GOODWILL GAMES Quotes - Saturday, July 25U.S. athletes and coaches from match with Iran
Tony Purler (USA), 58 kg/127.75 lbs. - (ON DELAY) "It didn't really bother me too bad. I was pretty fired up and ready to go on the mat. Then I had to wait another 10 minutes, so it took a few minutes to regroup but I was able to do so." (ON MATCH) "I was trying to be patient and not let him rush. He does one thing and he does it better than anybody (the collar-tie to a single leg). I was adamant about letting him not getting the collar-tie."
Cary Kolat (USA) 63 kg/138.75 lbs. - Defeated Mehdi Kaveh (IRI), 1-0 Referee's Decision "It's been a poor tournament for me so far. I have not been moving, and I haven't been shooting. There's just no other way to put it, I've just had a poor tournament. My ribs have been tinged, but they are getting better. There's been no pain during the bouts. Nobody has blocked on it, so it has been good." (ON WHETHER KAVEH SHOULD HAVE BEEN GIVEN A POINT ON FINAL MOVE) "I thought he (the referee) could have given it to him. Like I said, I've had a poor tournament. The match should not have been that close. I just had a tough time getting past that Turkish loss. The crowd being so loud doesn't distract you, it excites you."
Lincoln McIlravy (USA), 69 kg/152 lbs. - Defeated Mohsen Babaei (IRI), 4-3 (ON CONTROVERSY AND DELAY) "It was a little bit of a distraction not knowing when you were going to wrestle, not even knowing if your were going to wrestle. It looked like for a while that they weren't even going to come out. But you warm up like you would normally and it ends that you wrestle an hour later than when you were supposed to. But that is adversity and we train for adverse situations. I just wasn't able to perform the way I should perform. For me, I'm a perfectionist. I'm really not happy with my performance."
"Unfortunately there are Iranians and there are Iranian anti-Iranians and unfortunately that has to happen here. I think both America and Russia just want to come and see which are the best wrestlers are and shake hands afterward. It's unfortunate that politics comes into the sports venue. Sport is the best vehicle for people to get along."
(ON MATCH WITH RUSSIA) "Russia is a very good team. I'm really excited about wrestling tomorrow. They brought their best and we brought our best. So tomorrow is going to be a knock-down, drag-out bout."
Steve Marianetti (USA), 76 kg/167.5 lbs.) - Defeated Massoud Jamshidi (IRI), 2-1 "Going into the match, we knew it was going to be a real tight match and you could see it. Every bout has been real tight. I think our coaches have prepared us well. It seems to be a dog-fight out there every single time. It's really too bad that the Goodwill Games have to experience this type of activity and it's especially bad for the athletes. It's an unknown variable I have to admit. You never know in athletics."
"In the overtime, after the scramble at the end I figured out in my head that if he scores this point, it's tied. I think if he scores, I lose."
Les Gutches (USA), 85 kg/187.25 lbs. - Defeated Abbas Majidi (IRI), 4-0 (ABOUT THROW) "I don't know if there were points or not, that was up to the referee. I guess they thought it was a point. Wrestling this guy was much like my senior year in high school. This guy didn't come after me. I was kind of playing cat-and-mouse with him. He wasn't going to do a whole lot. Everybody who knows wrestling knows it is hard to attack a guy who is backing up. I couldn't really get my offense going, but I felt like I was aggressive. He was all oiled up. I don't know if it was oil, but he had something on his body."
"It's unfortunate about what happened. Us as wrestlers, we are trying to be ambassadors as the Games say, of good will. The athletes on both sides are pretty much doing their job - being gracious, shaking the coach's hands after the bout, exchanging gifts before the Games. Maybe we're doing a little more than wrestling. We felt like we were strengthening strained ties. To come here and have this kind of a thing happen is a little unfortunate. We just want to wrestle. We're not politicians and it's kind of unfortunate that this has to creep into 'The Goodwill Games'. It's kind of crazy, but I wrestled in Siberia and there we had to have bodyguards. It's a little distracting I think."
U.S. coaches and athletes on match with Turkey
Sam Henson, USA 54 kg/119 lbs. (Defeated Mevlana Kulag, 12-3) "I was up 3-0 and he got on top of me. He went for my leg and I got it under him. I've kind of hurt my knee and I've got a bad knee. I didn't want him to get back in the match. If he had more energy, he might have given me a better match. This is a great start for the U.S. team. I was a little nervous going into this match."
Lincoln McIlvary, USA 69 kg/152 lbs. (Defeated Aden Kaya, TUR 4-1) "Not bad for the first round. I need to get my offense going though. These guys came to see some good wrestling and hopefully it will get better as the tournament goes on. Hopefully we will get more points on the board. It's a good win anytime you beat these guys. I think everyone on the team feels the same way, I think we want the team to win and we all want to perform the best we can. If we do that, then the team will take care of itself. We're just excited about wrestling the best we can individually."
Steve Marianetti, USA 76 kg/167.5 lbs. (Defeated Nuri Zengin TUR, 3-1 in OT) - "I'm just really happy to start off with a victory. The first match is always hard…you never know. You never know how your shape is going to be, but I just hung in. I didn't wrestle a great match. I wasn't happy with the match, but at this level a win is a win. I still have some things I really need to clean up before the dual meet against Iran tonight. I got the job done and I'm happy today. My goal is for a world championship. But to wrestle against the very top, for instance the Russian gold medallist, I'm going to have to take it another step up. This is a good start for me, I felt okay. My shape is very good, I just need to be a little more aggressive."
Les Gutches, USA 85 kg/187.25 lbs. (Defeated Ali Ozen TUR, 11-0) "It was a little bit more than just a win because I helped the team out. It felt good to get the first match done. He's not a bad competitor and it felt good to get out there and wrestle in front of a great crowd."
(ON ENTHUSIASTIC CROWD) - "Iran, Russia, whatever, as long as you're not wrestling that country, they're (the crowd) is rooting for you. It felt good wrestling in general. A lot of these other countries know what wrestling is. They know what good scoring holds are and they know what's a good match. In some cases they are more educated than the American fans. I think there can be a lesson learned here."
(ON SEEING NEXT OPPONENTS) - "I'm looking forward to it. Obviously they're good. There's an Olympic champ from Russia and the Iranian is no slouch. They will be tough matches, but I am looking forward to it."
Melvin Douglas, USA 97 kg/213.75 lbs. (Defeated Kasif Sakiroglu TUR, 3-0 in OT) (ON FINAL MOVE) "I just doubled, double-legged him and threw him to the mat. That's my specialty. That's a move I use a lot. That's one of my bad moves."
(ON UPCOMING MATCHES) "That wasn't a tough match. The next two are going to be tough. I wrestled the guy from Iran before. He's very tough, but he didn't look too good. He didn't look in shape. The Russian, he's pretty good. He's more like a wiry guy. He one of those guys that you have to blow through."
Kerry McCoy, USA 130 kg/286 lbs. (Defeated Aydin Polatgi TUR, 3-0) "Every time I step on the mat, I want to be better than I was the last time. I feel like I'm stepping it up and getting ready for the World Championship."
(ON FACING IRAN) - "Actually Iran, Russia and Turkey are three of the toughest countries to wrestle. But every time we go out it's a big challenge."
(ON WRESTLING IN FRONT OF HOMETOWN FANS) "I love being able to compete in front of my friends and family and it makes it that much more sweet when you have thr