QUOTES AND NOTES from the U.S. Freestyle Nationals semifinals

55 kg- Henry Cejudo (Sunkist Kids)
(about his match against Danny Felix)
"I was trying to open him up. He is hard to wrestle. I pressured him, pulled on him. I opened something up."

"This is what we work for. This is the biggest year."

55 kg - Matt Azevedo (Sunkist Kids)

"I feel I am wrestling well. My offense is clicking. I'm falling into things. I am getting my opponents off balance. The shots are there."

(about wrestling in his hometown Las Vegas)
"I love wrestling in Vegas. This is home for me. My family lives here and I grew up here. I have a ton of people here supporting me and it's exciting to wrestle in front of them."

60 kg - Shawn Bunch (New York AC)

"I felt good. I was pumped up for the match. I have had some good practices. I wanted to showcase my skills. Everything went right. My shape, my explosiveness, my speed, my skills are going to give me an edge right now."

74 kg - Tyrone Lewis (Gator WC)

"I feel I am wrestling solid. I have to re-focus on pulling the trigger in positions. I can't just focus on winning. I have to focus on wrestling my match and scoring points."

"I had a good six weeks of training camp. I feel good, physically and psychologically. In regards to who is in this weight, everybody is top notch here. My focus is to take each match one at a time and as a championship match."

"Askren beat me last year at this tournament. I am looking forward to wrestling him."

84 kg - Andy Hrovat (New York AC)

"I haven't been challenged yet. For some reason, I haven't had to step up my game. I don't know if they are scared of me or if my training is going well. Everything is clicking."

"This is super exciting. I feel I am ready to do great things. I've been focused to win the U.S. Nationals, the Trials and the Olympics. My training is better, my lifting is better my diet is better. I have so much support. I do this for my family, coaches and friends."

(about his pin over B.J. Padden in the semifinals)

"That one, I got in position. I created a scramble and stepped over for the pin. Every time I am in that scramble position I go for the fall."

84 kg - Mo Lawal (Sunkist Kids)

"I am not going to lie. I felt good. But I have a false sense of security. I felt too comfortable out there. I have got to start to score more points. I feel almost too good. I am going to push it harder though. The only way to beat me is by being strategic. I have to make it a wrestling match not a strategy match."

96 kg - Daniel Cormier (Gator WC)

"This morning, I didn't get my offense going. I wrestled bad. I was more aggressive this match (in the semifinals). From the beginning of the match, I had more pressure. If I attack hard, I can turn them. I'm getting close. We're starting to get to crunch time. I felt good. I need to have more presence in my matches, by scoring in the first 30 seconds."

NOTES:

There was a loud cheer when Matt Azevedo won his match at 55 kg. Azevedo grew up in Las Vegas, and his family still lives here…

Ben Askren, after finishing his victory at 74 kg, walked off the mat and almost immediately went into the corner on the next mat, to coach his younger brother Max who was in the semifinals against Daniel Cormier…

One of the busiest guys during the semifinals was Gator WC coach John Smith, who had Coleman Scott, Tyrone Lewis and Daniel Cormier on the center mats, as well as other athletes in the wrestleback rounds.