Oklahoma State University Athletics
Photo by: Bruce Waterfield
Cowboys Preview Edinboro, Kent State
January 31, 2017 | Cowboy Wrestling
STILLWATER – Members of the Oklahoma State wrestling team met with the media Tuesday afternoon to preview the Cowboys' upcoming road contests against Edinboro and Kent State.
Head Coach John Smith
On what he learned from his team in wins over Missouri and Iowa State:
"That they're a good team that has to wrestle hard to win dual meets. I think you've heard me say that we're not head and shoulders above anyone. We've got to go out and compete hard, and I thought we did in both matches. I thought in the Missouri match, we let a couple of matches get away from us, and that can happen on the road. I think a couple of individuals learned about taking it deep into the match when you have seven minutes to work with, so too many of us are trying to win the match in the sixth and seventh minute rather than the first and third minute. Those are things that we can change, but in the end it was a tough road trip that we ended up going 2-0 on, so we'll keep moving forward."
On what response he wants to see from guys who didn't have their best match against Missouri:
"I think we saw it a little bit in the next dual. Kyle Crutchmer lost his match (at Missouri) to an unseeded guy, and then came back to beat the No. 10 guy in the country at Iowa State. Those are the things you like to see, saying "I had a poor match. I'm not having two in a row." That's what we got out of him. I think as we go forward, we need to make sure that we're stretching our scores out, and making sure that we expect more out of ourselves in the match. That's what I'm looking for. We've got to go out and expect a little bit more out of ourselves."
Nick Piccininni – Redshirt Freshman, 125 pounds
On how he's feeling after a couple of wins last weekend:
"It's always good to beat people who beat you in the past, but I was happy to put those points up on the board for our team and come away with a victory."
On how he feels like he's responded to a couple of losses earlier in the season:
"It feels good when you hit a roll after you've lost a couple of matches. It's always good to come back and rattle off a couple of wins, some in dominating fashion. It feels good."
On what the team is looking to accomplish this weekend:
"We don't want to take our foot off the gas pedal. Just keep building. This is time to build, not relax. We just want to keep dominating and doing what we're doing."
On if these upcoming duals present an opportunity to improve:
"I think Coach (Smith) has a pretty good plan for us. I trust him, and I'm pretty sure the guys do too. We'll go along with what Coach has planned for us, and whatever he tells us to do, we'll do. That's the winning way."
Head Coach John Smith
On what he learned from his team in wins over Missouri and Iowa State:
"That they're a good team that has to wrestle hard to win dual meets. I think you've heard me say that we're not head and shoulders above anyone. We've got to go out and compete hard, and I thought we did in both matches. I thought in the Missouri match, we let a couple of matches get away from us, and that can happen on the road. I think a couple of individuals learned about taking it deep into the match when you have seven minutes to work with, so too many of us are trying to win the match in the sixth and seventh minute rather than the first and third minute. Those are things that we can change, but in the end it was a tough road trip that we ended up going 2-0 on, so we'll keep moving forward."
On what response he wants to see from guys who didn't have their best match against Missouri:
"I think we saw it a little bit in the next dual. Kyle Crutchmer lost his match (at Missouri) to an unseeded guy, and then came back to beat the No. 10 guy in the country at Iowa State. Those are the things you like to see, saying "I had a poor match. I'm not having two in a row." That's what we got out of him. I think as we go forward, we need to make sure that we're stretching our scores out, and making sure that we expect more out of ourselves in the match. That's what I'm looking for. We've got to go out and expect a little bit more out of ourselves."
Nick Piccininni – Redshirt Freshman, 125 pounds
On how he's feeling after a couple of wins last weekend:
"It's always good to beat people who beat you in the past, but I was happy to put those points up on the board for our team and come away with a victory."
On how he feels like he's responded to a couple of losses earlier in the season:
"It feels good when you hit a roll after you've lost a couple of matches. It's always good to come back and rattle off a couple of wins, some in dominating fashion. It feels good."
On what the team is looking to accomplish this weekend:
"We don't want to take our foot off the gas pedal. Just keep building. This is time to build, not relax. We just want to keep dominating and doing what we're doing."
On if these upcoming duals present an opportunity to improve:
"I think Coach (Smith) has a pretty good plan for us. I trust him, and I'm pretty sure the guys do too. We'll go along with what Coach has planned for us, and whatever he tells us to do, we'll do. That's the winning way."
Players Mentioned
/ Cowboy Wrestling
/ Cowboy Wrestling
Tuesday, July 07
Tuesday, July 07
Friday, June 05
Friday, May 29
