Post-Dual Quotes: OSU vs. Penn State

Head Coach John Smith

On being up 13-0 against Penn State:
"Obviously after that we got into the beef of their lineup. It just kind of looked like we were a team that tried instead of doing. It didn't appear that when things got critical we had the confidence that we were going to get it done. Some of the scores were a little bit lopsided because we didn't quite look like we believed that we could win. At 157 and 197 pounds, both of those guys were coming back, maybe not full-go yet, but Jason Nolf can do that to anyone and he'll do it again. Both of those guys looked like they were struggling emotionally out there. Anthony Collica had a good match and it was right after we had rolled into the 13-0. It looked like he had an opportunity there, but in the end the riding time was the difference. I thought that in that match there were some things that occurred. I need to make sure I understand the rules as we head into the next events in the postseason. I thought maybe there were some scenarios, and maybe I need to understand the rules better, but each time the guy's feet leave the mat - whether or not that's a stall call every time or if it's not. I'd like to just know that."

On the benefits of losing a tough match:
"I don't know if there's any benefits to it, but I know we're better than that. My team is made up of guys that have had a good year. We've had to wrestle and scrap. I think Penn State is a different team than what we've faced all year and in the end they showed they were a little different. Either we get better now, or there's a bunch of us wrestling for second place. I'm not willing to let the title go and I do believe that we're a lot better than we were today. Hopefully we can learn some lessons from today and get started again tomorrow."

On not closing out matches at 149 and 174 pounds:
"I think in both of those matches we waited for the takedown. We were waiting for the moment and we need to be the one that strikes first. You can't just wait until the end and try to steal a match. I thought (Kyle Crutchmer) wrestled well. It was a tough match against (Mark) Hall, who is one of the finest, if not the finest, young guy that has come out of high school in a long time. The one thing you can take from it is that he did close the gap a little bit and never took advantage of his opportunities. I thought Anthony (Collica) wrestled a tough match. He can take this and grow from it. He was close and it was tight, but in the end you have to get off the mat because you can't give up a riding time point in critical matches like that."

On the sell-out crowd in Gallagher-Iba Arena:
"It was exciting. I've been waiting for that opportunity to pack the house for the first time since 2001. I've been excited about the opportunity to do that again and I wish we could've delivered a little bit more for the fans, but I wouldn't give up on this team. The one thing about this team is that they didn't recognize that they went up against guys that have some world events under their belt. You're not wrestling that guy - you're wrestling a college guy. They're tough kids and in the end we just didn't have it. It was like our big brother or something. We just didn't have the emotions to go out and do something special with it. I hope we can grow from it and be a lot more competitive as we prepare for the postseason."

Dean Heil – Junior, 141 pounds

On avoiding being pinned late in the final two periods:
"I just did everything I could to hold on. There's not much I could've done in that situation. I was in a position where if I would've went one inch to right or left, he would've been able to pop his shoulder or get two so I just had to hold on and make sure he couldn't move. I was hoping for the stalemate, but time ran out and I was able to hold on until then and that was that."

On the sell-out crowd in Gallagher-Iba Arena:
"It was great. To go out and see all of your family and friends packed into the arena was great. It was awesome. By the end of the dual it was upsetting for us because we as a team didn't go out and perform for them."

On bouncing back from today's loss:
"We just have to look at the score. You have to go look at the score and look at how you wrestled - that says it all right there. If that doesn't motivate you then I don't know what will."

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Anthony Collica

Kyle Crutchmer

Dean Heil

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