Wrestlers Quotations

Why should it matter to us when wrestlers are found dead in their beds or seen limping around on two fake hips? Why should it matter to us that there's a list of modern wrestlers who died before the age of 50 - many of them famous - and that the list is more than 70 names long? Hey, there's always another wave of guys on the way. Always.

I'm pretty interested in documentary film, and I'd watch almost anything. At some point, I stumbled upon 'shoot interviews' and found out that wrestlers were now talking openly about things that were going on in wrestling that we as viewers were not privy to. This fascinated me.

I've been talking to certain wrestlers on the phone lately, and certain female wrestlers that were huge stars ten years ago, and the first thing I ask them is 'do you still want to work?' Do they want to talk, or do they want to wrestle or do something else in the business?

You know a lot of times wrestlers get too full of themselves. They can't separate themselves from the characters. They get used to the excitement, the energy, the lifestyle and the money and with a lot of these guys, when it stops, they self-destruct.

We've always had kids from all over come here. This program has been a magnet for good wrestlers from around the state, but our link with the Navy Juniors program has been pretty good for us the past few years.

We're getting the wrestlers ready for the battles at the end of the season. We're happy to make the playoffs. That's always a team goal. But we have some guys with bigger goals.

We wrestled very well. Anytime you have 12 of 13 wrestlers in the championship or third place matches you have to be pleased.

We had 12 of our 14 wrestlers place in the top three. I told them before we started that it would take a championship effort from 14 guys, and we got that.

With two inexperienced wrestlers at 160 pounds, it was a big win for us. The 215-pound match was a battled that sealed the win for us. The whole crowd appreciated that match.

With those two out of the lineup, and mentally the team was deflated and knew it would be tough to win. But we learned a little more about Reynolds. We didn't duck anybody. We put our good wrestlers against theirs to see what happened.

We have some bruises and we may have one or two wrestlers out. We were injury-free when we won the duals championship in 2003. It's not the same this year.

We did not have a very good showing tonight against North Bend because a couple of our wrestlers did not make weight. That hurt us badly.

We did great and I'm really proud of the way the guys wrestled. Five of our wrestlers made it to the finals, three took away titles and eight placed. We're three time defending champions but never have we won by this sizable a margin. It's difficult for us up there because we're not part of the North coast section.

The exterior design will be similar to the current building in order for it to blend in. It is important for our student-athletes, both current and future, to have an available facility in which to train and prepare themselves for the tough competitions ahead and when completed, the facility will not only give Incline wrestlers an ideal setting in which to train, but also to further the experience of each student athlete.

There are a lot of Class AAA wrestlers and obviously the out-of-state wrestlers in this tournament. I wanted to show everybody that a Class AA wrestler can win at this tournament.

We have a realistic chance to qualify as many as nine wrestlers for state if we wrestle to our abilities. We will need the others to win on the backside to help claim the district title.

We're excited about Tuesday, especially against a team we beat, but we can't take anything for granted. I don't think we've ever taken 11 out of 14 wrestlers to sectionals.

Mountain Valley has a lot of seasoned wrestlers. They just out-strengthened us in a few weight classes. They have stronger kids and when you have two wrestlers with the same knowledge and same experience and one of them is stronger, the stronger one is usually going to win.

Most wrestlers are kind of short and he's tall and rangy, so immediately he poses problems for wrestlers because it's an unconventional body type.

Matt's been on a roll. He really believes that he's one of the top wrestlers out there and when he believes that, he's very tough to beat.

Maybe they'll try to push themselves to do it, too. I can't be the only one. We'll have more good wrestlers come here, that's what I'm hoping.

I was satisfied with our finish considering we're wrestling with only half our squad. We're still toying with our line-up and trying to find the right fit for our wrestlers and their weight classes.

I believe you will see a lot of high seeds out of our upper-classmen, with a few of our younger wrestlers sneaking into an opportunity to qualify for state.

Because they've been here and know other wrestlers and schools, sometimes it can be a lot to handle. It really depends on the individual.

I can't express how happy I am that my former coach, Dan Gable, has decided to join my staff at Iowa. He's been with me every step of the way during my career and this will be no different. There's no one in the world who's better at working with wrestlers and I'm glad he's on board.

I expected to get kids through (to state), but I didn't expect this many. To get five kids through is unbelievable. We have 12 wrestlers on the whole team, and five made it.

I always say they're like the Yankees of wrestling because they have as many scholarships as they want to give away, so they can pull in all kinds of wrestlers from all areas and give them full rides.

He doesn't wait around like some of younger wrestlers or even some of the experienced guys. Steve gets the lead and keeps building on it.

We're proud to be in the state tournament. This will be a chance for a lot of our wrestlers to compete in Hershey, something some won't be able to experience in the individual tournament.

To finish ninth, that's a real testament to these guys. We only brought six wrestlers and four of them got medals, so I couldn't be prouder of them.

He's arguably the best wrestler in the history of our program. He's a great wrestler. Some wrestlers have a strong work ethic and not a lot of talent and some have a lot of talent and don't work very hard. Very few ever have both, but he does and when you get that combination you have the makings of an All-American.

He's always been good, but now he's turned into one of the elite wrestlers in the country. His work ethic and intensity have changed. He's much more intense. He has a lot of emotion and he does what he needs to do to compete at a high level.

His only high school losses came to some of the best wrestlers in the country.

Hobbs and Fluck are probably our two best wrestlers we still have wrestling.

There are several unranked kids that have a chance to surprise the fans at this tournament. Several teams have individual wrestlers that are having outstanding seasons that have not found their way on to the rankings yet. It should make for a great tournament.

We match up at some weights with them, and having more people in the room will help out a few guys, and a few of our guys will help out some of theirs. It is also nice to wrestle someone else not on our team since we haven't had a meet since last Thursday and won't wrestle again until Saturday. Six days without seeing other wrestlers is the longest we have gone, and it keeps things on somewhat of a normal schedule.

We lost seven starters last year and have a different group now. But they want a state championship and with four undefeated wrestlers on our squad I think we can achieve that goal also.

He was one of the most physical wrestlers I have ever faced. He had good technique and very strong hips.

He was a good rider, and I couldn't really do anything. I got worn out just fighting off my back. He's definitely one of the best wrestlers I've ever gone up against.

Harvard studies have proven that wrestlers are the smartest of all athletes, they just hide it. Well Devan isn't hiding it.

I threw some different wrestlers in there to see how they would compete. I wasn't pleased with our performance. As a team, we need to pick it up.

It is great because now Ridgefield will get the recognition. Ridgefield has had some great wrestlers and some that have placed at New England's. To get the gold means that we get to join the elite group of wrestlers.

Lance is one of the smartest wrestlers I've ever had.

I was disappointed, because I wanted to be a state champion in my senior year. But there were some excellent wrestlers in that tournament. All were great to just get there. I still was disappointed, though. I came so close to winning it all.

I thought the score would be closer, but I also thought that some of our wrestlers who lost would have won.

I think that between the egos of the actors and the wrestlers in this country we are taking away from the truly dedicated and informed people who should be getting their voice heard.

It isn't affecting wrestlers like Keith as much as it is the types of kids who could have gotten partial scholarships 20 years ago. With fewer schools and fewer scholarships you have kids who used to be able to get into college that just can't because of the numbers.

It is hard to predict how well a wrestler will do at states, but we have seven wrestlers who can get to the regional finals.

I want to thank everyone who has supported me along the way and all those who recommended me to fill other positions across the country. I will make sure that my next stop supports wrestling the way it should be supported and the situation at the Rock doesn't follow me in the future. I can assure you that where I am heading next, my wrestlers will not have to worry about finding a new school to wrestle for.

Kyle's been one of the top wrestlers in our program since he's gotten here. He's a rock in our lineup, and that's nice to have on your team when you go out to wrestle.

Last year he won the OCC and was second in the sectional and a (Division I) district qualifier. He is one of the better wrestlers on our team and he is a leader.

Over the past 25 seasons we have grown to be one of the most well known and highly respected wrestling programs in the state. We would like to take a moment to acknowledge all of the wrestlers and coaches that have worked so hard to build that reputation.

Region 4 is tough. I think Region 1 is the toughest, but Region 4 is right after. I think our wrestlers have fared well.

Paul broke the Waldport dry spell of state placers last year when he placed fifth, and now we've made a bit more recent history by placing three wrestlers in the same year. It's been a long time since that has happened and since we've had a wrestler in the state finals. With all these placers returning next year, we are poised to make major gains next season.

Some of the best wrestlers in the state are coming out of the Lehigh Valley. Nazareth, Northampton and Easton-they're all good teams.

My viewpoint could be a little different because I have such a young team and so I'm all for it. I'm all for helping young wrestlers gain experience for next year. But the first round is going to be a little different. There could be some lopsided scores.

Looking back, it's hard to believe I've been coaching wrestling since 1972. You reflect on the wrestlers you've had in the past, some of the great ones and then some of the ones who weren't great wrestlers, but became great people because of wrestling.

Matt changed how he mentally approached matches after the regional tournament, and he did a great job today. He's in a position so many wrestlers can only dream of.

I think coaches tend to make more out of that than the wrestlers do. If you are a good, sound, fundamental wrestler it isn't going to matter how many times you wrestle someone. Sometimes matches can go back-and-forth when the kids are more even, but if you're better, you'll win.

I'm still going to the state tournament. All wrestlers hate to lose. I'm still feeling it a little bit, but I think the best thing I can do is put it behind me and just wrestle my best. I'm still confident I can take the state tournament.

That was probably the first time I've been totally impressed, 100 percent. We wrestled the toughest competition -- top-ranked wrestlers -- and just went after it. They all beat top-ranked wrestlers whether they placed in the tournament or not. And to come out with a third place trophy and missing two of our guns, man, that's unbelievable.

I was pretty excited. I got to compete against some of the good AAA guys and out of state wrestlers that I'll never get to wrestle. This match will help because I went against a lot of different styles.

I was pleased and proud with the way our guys wrestled. This was our best team effort of the year. The wrestlers stepped up to the challenges and wrestled well. We need to use this as a turning point to our season.

Mike has a shot to place at state if he stays with his mental focus. He hasn't lost to any 2A wrestlers this season.

We were very disappointed (by the loss). We've lost some wrestlers to attrition and injury, but we just didn't wrestle particularly well.

We don't have a lot of depth and we're very young. We lost a lot of starters, so our success this year in league will depend on how quickly our young wrestlers mature.

We have some really good wrestlers who definitely have a chance to make state.

We had him stacked and we didn't get it. I was a good match. I'm proud of the wrestlers and their accomplishments. We're excited about going to the state tournament.

Usually the wrestlers that place in the top four in the Blue Devil are the ones that are there or close in the state championship. It gives guys a good idea of what they will be up against come tournament time.

We were glad to get (three) wrestlers out to district. I'm very happy Chip made it through to district. I'm just happy they all got another week to wrestle." ()

Yeah it was a great day. We had five wrestlers qualify and that's a school record as far as I know. I know that's the most I've sent as a coach. We just had a great day.

We have a very young team. I was happy with the progress of our young wrestlers. A couple of kids really stepped up, and some of our new wrestlers learned a lot and have a lot of potential. They'll get better and better.

We'll have around 150 to 200 wrestlers in the tournament from the southeast and northeast parts of the state. We're having mats brought in from Burlington and Chanute to be used along with the mat Iola High School has.

You have to apply to wrestle there. If accepted into the tournament, you expect to see the toughest wrestlers in the country. With teams like Iowa, Iowa State, Illinois and Central Michigan, the competition is stiff.

We beat them handily at the C.B. Invite with four champions and five seconds to North's two champions and one second. However, they had good wrestlers out of the line-up at 119 and 145 so I expect a battle in their gym.

The darkest hour in the history of Culpeper history. We didn't win a single (contested) match. We matched up perfectly for them. Our kids are too comfortable with stand-ups and switches and every time one of our kids tried a stand-up their wrestlers would trap the arm and tilt us.

We learned a lot of things wrestling in the district meet. The kids picked up a lot about how wrestlers that are good enough to go to the state finals wrestle. Watching good teams, you learn a lot about style and aggression and what the sport is really about.

We came here to win it and we didn't. But we still had a great meet and earned some strong seeds for next week's state tournament. We have five or six quality wrestlers that should have a good chance of placing.

We have four wrestlers moving on. I'm proud of the way they wrestled. It was a great experience for them.

This tournament will also give some of the reserve guys some time on the mat which is always nice. The exposure in the amount of matches we get Saturday will give us an idea of what we need to work on from here on out, and that experience will allow me to coach better, and will also help the wrestlers improve.

While it would be nice to qualify all our wrestlers for the district tournament, moving 20 wrestlers forward is a realistic goal. We are very fortunate to be returning several USAW Kansas Kids and high school state champions and medalists to this tournament series. We expect to have several of our wrestlers medal high at subs.

We were fine with the seventh seed. Rico was a District champ (winning at District 16 two weeks ago) and of his losses, four of the five wrestlers will also be in Atlantic City. So he's a quality wrestler. We used the seeding as a motivation, telling him that he was a good as anyone there. He went out there and had a great weekend. He opened up and wrestled more freely. Rico is hard to score on. He's what I call a funky wrestler.

Wrestling in the city league is improving. Our kids are dedicated to the sport and we are seeing better wrestlers emerging from the City League.

Wrestling fans and wrestlers are very intense people, and it brings a lot of intensity into the building.

Wrestlers in the U.S.A. are very aggressive. All they want to do is attack, but they'll make mistakes.

We will be heading into the meat of our schedule, so it will be important for us to be prepared and have our best foot forward. I feel we have some potential, but I want these wrestlers to respond and give the kind of effort I know they're capable of on the mat. When they do, I'll be glad to praise their performance.

This week it will be three times harder. There are five state-ranked wrestlers coming out of this region.

Those two were closer than I thought they would be, but those are two good wrestlers Alton has. They made us work for those wins at those classes.

We kind of took it on the chin for a few years. But this is two in a row now and I think it shows a change in the quality of wrestlers in Metro-East has now.

We were only one point away from being eighth. The wrestlers have been working especially hard to improve their first half of the season's performances and overall they started the new year much improved.

What an accomplishment. I told my entire team that, 'When you advance to the second day, you are one of the top 12 wrestlers in the state.' I couldn't be happier.

We were pretty banged up with injuries and sickness at the Hawkeye 10 and against Creston. We needed the rest to get everyone healthy. Having wrestlers out of the line-up has affected our team mentally. We have addressed that with the team and we expect to wrestle well Saturday.

We lost a lot of close ones in the quarterfinals. But, we have nine wrestlers left and I'm pleased with that.

We feel pretty good about having that many of our wrestlers seeded." ()

Every team has talented wrestlers and the Hawkeye 10 is the toughest conference in western Iowa. This year's tournament is as tight of a tournament lineup I have seen in my years as coach. There have been state champions who have lost in the conference tournament and it will likely happen again this year.

Coming back to Battle Creek for the finals is really a dream come true for me. I really hope to see a lot of old friends, wrestlers I've coached and family.

The unique thing is that the success of the two programs really goes hand in hand. We've had a lot of colleges calling this year. The success we've had really has opened doors, not only for these wrestlers but for the ones in the future.

The wrestlers are much more aware of where they are on the mat and it makes them do more wrestling in the center of the mat. The new rules are designed to promote more aggressive wrestling. The new rules are also less subjective. We no longer have the caution of passivity call.

These are the best 16 wrestlers in the state at this tournament. We're going to take it one step at a time and go from there.

The Salem Civic Center is just a great environment. You get to compete with the best wrestlers in the state. There will be a lot of people there and it will be loud. It will be nerve wracking but it will be fun.