2004-05 WRM at NCAA Championships -- Day 3 Quotes
3/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
U-M Fifth-Year Senior Ryan Bertin
On winning his second NCAA title ... "That's the last time I'll ever wrestle, so I'm happy I won. Coming in, I felt like I was the best kid in the country at that weight, so I proved it this weekend. I think it was the toughest weight. The way it worked out, it was kind of crazy. We had two returning national champs, two finalists returning, another guy new to the country decided to join the mix. I'm not one to talk much, but I can now, because I won and I'm done."
| | Bertin registers his first takedown to seize a 2-0 advantage in the first period. |
On the team's performance ... "We just had a really great team effort this year. Joe (McFarland) has always emphasized getting to the podium, and for us to come in and finish second in the country behind a team like Oklahoma State -- as far as I'm concerned, we're first in our own respect, because Oklahoma State is really hard to compete with."
On the difference between his two NCAA titles ... "I guess I'm just more confident now. That year was really a struggle for me; I was hurt a lot of the time, and it was just a bad year for me in general. So I think that was extra satisfying. It was more of a rollercoaster that year; this year has been pretty even keel. I've kept my emotions in check, and I really haven't had to persevere over anything. I haven't had any big obstacles, so the road's been a lot easier for me."
On the advice he'd give to younger wrestlers ... "Believe in yourself, regardless of what people tell you. Just because someone tells you that you can't do something -- because you're a certain age or skill level -- don't let that hinder your progress."
Michigan Head Coach Joe McFarland
On Ryan Bertin's performance ... "He didn't really have any game plan; he just wanted to stay on the offense and mount the attack. He knows he learned a valuable lesson after the Big Ten Championships after that loss when he sat on a lead. He didn't sit on a lead here; we went after it in the third period and stayed on his attacks. He ended that match strong."
On the combined U-M team performance ... "It's the best performance a Michigan team has had in over 30 years. I couldn't be more proud of these guys; they all battled. I've got two young guys that came here and withstood the pressure -- two freshmen All-Americans. The whole team did a great job. I think we've got guys on this team that are just really competitive -- not that they haven't been in the past -- I just think these guys are at another level. They're really committed to it. We've been focused on this all year; we've talked a lot about finishing strong this year. We did a few things differently this year, trying to keep guys healthy, keep them fresh. We worked them hard when we needed to and backed off when we needed to, gave them a lot of rest. Obviously, it paid off for us this year."
On improving on a third-place Big Ten tournament finish ... "I wasn't too concerned [following the Big Ten meet], because we were right in the hunt the whole time. We just had a few bad things happen -- an overtime loss at heavyweight, a last-second takedown against Bertin. Those are things that you can manage and make day-to-day adjustments to remedy. Some of those were just mental mistakes we made. I knew it wasn't anything as far as our conditioning; I still felt we were in pretty good shape. I knew those guys who qualified could go a long ways; I knew that would be the difference in this tournament."
On his expectations entering the NCAA tournament ... "I knew we'd be in the hunt, but if you had told me a week ago that we'd end up second here, I'd probably say it'd be a stretch. I'm really proud of these guys. They did it, they pulled it off. Hopefully, it's a sign of great things to come for Michigan."
U-M Senior/Junior Ryan Churella
On his third-place match against Lehigh's Troy Letters ... "I thought I wrestled close, which is how I wanted to wrestle. Small things made the difference in the match. Giving up the first takedown wasn't part of my plan, and I just got ridden out for a little too long to give him riding time. That forced me to try to take him down a couple times in the last period, and I just kind of ran out of time. I thought I would be able to get that last takedown, but it just didn't happen."
On placing fourth at 165 pounds ... "Last night, I didn't wrestle like I wanted to, and it showed when I lost the match. You're never satisfied unless you win it, but I'm really happy that the team is doing well. I'll remember what this felt like when I'm here next year, and I'll be ready."
U-M Sophomore/Freshman Josh Churella
On placing eighth at 141 pounds ... "It's nice to be an All-American, but when you're the third seed, your goal is to win the tournament, and anything besides that, you're just not really satisfied. It's good to help the team. It's just one of those things that will motivate me in the years to come."
On battling sickness this weekend ... "I think it did play some part. I never take timeouts, and I took three. Every match, I just got tired. I just didn't have it this tournament."
Players Mentioned
