Oklahoma State University Athletics
Post-Game Quotes
January 16, 2011 | Cowboy Wrestling
Jan. 16, 2011
Oklahoma State Head Coach John Smith
Opening Statement:
"A tie doesn't do a lot for anyone. I think we had our opportunities, but didn't really take advantage of them. We had some guys in tough battles that won matches. Some of those young ones out there were just wearing their emotions on their sleeves, and we have to train through that. We have to make sure that we are prepared and mentally ready to push through tough, hard matches. If you want to wrestle like a freshman then you are going to end up in a sad state at the end of the season. That is the way I look at this dual meet, I don't like that we lost our composure in a couple of the weight classes at the end of the match, but at the same time I think that they did something to make that happen. It just wasn't much of a match, I didn't get much from it. I don't look at any weight class where we seemed to be taking it over the top."
On ending Iowa's 69-match dual winning streak:
"When you have won 69 straight, you know how to win. You have to take it from them, it isn't just going to fall into your lap. We didn't take much today. We weren't taking things from them. Maybe in a weight class or two we could have separated the score a little bit, but we didn't take it from them. We let them hang in there and we chose not to compete and in the end you get a tie. I don't know if we are better than them, but I know that we didn't have the attitude that we were going to stop this streak with a win."
On this dual being a learning experience:
"I think we can gain a lot from this. I have a lot of messages that I need to send out today, and they are going to be hard messages. They have had a lot of challenges these last two weeks with National Duals and with Iowa and it doesn't get any easier next week with Iowa State. That is what is fun, when you embrace it and look forward to it, but we didn't look like we embraced it today. We wore our emotions a little bit on our sleeves and it is something that we need to learn from as we go down this stretch."
On how close the dual was at the end:
"It was very frustrating. I thought we'd win the scramble there at the end of the match. Not taking anything from Blake Rosholt, but Blake weighed in at 208 and Iowa's heavyweight weighed in at 281. It got to a couple of high-crotches and the weight was the difference in some of those shots. Blake was in a position that he is familiar with that scramble and I thought we were going to win that. Give credit to Iowa, that kid kind of scrambled to get the victory."
Oklahoma State 184-Pounder Chris Perry
On tying Iowa:
“Obviously, I think it's disappointing. We wanted to win and I think we're all pretty disappointed in how we performed. We expect ourselves to perform at a higher level and we're going to have to perform at a higher level to win a national title as a team. There were certain people that wrestled well, but we have to finish matches and be big at the end. I think that's what we have to work on.”
On if he changes his style of wrestling when the score is so close:
“No. I've actually had more losses this year than I've had my whole life, so it's gotten to the point where I just kind of worry about myself, and I put enough stress on myself to win for the team. If I do my job, the team will take care of itself and that's how coach always puts it to me. Just to go do my job and the rest of it will go play out for itself.”
On his rivalry with Iowa's Grant Gambrall:
“We've actually been rivals since we were little kids, probably like 12 years old. We would just wrestle a ton. We've worked out together before one time when I went to see my brother. We know each other pretty well. It's just a good little rivalry we've had since we were little kids and we just kind of like to battle.”
Players Mentioned
