Post-Dual Quotes: OSU vs. Iowa

Head Coach John Smith

On the Iowa rivalry:
"It was nice to get one in the win column for us. The last three years we've been beaten by them and rivalries don't exist if you don't win both ways so we turned it into a little bit more of a rivalry today."

On how he feels about his team:
"I think that we found out a lot about our team today as far as where we need to go. It was a match that exposed us. As far as riding on top, we didn't want to do anything. Guys didn't want to put any effort into grinding guys out while on top and normally things don't work out the way that you want in big dual meets when you don't have that effort on top. In the end it definitely showed me an area where we can get better in. Overall though it goes back to what I've said all week in that you've got to win tough matches. Some matches might be 12 minutes like Anthony Collica's or like Kaid Brock's where the momentum gets flipped around. You've still got to find a way to win. Austin Schafer got hit with some stall calls. It was a 275-pound guy against a 228-pound guy. There's a difference there and you're not going to be able to push him around. Schafer got horsed around a bit, but kept his head and got the only two offensive takedowns to win it. That sort of gutsy win is the way to win it and I liked seeing that match end in that way."

On Chandler Rogers' pin:
"What I liked seeing more was his two takedowns. He stayed low, grinded out two takedowns and didn't get caught up in everything. In these dual meets I think you can get caught up in wrestling to the level of your opponent. Now, of course, today our opponents were tough. We're not going to go out in some of those matches and get a major decision, but we were going to have to wrestle our tails off to win by one or a takedown. I just liked that he was wrestling to separate himself from who he was competing with. It was one of those matches that we looked and were hoping there was an opportunity to get some bonus points and he went out and got them."

On Kaid Brock beating No. 1:
"If you dissect his match, it's a good win. It was a little bit ugly in the way he finished it up. He's wrestling a guy who is a multiple-time national finalist and someone that isn't going to drop his head when he gets down and not be there at the end. Kaid just has to recognize that there are some things that we've seen as coaches in his past that he just needs to grow through to get to another place. It was a great win though. Being up 5-0 and then being forced to get an escape to win at the end is just one of those things that you have to work with those guys on and get them to recognize that if you're not stretching out scores, it's usually going the other way."

On the atmosphere inside Gallagher-Iba Arena:
"I was excited about the number of people that were here. It was a tough weekend. When looking at the weather on Friday it looked like it was going to be a tough, tough weekend to fill this place up and I just really appreciate these people showing me some tough. These Oklahoma folks, a bunch of Cowboys, they showed some toughness by coming out, even in the rain. That was important and I really appreciate it. There were a lot of fears about how the roads were going to be and I just appreciate all of them getting out here and walking through the rain to come to the match. It resembles our team."

On Dean Heil's matchup:
"Both Dean and Kaid gave up takedowns at the end of their matches. They were wrestling great matches and you can't give up a takedown at the end. I don't care if you've got a comfortable lead and can't get beat and can afford to give one up. Just don't give up those points in that situation. I think he was disgusted when he walked off as well that he gave that up. His teammates don't want to see that. They don't want to see our national champion just give up a takedown because he can afford to. Just don't be that guy, and he's not that guy. That's what I told him. I told him that he's not that guy and that he needed to go get another takedown."

Anthony Collica – Sr., 149 pounds

On his long match:
"I mean I've had a couple of those but not many obviously go that long. I've had them a few times but it's always a little crazy when it goes that long. You know that guy is getting tired and you're pretty tired."

On if the crowd helped pump him up at all:
"I mean yeah, you hear them, but you have to focus on your match and just keep moving forward. You try staying on your toes a little bit and stay solid."

On what it was like to see Kaid with the upset:
"Yeah it was sweet. That guy doesn't lose much. Obviously Kaid is really good. It was real cool to see, especially as a freshman taking out an Iowa senior."

On if he felt like he closed the gap coming into the match:
"I mean I've worked hard all offseason. I changed my style a little bit, but it was just to get better and stronger in those positions. I definitely got stronger in my positions that I wasn't in last year, and I felt a lot better against him honestly."

On beating Iowa:
"I think we can wrestle better but we did well, and as a senior to finally get a win over Iowa is pretty cool. We're only getting better from here."

Chandler Rogers – RFr., 165 pounds

On if a fall was the only thing that was on his mind:
"Going for the pin has always been my go to. Growing up, we've always learned how to pin and gone to pinning camps, where we learned multiple pin combinations. When I say we, I mean Jordan (Rogers) and I. That's what has always made us pretty hard to scout because we can really pin someone from just about any position. In that match, (volunteer assistant coach Chris) Perry said I just have to keep working on this guy and the opportunity might present itself. I don't try to rush my pins because if I rush it then I'll end up getting pinned, and I don't want that to happen. I definitely paced myself and went with the intention of taking the guy down and scoring as many points as I can, and when the opportunity presented itself I took it."

On if he has been working on take downs:
"I'm trying to work on breaking guys and really like being able to withstand a long match, so having those points in the beginning, I don't know how much time was left on the clock when I pinned him, but let's say he got off his back. My arms were toast from holding him that long, and now I have to go out and score more points, so having those two takedowns was a good buffer and a good protection from if he were to come out. Getting pin downs has always been different with my style compared to Oklahoma State's style. Oklahoma State would focus on scoring points. I never really saw a lot of guys pin until Jordan Oliver. He pinned a lot of guys too. Scoring points has definitely been something different I've had to learn and do that more often."

On the grind of the next two months and not taking off as much time:
"Yeah I really like the schedule we have coming up. I feel like when you get out of that competitive atmosphere for that long you can kind of get nervous getting back into it, so I think that having matches over and over again is going to keep us competitive and focused on what we're doing."

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Kaid Brock

Anthony Collica

Dean Heil

Chandler Rogers

Austin Schafer

Related Videos