet. Knowing it was my last match and my last tournament I couldn't ask for a better ending than the way it ended."
On who was his scout team…
"I actually have quite the scout team. Outside of my coaches, who do a tremendous job, my brothers and my dad are out there scouting all the time. I've wrestled him before so I knew what was coming so in my warm-ups today I was just working on my outside shots and duck and preparing for that."
On if he wrestled better in this year's finals than last year's…
"I don't think I can say I wrestled better but the results were the same so I can't complain."
On how it feels this year compared to last year…
"It's just as sweet as it was last year. A national title is a national title. The second one is nice; just as nice as the first and it's just a great feeling."
Derek Moore, UC - Davis, 141 Pounds
On his thoughts of a 17-2 technical fall…
"It was maybe my wildest dreams. It's just crazy being able to get on top of that guy and being able to turn him and turn him. At every point I was just building and building. It's just insane being here."
On getting taken down right away…
"I think I got taken down right away because I wasn't prepared for that. I didn't watch the guy wrestled much at all. He was really strong. I wasn't expecting him to be that strong plus he's really tall. He was able to dive in on my legs and pull them in really fast. I work a lot of scrambling and hooking and he was riding really deep with his arms so I was able to pull some funk around and get the reversal both times I was underneath him."
On something interesting from the week…
"It's been kind of a big blur. Every match has been kind of insane the whole week. A lot of things building up, with me not getting a lot of mat time the last couple of months, I've spent hundreds, if not thousands of hours, in the rehab room - I hate that thing. Just staying in shape. I don't know if there's anything special about what I'm doing."
Lennie Zalesky, UC-Davis Head Coach
On Derek Moore's progress …
"With all the injuries and everything, it's a story that I probably won't do justice. This guy should up to UC-Davis, he took fifth in the state of California his senior year, and showed up 124 pounds, approximately the same size. Year-by-year, first-year nothing really stood out, his second year he took third in Las Vegas. For the first time I said wow, this guy might have something. He has a style that you saw tonight, a very frustrating style to wrestle. He was one match away from being an All-American as a freshman and sophomore. Last year got hurt, and this year's he's fought injuries probably three months of the year. It's been a battle and you got to give this guy a lot of credit."
On what the national title can do for the program …
"We were working on our first-ever All-American, and this is a good way to get it. To get a wrestler in the finals and then to put up a performance the way he did, that tells people we have a lot of good wrestlers in the state of California. We hope we send the message for the wrestlers that qualify to get into UC-Davis, to look at Derek, undefeated his senior year. Hopefully it shows those guys they can have the opportunity to do it too."
Gregor Gillespie, Edinboro, 149 Pounds
On the official being patient…
"Definitely. I'm pretty sure if he had given that quick two it would've been all over. Obviously, I'm thankful he did give us the time because I ended up working my way out of that."
On entering the tournament as an unknown his weight class…
"Not really an unknown. I placed in the same weight last year. I had a few rough matches this year but I wasn't unknown. Maybe an underdog especially behind Schlatter; maybe overlooked. It doesn't bother me at all. Being from Edinboro it's great helping us put Edinboro on the map. I like doing that for our school"
On confidence from last night's win…
"I had quite a bit of confidence coming in. Coach always tells me "believe in yourself". I try to do that as much as possible and I know he believes in me as well. That really helped out."
Tim Flynn, Edinboro Head Coach
On what the national title means for the program …
"Well, to have a division I national champion at a division II institution other than wrestling, it's just unbelievable. We try to sale kids on the idea that you can get it done here. But it's a lot easier when you can see look he did it and about five or six years ago, Josh Koshchek did it. So when you recruit guys, you can show tell them the guys that did it. And it just helps in that recruiting war."
Trent Paulson, Iowa State, 157 Pounds
On his feeling…
"It's a dream come true. I've been imaging this moment since I got to Iowa State and to actually feel it is unbelievable."
On being bold-headed…
"I shot a single leg and as the scramble went on it kind of turned into a high cross situation. I thought he could scramble really well from there and felt he was getting the angle so I tried to get a little bit lower so he couldn't scramble as well and get my hips back."
On how hard it was to ride his opponent…
"He's really funky. I knew he was a really good scrambler so I didn't want to take a chance on getting the scramble and giving up the reversal. I wanted to wrestle on my feet and score my points there, especially after getting down right away. I didn't want it to come down to riding time and give him a chance to get into the last seconds. I wanted to leave it up to my performance on my feet."
Iowa State head coach Cael Sanderson
"We competed for the title. That was the goal this year. We lost some tough matches throughout the tournament. As a team, we gave it our best shot."
"Trent did a great job. He went out and attacked. He stuck with the game plan. He went out and got the job done.
Our goal is to always win. Everytime we go out, we expect to win. It is hard when you don't. We have a lot of positives. We have much to build upon. The seniors did a great job. They worked hard this year. They led the team.
Mark Perry, Iowa, 165 Pounds
On how emotional it was…
"The same I was at that time. I told my coaches and my family. Everyone knows how much this means to each individual. I think it's a little extra special, I think, for me growing up with my dad as a college coach since I was six years old. I saw my dad's first national championship at Nebraska and that's been my life goal; it's the most important thing in my life. It's a sigh relief finally to win it after coming so close the past two years. It's huge for me."
On winning with a basic move…
"I really didn't wrestle the type of match I wanted to; the type of match that coach and I talked about at the hotel. I really didn't wrestle a solid match but really what it came down to was the support from my coaches and my family. In the past it just wouldn't have happened. I would've gotten rode out in that third period."
On his last match helping…
"Not really that much. After I lost to Tannenbaum at Michigan I snapped and coach and I just sat down and talked about what needed to be done to get to where I wanted to be."
Tom Brands Iowa Head Coach
On what the win means for the program …
"This is big for the program, Mark Perry. Ranking I go, Mark Perry and family, then I go program. Because it's an individual sport, I believe that's right. Not saying that the team comes secondary, but we if we have performances like this in up and down the line-up, you're talking about 10 national champions, it's a moot point. It's very important; it's a big step for the program. When you're building and rebuilding, it's a huge step in the right direction."
Ben Askren, Missouri, 174 Pounds
On his move…
"What happened is I got into a high crotch, tried changing off and what he tried to do is catch my leg. It's kind of an original kind of funk when it came about in the past. It's the most basic and everyone thinks it's easily countered now. It's not done by a lot of people because they don't know it but it's easily countered and that's what I did."
On him telling his coach he was "OK"…
"I know I have a big gas tank and if I don't score big early I can always fall back on my conditioning. I heard him staring to breathe really hard and I knew I was going to get him sooner or later."
On what his win means for the program…
"I'm so proud of the team. We said all year we're going for the national championship but we're in third place right now and I'm not ashamed at all. I'm so proud of the guys."
Brian Smith, Missouri Head Coach
On what the win means for the program …
"It's a great day for the program, our ultimate goal was to win the national title, but Missouri hasn't brought a team trophy home in any sport since 1965. So our administration and the state of Missouri is very excited about what these young men did today. It was another goal of ours to get the program on the stage, so it's another step towards moving the program closer to a national title."
Jake Herbert, Northwestern, 184 Pounds
On being loose before his match…
"I felt great. You have to believe in yourself and I've envisioned that match so many times in my head before; controlling every position and not getting myself in much danger. It's kills your enthusiasm on a one-on-one aspect but I've already pictured myself doing it millions and millions of times."
On if his win vindicates his loss to Ben Askren last year…
"Yes and no. It's never really going to erase that loss. I can't be a three-time national champion ever. All I can look forward to is keeping my streak alive and winning it again next year for the Wildcats."
On if his match was like he pictured it…
"Yes and no. There are times when I pictured pinning him on his back and different scenarios. It's the same when that match ends and your hand is raised and the crowd gives you the applause. That's just worth all of it.
Northwestern Coach Tim Cysewski
"I am real proud of these guys. I knew we had a special group of guys. We got a little help from our friends from Iowa. We also helped ourselves. We kept it in the Big Ten. I felt good about our chances. We won the matches earlier today. When Lang lost, I said I felt there would be an upset. We needed help. When Perry beat Oklahoma State, it opened the door for us."
Joshua Glenn, American, 197 Pounds
On why he chose American…
"In high school I had a really good relationship with my coach and I knew that was a fundamental part of my wrestling career. When I was getting recruited Coach Cody seemed like the best fit for me. He really cares about his wrestlers and cared about me. He's carried me along since then."
On the controversy…
"To be honest, I messed up my finish and he was able to get my ankle in the first place. It was a tough call but I knew I was going to win the match not matter what so I didn't care if I got the call or not. I knew I was going to stay aggressive and keep wrestling."
On approaching his opponent differently after losing to him the first time…
"I didn't approach it any differently than any other match. I stayed with the fundamentals that worked for me. I stayed solid and aggressive and just kept attacking."
Cole Konrad, Minnesota, Heavyweight
On not having the pressure of needing to win to get the team championship…
"I wasn't paying too much attention to the other matches. I was warming up thinking that I'm going to have to get a pin so that's the way I wrestled when I went out there. I was looking for a fall. If it had come that way that would've been perfect too. Fortunately it didn't and I guess I was just anticipating that it was going to come down to me."
On if he went through the tournament the way he wanted to…
"Somewhat. It's a national tournament and you always anticipate one or two close matches. I had one point-wise that was close and I got control of it so for the most part I feel like controlled the whole tournament from first match to last match. I don't think I would change a thing."
On his plans now that his college career is over…
"I'm going to continue training. I want to make the world team this year; I want to be a world champ. I'm working for Beijing 2008 - that's my goal. I'm going to be training as hard as I can. That's my focus. It's been my focus since I was 12 years old and I'm not going to change it now."
Minnesota head coach J Robinson
"It didn't come down to Cole, but it really does. We had to get into striking distance. If those guys got us where we had to be, we knew Cole could close it for us."
We had a coaches meeting last night. We sat down and talked it around, should we be soft or positive. They are thoroughbreds. They respond. They realize they didn't do goo. We got on them hard. When we got up today, we were positive. It's a new day. We you put yourself in striking distance, good things happen."
"It is like any national tournament. Things go wrong. They always do. The true character of the team came out. You dig a hole, you get out of it, and you win. They responded when they had to. That is what champions do."
On if he thought his height gave him an advantage
"No, my height didn't really matter, but I knew the longer the match went I'd have a better shot."
On if he was surprised to get the single…
"The thing is, I wrestled Hazewinkel in the quarters last year and I was in the single A three different times and two of them he scrambled and got the take down and I didn't. I never finished a takedown on him and I got the Single A and finished it."
On how it feels to be a National Champion and how it feels to beat someone he's never beaten before…
"I've never beaten Nickerson before then I beat him. Hazewinkel beat me 10-3 last weekend, or 11-3, but I knew it wasn't a good match I wrestled. I'm so happy."
On the magnitude of the moment of winning the championship…
"This is like a dream. I just want to thank all my coaches, all my high school teammates, my college teammates, my workout partners, my family, my dad and my grandma; my mom. I'm just thankful to everyone who believed in me."
Mark Manning, Nebraska Head Coach
On Paul Donahoe's development …
"Well, one his work ethic stepped up. Paul's always been a hard worker, but just his intensity of his workouts; he's got stronger, which makes a huge difference wrestling a physical guy like Sammy Hazewinkel. So that really has helped him tremendously, so that really will make him a better wrestler here for the next couple of years. He's just gotten better, when you're a freshman you come into this tournament there's a lot more jitters, and a lot more of self-doubt that creeps into your mind. But the more you come here, you get more experience and you perform better."
Matt Valenti, Penn, 133 Pounds
On how he's feeling about the whole experience…
"My adrenaline is still going right now so I don't think I'm feeling too much yet. Knowing it was my last match and my last tournament I couldn't ask for a better ending than the way it ended."
On who was his scout team…
"I actually have quite the scout team. Outside of my coaches, who do a tremendous job, my brothers and my dad are out there scouting all the time. I've wrestled him before so I knew what was coming so in my warm-ups today I was just working on my outside shots and duck and preparing for that."
On if he wrestled better in this year's finals than last year's…
"I don't think I can say I wrestled better but the results were the same so I can't complain."
On how it feels this year compared to last year…
"It's just as sweet as it was last year. A national title is a national title. The second one is nice; just as nice as the first and it's just a great feeling."
Derek Moore, UC - Davis, 141 Pounds
On his thoughts of a 17-2 technical fall…
"It was maybe my wildest dreams. It's just crazy being able to get on top of that guy and being able to turn him and turn him. At every point I was just building and building. It's just insane being here."
On getting taken down right away…
"I think I got taken down right away because I wasn't prepared for that. I didn't watch the guy wrestled much at all. He was really strong. I wasn't expecting him to be that strong plus he's really tall. He was able to dive in on my legs and pull them in really fast. I work a lot of scrambling and hooking and he was riding really deep with his arms so I was able to pull some funk around and get the reversal both times I was underneath him."
On something interesting from the week…
"It's been kind of a big blur. Every match has been kind of insane the whole week. A lot of things building up, with me not getting a lot of mat time the last couple of months, I've spent hundreds, if not thousands of hours, in the rehab room - I hate that thing. Just staying in shape. I don't know if there's anything special about what I'm doing."
Lennie Zalesky, UC-Davis Head Coach
On Derek Moore's progress …
"With all the injuries and everything, it's a story that I probably won't do justice. This guy should up to UC-Davis, he took fifth in the state of California his senior year, and showed up 124 pounds, approximately the same size. Year-by-year, first-year nothing really stood out, his second year he took third in Las Vegas. For the first time I said wow, this guy might have something. He has a style that you saw tonight, a very frustrating style to wrestle. He was one match away from being an All-American as a freshman and sophomore. Last year got hurt, and this year's he's fought injuries probably three months of the year. It's been a battle and you got to give this guy a lot of credit."
On what the national title can do for the program …
"We were working on our first-ever All-American, and this is a good way to get it. To get a wrestler in the finals and then to put up a performance the way he did, that tells people we have a lot of good wrestlers in the state of California. We hope we send the message for the wrestlers that qualify to get into UC-Davis, to look at Derek, undefeated his senior year. Hopefully it shows those guys they can have the opportunity to do it too."
Gregor Gillespie, Edinboro, 149 Pounds
On the official being patient…
"Definitely. I'm pretty sure if he had given that quick two it would've been all over. Obviously, I'm thankful he did give us the time because I ended up working my way out of that."
On entering the tournament as an unknown his weight class…
"Not really an unknown. I placed in the same weight last year. I had a few rough matches this year but I wasn't unknown. Maybe an underdog especially behind Schlatter; maybe overlooked. It doesn't bother me at all. Being from Edinboro it's great helping us put Edinboro on the map. I like doing that for our school"
On confidence from last night's win…
"I had quite a bit of confidence coming in. Coach always tells me "believe in yourself". I try to do that as much as possible and I know he believes in me as well. That really helped out."
Tim Flynn, Edinboro Head Coach
On what the national title means for the program …
"Well, to have a division I national champion at a division II institution other than wrestling, it's just unbelievable. We try to sale kids on the idea that you can get it done here. But it's a lot easier when you can see look he did it and about five or six years ago, Josh Koshchek did it. So when you recruit guys, you can show tell them the guys that did it. And it just helps in that recruiting war."
Trent Paulson, Iowa State, 157 Pounds
On his feeling…
"It's a dream come true. I've been imaging this moment since I got to Iowa State and to actually feel it is unbelievable."
On being bold-headed…
"I shot a single leg and as the scramble went on it kind of turned into a high cross situation. I thought he could scramble really well from there and felt he was getting the angle so I tried to get a little bit lower so he couldn't scramble as well and get my hips back."
On how hard it was to ride his opponent…
"He's really funky. I knew he was a really good scrambler so I didn't want to take a chance on getting the scramble and giving up the reversal. I wanted to wrestle on my feet and score my points there, especially after getting down right away. I didn't want it to come down to riding time and give him a chance to get into the last seconds. I wanted to leave it up to my performance on my feet."
Iowa State head coach Cael Sanderson
"We competed for the title. That was the goal this year. We lost some tough matches throughout the tournament. As a team, we gave it our best shot."
"Trent did a great job. He went out and attacked. He stuck with the game plan. He went out and got the job done.
Our goal is to always win. Everytime we go out, we expect to win. It is hard when you don't. We have a lot of positives. We have much to build upon. The seniors did a great job. They worked hard this year. They led the team.
Mark Perry, Iowa, 165 Pounds
On how emotional it was…
"The same I was at that time. I told my coaches and my family. Everyone knows how much this means to each individual. I think it's a little extra special, I think, for me growing up with my dad as a college coach since I was six years old. I saw my dad's first national championship at Nebraska and that's been my life goal; it's the most important thing in my life. It's a sigh relief finally to win it after coming so close the past two years. It's huge for me."
On winning with a basic move…
"I really didn't wrestle the type of match I wanted to; the type of match that coach and I talked about at the hotel. I really didn't wrestle a solid match but really what it came down to was the support from my coaches and my family. In the past it just wouldn't have happened. I would've gotten rode out in that third period."
On his last match helping…
"Not really that much. After I lost to Tannenbaum at Michigan I snapped and coach and I just sat down and talked about what needed to be done to get to where I wanted to be."
Tom Brands Iowa Head Coach
On what the win means for the program …
"This is big for the program, Mark Perry. Ranking I go, Mark Perry and family, then I go program. Because it's an individual sport, I believe that's right. Not saying that the team comes secondary, but we if we have performances like this in up and down the line-up, you're talking about 10 national champions, it's a moot point. It's very important; it's a big step for the program. When you're building and rebuilding, it's a huge step in the right direction."
Ben Askren, Missouri, 174 Pounds
On his move…
"What happened is I got into a high crotch, tried changing off and what he tried to do is catch my leg. It's kind of an original kind of funk when it came about in the past. It's the most basic and everyone thinks it's easily countered now. It's not done by a lot of people because they don't know it but it's easily countered and that's what I did."
On him telling his coach he was "OK"…
"I know I have a big gas tank and if I don't score big early I can always fall back on my conditioning. I heard him staring to breathe really hard and I knew I was going to get him sooner or later."
On what his win means for the program…
"I'm so proud of the team. We said all year we're going for the national championship but we're in third place right now and I'm not ashamed at all. I'm so proud of the guys."
Brian Smith, Missouri Head Coach
On what the win means for the program …
"It's a great day for the program, our ultimate goal was to win the national title, but Missouri hasn't brought a team trophy home in any sport since 1965. So our administration and the state of Missouri is very excited about what these young men did today. It was another goal of ours to get the program on the stage, so it's another step towards moving the program closer to a national title."
Jake Herbert, Northwestern, 184 Pounds
On being loose before his match…
"I felt great. You have to believe in yourself and I've envisioned that match so many times in my head before; controlling every position and not getting myself in much danger. It's kills your enthusiasm on a one-on-one aspect but I've already pictured myself doing it millions and millions of times."
On if his win vindicates his loss to Ben Askren last year…
"Yes and no. It's never really going to erase that loss. I can't be a three-time national champion ever. All I can look forward to is keeping my streak alive and winning it again next year for the Wildcats."
On if his match was like he pictured it…
"Yes and no. There are times when I pictured pinning him on his back and different scenarios. It's the same when that match ends and your hand is raised and the crowd gives you the applause. That's just worth all of it.
Northwestern Coach Tim Cysewski
"I am real proud of these guys. I knew we had a special group of guys. We got a little help from our friends from Iowa. We also helped ourselves. We kept it in the Big Ten. I felt good about our chances. We won the matches earlier today. When Lang lost, I said I felt there would be an upset. We needed help. When Perry beat Oklahoma State, it opened the door for us."
Joshua Glenn, American, 197 Pounds
On why he chose American…
"In high school I had a really good relationship with my coach and I knew that was a fundamental part of my wrestling career. When I was getting recruited Coach Cody seemed like the best fit for me. He really cares about his wrestlers and cared about me. He's carried me along since then."
On the controversy…
"To be honest, I messed up my finish and he was able to get my ankle in the first place. It was a tough call but I knew I was going to win the match not matter what so I didn't care if I got the call or not. I knew I was going to stay aggressive and keep wrestling."
On approaching his opponent differently after losing to him the first time…
"I didn't approach it any differently than any other match. I stayed with the fundamentals that worked for me. I stayed solid and aggressive and just kept attacking."
Cole Konrad, Minnesota, Heavyweight
On not having the pressure of needing to win to get the team championship…
"I wasn't paying too much attention to the other matches. I was warming up thinking that I'm going to have to get a pin so that's the way I wrestled when I went out there. I was looking for a fall. If it had come that way that would've been perfect too. Fortunately it didn't and I guess I was just anticipating that it was going to come down to me."
On if he went through the tournament the way he wanted to…
"Somewhat. It's a national tournament and you always anticipate one or two close matches. I had one point-wise that was close and I got control of it so for the most part I feel like controlled the whole tournament from first match to last match. I don't think I would change a thing."
On his plans now that his college career is over…
"I'm going to continue training. I want to make the world team this year; I want to be a world champ. I'm working for Beijing 2008 - that's my goal. I'm going to be training as hard as I can. That's my focus. It's been my focus since I was 12 years old and I'm not going to change it now."
Minnesota head coach J Robinson
"It didn't come down to Cole, but it really does. We had to get into striking distance. If those guys got us where we had to be, we knew Cole could close it for us."
We had a coaches meeting last night. We sat down and talked it around, should we be soft or positive. They are thoroughbreds. They respond. They realize they didn't do goo. We got on them hard. When we got up today, we were positive. It's a new day. We you put yourself in striking distance, good things happen."
"It is like any national tournament. Things go wrong. They always do. The true character of the team came out. You dig a hole, you get out of it, and you win. They responded when they had to. That is what champions do."
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