Quotes: Michigan at NCAA Championships -- Day 2
3/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 21, 2015
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Michigan Head Coach Joe McFarland
On Adam Coon's match-ending scramble in the heavyweight semifinals ... "It was unbelievable. They looked like two lightweights out there. They had two great scrambles in that match. That one in overtime went back and forth between two big, great athletes. I think both sets of coaches that were in the corner didn't know what was going to happen until it played itself out. It was an incredible scramble. Adam was just determined to win that match. I thought he wrestled a perfect match."
On the Wolverines going 4-for-4 in the Round of 12 ... "We got off to a really good start -- five All-Americans. The guys wrestled hard. As a coaches, there's always a couple matches you'd like to have over, but there probably isn't a single coach in the arena feeling otherwise. I was really proud of the way the guys competed. They dug down deep and won some tough matches against tough guys. It was impressive to see. We've got some more points to get tomorrow, but today was a good day. If you're a Michigan wrestling fan, you've got a lot to be proud of tonight."
U-M Sophomore Adam Coon
Opening statement ... "Really in this match I went out there and battled for position. I lost to him previously, so I kind of knew what I was expecting. I knew it was going to be easily led on his feet and he loves to take those open shots. I just had to make sure I was low and in position for the whole match. That's what I was fighting through for the whole match. It came down to overtime and just had to kind of register that in my head, especially at the semifinals of the NCAAs. It's down to the person with the most heart and the one that's not doesn't want to lose most. So, I just kind of ignored any pain that I was in for the seven minutes and just went after it. We got to that 30-second scramble. I knew if I kept my butt off the mat, I was still alive. So, I scrambled as much as I can to keep me off my butt and put him on his."
On having a better postseason than last year ... "As a freshman, you really weren't used to the grind. It's a huge step up from high school, and I think I underestimated that a little bit. Basically this year was about training hard and making sure my mind was ready for the full season drive, and that started from the first day of practice. I got a lot of good experience from the beginning of the year my freshman year. So I say that was a definite positive just getting the experience for some of those top-notch guys and having success to give myself some confidence. But, yeah, it did hurt me a little bit because I wasn't mentally prepared for the postseason. I figured I could ride out that success all the way through, and realize that postseason is a whole 'nother season."
On athletic heavyweights ... "I know the crowd is sick of seeing those chess match headway matches. Frankly, us heavyweights are the same way. We like to look like a lightweight. Get a bunch of scores on the mat because it makes for an easier match when you're up by eight points. It's just the training is a little different. You don't see as many monster heavyweights anymore. You're seeing more the agile heavyweights just because that's the way we train. We try to train like a lightweight pretty much, so we have an advantage when we wrestle against bigger heavyweights because we are more mobile."
On facing NC State's Nick Gwiazdowski in the finals ... He's been extremely successful. Congratulations to him for his national championship last year and making it to the finals again. I have all the respect for him. With that being said, I'm going to take it as another match. You've got to have the best guy in the finals. So basically I'm going to go out there and wrestle my best, and may the better person win."
Players Mentioned
