Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Preview NWCA Mat Mayhem
February 09, 2012 | Cowboy Wrestling
Feb. 9, 2012
STILLWATER, Okla. – Oklahoma State serves as one of four hosts for the regional round of the NWCA Mat Mayhem National Duals Sunday. Head coach John Smith, as well as 149-pounder Jamal Parks and 174-pounder Chris Perry, met with media Thursday afternoon to preview the event:
Coach John Smith
On the National Duals
“We're obviously excited about this regional here. There are four of them across the country. It is a new concept. The National Duals is nothing new; it started back in 1989. Oklahoma State actually won the first one. The new concept seems to be creating a lot of excitement in the sport. We have a tough regional; probably the toughest regional. We have two hot teams coming in with Nebraska and Ohio State wrestling really well. Wyoming, a program you really haven't heard a lot about until recently, has wrestled really well. There's no give me's in this event. It is a little different event from the standpoint that all ten athletes really make a difference in the outcome of the dual. I think for us to win we are going to have to really count on guys scoring bonus points. It looks pretty evenly matched. When you get evenly matched that means five and five. Bonus points are going to make a big difference in this event.”
On Oklahoma State
“I don't know if we have an advantage over anyone. I think we are in position with several of our guys to score bonus points. It seems like dual meets never go the way you want them. When that happens you really count on the major decisions, the pins and of course the technical falls. It really makes a difference in the score. Looking at our first match possibly being Wyoming, they are a very strong team. We've wrestled them once. It was a very competitive dual meet and it came down to the last couple of matches where we won them and stretched the score out. Ohio State and Nebraska are probably two of the hottest teams in wrestling right now as far as the way they have performed. They are two young teams that are on fire.”
On the difference between NCAA Championships and National Duals
“The NCAA Championship is where the national championship team is crowned. It's where the individual athletes become All-Americans or national champions. The National Duals is a team concept. It's an event that recognizes the best team in the country in dual meet competition. It is what the public gets to see when they want to watch Oklahoma State wrestle. Most of your public is watching dual meet competition rather than tournament competition. For that reason this becomes a little bigger event. I love the dual meet concept. I think we should be crowning our champion in dual meet competition rather than at the individual tournament. I think it's a true indication of the balance of a team and that all ten team members make a difference in the outcome of the score.”
On dual meet competition
“I like the fact that everybody plays a role, and it gives you a balance of who is the best team in the country in competition.”
On OSU and National Duals
“We never judge ourselves on our conference. We judge ourselves nationally. It is nice that we are having an event outside of one single dual meet; we haven't had that since the Big 12, which was in 2006 or 2007. It's a big event that Oklahoma State gets to host and we haven't done that in a long time. Some of the bigger events like a national championship; the sport is outgrowing small community towns to host that NCAA Championship. It's impossible for us to ever get a national championship in Stillwater so the next best opportunity is a regional like this and I hope that we tweak this year, look at some of the problems and continue with this.”
On the National Duals
“I think it is nice to have them on campuses. You probably wouldn't ever see a dual meet between Oklahoma State and Ohio State, and that is a possibility this weekend. They have a very tight schedule with the Big 10 and it is hard to get anybody on your roster. This is an event that you would have an opportunity to see Oklahoma State, or even Oklahoma if they are in the regional in the future, wrestle teams that we haven't wrestled and we only see normally in one event and that is at the NCAA Championships.”
Sophomore Chris Perry
On wrestling in the National Duals in Stillwater
“It's exciting. It's definitely something we'd love to have here. Last year it was in Iowa, and I didn't have the performance in the National Duals I wanted to there last year. We're looking to get as many people as we can here, get everybody excited about it, hopefully get it out there to the town and get everybody going. I think everybody on the team is ready. We're just really excited to have it.”
On if the National Duals are as important as the NCAA Tournament
“I think so. I think we look at it as a team as we want to win everything, it doesn't matter what it is: one dual, 10 duals, the national tournament. The National Duals are important, when you look at it at the end, you want to be a national champ as a team at the NCAA Tournament, you want to be a national champ as an individual. I think this is a lot more of team aspect here for the Duals. When you're at the national tournament, your key is to focus on yourself, and hopefully the team takes care of itself. That's the big difference in the national tournament: you can't really watch other people, you really have to focus on yourself while you're there at that tournament.”
On transitioning to 174 pounds from 184 pounds
“It's been a pretty good adjustment for me I think in a lot of areas mentally. I feel like I'm a lot faster, I feel like my shape has gotten better. Pretty much in every aspect I felt better. It took a little adjustment the first week or two, but after it just seemed normal. It's probably a weight that I should have been at last year. It's probably where I'll finish up my career at. It's just definitely a weight I've learned to adjust to and it feels like I'm making 184 now that I've got it under control and everything.”
Senior Jamal Parks
On if he likes to see tape on an opponent he's never faced
“Some people like to watch tape; I don't do that. If you're doing what you're supposed to be doing in practice and covering all the bases, you should be prepared to wrestle anybody no matter what. I've learned that if I do that, I actually wrestle worse because I'm focused on what my opponent is going to do instead of what I'm going to do to my opponent. For me, film doesn't work as well as just going out there and wrestling.”
On the teams who will be at the National Duals
“We know a little bit. Every team that is coming in here is pretty tough. Wyoming we've seen before. Just like Coach (John Smith) was saying, it's a great opportunity to wrestle people that we normally wouldn't wrestle, like Ohio State and other teams like that; Nebraska, who's no longer in our conference and who's on fire right now. We're having good, quality opponents come in, so this is a good opportunity for the fans to see great wrestling from different teams they wouldn't normally see.”
On wrestling in his last National Duals
“It's pretty sweet. I'm glad that's it's here and we're having this great event here. Last year, it was my first National Duals; first couple of years we didn't have it. I like the position we're in, I like the competition phase of it. It is a little saddening in that it is my senior year, but I don't think I'm done with wrestling, with the international circuit, but on a college level, it's a little bittersweet.”
