60 kg/132 lbs. - Mike Zadick, Solon, Iowa (Hawkeye WC)

"I think I came out in the first match slow, moving my feet slowly. I got better with each match. I am keeping my feet moving. I have not lost a period yet. I feel good about the matches. I will stick to what I am doing. But I am not satisfied with anything yet."

"As I told you, I am going with my conditioning. As anyone can see watching my opponents, it is a factor. It was my mindset as I was brought up and taught by my coaches."

"I will go one match at a time. I'll go one more match. I am very aware of where I am sitting. I will stay positive."

(about defending the leg clinch against Batirov)
"The leg clinch is so new. I feel confident with people on my legs. The main focus came from the World Team coaches, who have been drilling me in the position. They tell me to wait on the leg, and it paid off. Like anything, if you work hard enough, it will pay off. That was my confidence from my coaches. I felt good there. I have been beaten overseas in that position. The coaches said I could do what I was doing would work against Americans, but not against the world's best. They showed me what to do. It paid off in the match for me. It worked, and I stayed focused."

(what he will do prior to the finals)
"Nothing special. I will get something to eat."

55 kg/121 lbs. - Sammie Henson, Flintstone, Ga. (Sunkist Kids)

"I wrestled my best in the last four or five years, going back to the Olympic Games. I wrestled the kid from Bulgaria earlier this year. I got tired. I put my legs in on him. He is really 'gumby,' and he won. I went for them again here. If I got that point, and he didn't score on me, I win that second period. He has a style that allows you to sleep a little out there."

(about wrestling back for a medal)
"I have one match at a time. I have to get the bronze medal. It makes the whole year worth it if I win."

"I made some big mistakes. You can't do that in a high level match. You can't do that against a high level opponent. I just have to get it back now."

120 kg/264.5 lbs. - Dremiel Byers, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army)

(about the penalty call in his match against Guzel of Turkey)

"I was just wrestling. I was snapping him down and he worked into a position and got caught. I didn't throw punches, or anything. There wasn't a warning. They just jumped to giving him a point. I didn't like that call. But I should have used it in my favor."

(about having them take off his knee brace in his match against Guzel)
"It comes with it. I don't let stuff like that rattle me."

"I wasn't tired at all. I was still in my game. The only reason I tried to go to the right with the gutwrench in the third period was that I still had his arm. He managed to pull something to stop me. I had him dead on my feet. But hindsight is 20/20. I didn't win. I have nobody to blame but myself. I have to work harder to get ready next year. I am not advancing. It must have to do with what I am doing. I start with me first. That is where I put the blame. The coaches, the medical staff, my workout partners, they all are giving me the support. I appreciate what they do. And Rulon (Gardner) helped me prepare. I have to thank him. Those two days he gave me in training had me prepared for this match. That match wasn't even close to the two days I put in against Rulon. That's the cold hard fact."

"I am going to wear this for the whole year, just like I wore it last year. I am ashamed about what happened today. I apologize if I let people down."

U.S. Freestyle National Coach Kevin Jackson

"Mike Zadick is wrestling phenomenally. He is doing things I didn't know he was capable at. He is in the flow. He is out there wrestling. That's all we ask our guys to do, to go out and compete. We are excited that he has a chance to be a World Champion. He still has work to do. The Iranian is a great champion. Mike will have to do that in the finals to win."

"About Sammie Henson, we are extremely disappointed. We felt we had a World Champion with him. He didn't feel well out there, but that means nothing. If you make mistakes, you can't win matches. We made huge mistakes in that match. We made the same mistakes against that kid in the match in Baku (Azerbaijan). Sammie got excited out there and make the mistake. We believe Sammie is the best in the world and the Cuban he beat today is the second best guy. We are disappointe. But we have to come back and get the bronze. Then we can hang our head high."

U.S. Freestyle World Team Coach Mike Duroe

"Mike put together three outstanding matches in a row. He wrestles to the end of the period. He keeps coming, winning the good old fashioned way with hard work. He is destined to win."

"Sammie is disappointed. He's shook up. He has to realize he has to wrestle back for the bronze. It is not automatic. He has to compete."