Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State vs. Old Dominion Quotes
November 22, 2008 | Cowboy Wrestling
Coach John Smith
Thoughts on the match:
“I was worried. I looked up and saw 9-0, and I wondered if anyone was going to do anything. They won the first three. We need to win at least five, so where are those five going to come from? I do not know if I have seen three matches that bad in a row in my life. I know I am going to have to patient. I just did not realize how patient I would have to be. Nothing is going to be easy. It does not matter who we are dualing against. Until we make some changes and clean up some issues of our confidence, it could be a struggle for us. Do not think you will not see those matches.”
On Luke Silver's win:
“You send a freshman out there to try to win in his first match in Gallagher-Iba, and it really does not matter who you are wrestling. It is a different setting than you will usually have to deal with. It is just nice to see a freshman step up and get a win somehow. We closed it out on the upper weights. You like to see your big guys close it out, and all three of those guys did that.”
On Mason's match spurring momentum:
“I knew as we went into 187, 194 and heavyweight that we had the strength. When you are wrestling guys that should not be in the match, but they are, you would like to see a senior step in and change that. I do not know if Mason did that or not. I did not expect the match to be that close.”
Luke Silver
On being down as a team going into his match:
“I was just trying to get my team on a roll. I did not go out there to just wrestle or win or lose. I went out there to wrestle to be aggressive. I ended up getting taken down in the first 30 seconds. I was trying not to think about my team score. I was just concentrating on my match.”
On entering the third period:
“Mentally, I was thinking I needed an escape and takedown. I was not worried about going down. I knew I could escape him. I knew I was going to escape when I chose down. I was disappointed I did not get a takedown. We always talk about being aggressive. I definitely was not today. I need to improve on that.”
Jared Shelton
Thoughts before the match:
“I felt ready, I felt comfortable, and I felt good. I have been doing a lot of training with Tyrone Lewis and Chris Pendleton and Coach Smith. We have been focusing on my new technique that I worked on all summer. I just go out there and do the best I can. That is what I came here for: to be a Cowboy and to come out here and wrestle.”
On the early pin:
“I just go out there and do what I train for every day. When I get someone on their back, I smell blood, so I go after it. It gives you a little extra juice to hold them down a little bit stronger.”
