Post-Dual Quotes: OSU vs. Missouri

Head Coach John Smith

Opening statement:
"Somebody's got to kind of be a hero in some big matches. Somebody's got to step up and do something, right? Just didn't quite have that. It seemed like Preston Weigel in the middle of the second struggled finishing that match. Kind of odd because we haven't seen that out of him. You give up at stalling point in 184 at the end of the match. Your two-time national champion gets pinned. Those are things that make it hard to be back in the match when those things happen early and I thought we were in control of it as we went into 197. I knew he was tough, but after the first takedown it just seemed like he hit a wall. Not sure what it was. The rest of the matches, 184, just find a way to stay inbounds, give yourself a chance to take a shot. I thought he pushed us out rather than us walking out, but the call was made."

On Chandler Rogers and rest of the matches:
"He may have forced a crazy move there at the start of the match, and we didn't need that right then. I was glad that he got back in and it was important that he got an escape and a takedown. Nobody really wanted to be a hero. Go out there and put it away and it's match over. If we would have won 184 and 197, either one of those matches, we would have been in position to win. You have to have it, like Kaid Brock did. He got put on his back and fought off of it and ended up coming back and scored takedowns in the third to win the match. Nick (Piccininni) went out and took the guy down immediately. Those first two weights was like 'let's get it on.'…We'll get better. We got to get better. We had our chance to win and should have won. But we've heard of 'should have.' Put it behind us and focus on Iowa State."

On Derek White:
"Picked up the major decision in heavyweight and you don't see them very often. By that time you've known you've lost the match. It's good to see him go out take a small heavyweight and put up a lot of points. That's what you hope they do."

Chandler Rogers – RJr., 165 pounds

On his match against Missouri's Connor Flynn:
"The guy was unranked, and I was thinking I could afford to give him points if I go crazy, but crazy is kind of my style. A lot of people have talked to me about how I'm not going out and cutting loose like I usually do, so I thought if I did something crazy maybe my mind will start thinking about cutting loose. I love coming back from behind because then you really have nothing to lose. You're like 'shoot, I've got to throw everything at this guy.'…My mind thinks one of two things: this is going to be really cool or it's going to bite me in the butt. Lately, I've been thinking 'this is going to bite me in the butt if I try this.' I was thinking 'it would be pretty sweet if I hit this and if it doesn't work, it doesn't work.'"

On getting a pin from the defensive position:
"It was fun. You just come out with everything you've got and good things happen. I didn't try to force a pin. I just did my normal offense, and a lot of people don't think my offense is normal, but that's just my way of getting to the leg, and finishing and getting points."

On how 141-pound wrestler Dean Heil's match affected him:
"I knew what I was going to do before I saw Dean's match. I didn't even see it. I came down with a clear mind, thinking 'I'm going to try to pin this guy no matter what and try and get bonus points.' Coach (John Smith) emphasized bonus points, and we see why now. Even with two pins, we weren't able to come back."

Oklahoma State University Athletics

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