Quotes

74 kg/163 lbs. - Joe Williams, Ames, Iowa (Sunkist Kids)

"It was the kind of a situation, I didn't wrestle one match. I started late, got caught in a couple of situations and got scored on. I tried to finish on a positive note and listened to the coaches."

"Anytime you don't reach your goals, it is tough. You get the courage to go for the next best thing. A tournament like this, you wrestle for the best place possible. With the great coaches we have, it was easier to get up for the bronze medal match."

(about the future) "I need to take some time and re-evaluate a lot of things."

"All of our guys were prepared. A lot of people might look at this and say the freestyle team ought to do well. We came prepared. We wrestled against the best guys in the world. Here, one mistake will cost you the match. Our guys were in situations to win matches. Our coaches did there jobs, as did the athletes. We put together a great coaching staff."

84 kg/185 lbs. - Mo Lawal, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Gator WC)

"Let's put it like this. The assassin missed his target by a hair. I beat him. He knows I won. Their coaches know I won. He couldn't look me in the face. That was the only call like that in the whole tournament. But that was my fault. Coach Brands, Jackson, Smith and Bennett told me that if I had the lead, I had to attack. I failed to do that. I was in the yellow part of the mat. It happens to everybody once in awhile, I guess."

"I am not going to lie. If (Sajidov) hadn't wrestled me, we sure battled out there, Sajidov would win the next match and be in the finals against Romero. He was tired. It was a dogfight there. That was one emotional match. I want to lose to the best. He wrestled the best. He got one on me. The refs helped out. What goes around comes around. I am disappointed and angry at myself. I can't blame anybody but myself. Except for the first period, I wrestled a good match. I just don't know."

"I'll be here next year. I am going to win it. My first year wrestling, I got pinned in the state meet. The next year, I came back and won state. At Central Oklahoma, I was the runner-up at the nationals. The second year, I won it. I always come back. I work too hard for this. I won't let this discourage me. I will take two weeks off, get with Coach Jackson and work on next year's plan. What can I do? I'll come back next year."

U.S. World Team Coach Joe Seay (after Lawal's match)

"We won the match. They didn't come close to scoring. We scored the only offensive attack. Mo  Lawal won the match. There is no doubth he won that match."

National Freestyle Coach Kevin Jackson (after Lawal's match)

"It is hard enough to score points without the refs giving away points. That was unbelievable."

National Coach Kevin Jackson (after Williams' loss in semifinals)

"We had two similar situations. The problem is I don't disagree with the way Joe Williams match was scored. Mo Lawal had a technical point and outwrestled him. Joe let the match go to the clinch. We can't allow it to go to the clinch and give away points. They replayed the point in the second period on video. They had a better view. I am pretty sure Joe stepped out on the edge."