Quotes from 2002 World Team Trial Champions

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
06/23/2002


55 kg Greco-Roman - Brandon Paulson, Minnesota Storm    "This feels great. I am wrestling better than ever. I'm glad to hear the crowd cheering after a big move. I could hear the roar. After the second match I was still feeling good. I could have kept going. It is a matter of preparing correctly and who's ready to win.    60 kg Greco-Roman - Jim Gruenwald  "I've had some small experience with wrestling. There's no substitute for the experience. Americans can have success in Greco-Roman overseas. I would not keep wrestling if I didn't think I could win the Worlds. Especially at my age."    66 kg Greco-Roman - Kevin Bracken    "This is tiring. My goals for the worlds is to be the champion. At the last worlds, I lost in overtime, and lost the chance to take third. I'm pretty confident right now. I'm right in there to be a champion."    (preparation for worlds) "I always have work to do. I'll be married in July. I've got to relax a little for that, then after, I'll ger right back at it."    74 kg Greco-Roman - T.C. Dantzler    (the throws in the finals) "It's just like practice, man. I create the same situation."    (on finally beating Keith Sieracki) "We have wrestled seven times. It has been an uphill battle to beat him. This is fantastic. I always knew I could do it. We are so equal. One little thing always separates us."    85 kg  Greco-Roman - Brad Vering  (the third match) "A lot of guys said to me to go out there like 'You are the man.' This is it. It's the last match."    (the five point move in bout one) "I just had it. I was thinking about going for one point. It was there and I just went for it. It is hard to get into that position. I just caught him off a duckunder."    (about the Worlds) "I 'm just going with the attitude to do my best. I'll have the attitude to medal or win it. I don't have the experience of the other guys. I'm just going to work hard. If I'm the worst guy on the team, it is a great team. I'm going to get after it."    96 kg Greco-Roman - Garrett Lowney    "To make the World Team, you expect to have to battle for it, so this is a little different. It's my home town and I would have liked to have a chance to perform for them. I went to bed and woke up expecting to wrestle. I saw in the newspaper his final decision. It's hard for me to understand why he went through the trouble of the mini-tournament, but I admire his strength for standing up for what he believes."    120 kg Greco-Roman - Dremiel Byers    "It feels good about being a World Team member. I tried to listen to my coaches in my warmup. I listen to what they tell me I can do, rather than what I can't. I have paid more attention to others in the room"      55 kg Freestyle - Stephen Abas    (About the match) "Teague and I have had some great battles. He is a great competitor and a great guy."    (How competing in finals last year helped him) "It helped me a great deal. It helped with my confidence and knowing that I am the best one out there."    (about the Worlds in Iran) "I am really excited. I know that it is the best place to go."    60 kg Freestyle - Eric Guerrero  "I am by no means satisfied with my match; I'm not satisfied one bit. Wins are wins. I scored the points and go to the legs. I think I came into the second session lackadaisical, a little too much joking around. But it makes you focus and stick to your routine all the time. It is a relief getting out there and winning, with no real points being scored. This is just getting the job done."    66 kg Freestyle - Chris Bono    (about the three cautions on Kelly) "I wrestle hard. If I run them out of bounds, I run them out of bounds. I came here, worked hard and did what I had to do."    (about facing Zadick) "I wish it was over. I wish I knew today that I won the World Team Trials title. It will make me train harder. You have to take things as they come. This sport is full of diversity - what happens, happens. I came in thinking I would wrestle Zadick, but now I am prepared for him."    74 kg Freestyle- Joe Williams    "I'm especially not happy with this match. A couple of calls didn't go my way. But it's over and done with and I'm ready for the World Championships."    (about wrestling in Iran) "They cheer for you if you are winning, but when you beat one of their guys, they cheer for you, too."    (about waiting two days to wrestle) "I'm starting to think about it. Just waiting around drags on you a bit emotionally."    85 kg Freestyle - Cael Sanderson    (about Fullhart) "He's a bulldog."    (about the loss) "I got beat. I didn't do what I needed to do. This is a wakeup call. I didn't expect anything easy. Give Lee a lot of credit. He made me earn it. It's pretty obvious I didn't have the fire in my eyes."    (any doubt after the loss) "Yeah. A lot of people are expecting a lot of me. I refocused on the wrestling."    (mindframe for third match) "I just needed to win it or I would be sitting out. I just wrestled my hardest."    96 kg Freestyle - Tim Hartung  (about winning) "It's been a long time. It's about time. It took three years. This feels good. I attacked a lot more this year.    (about competing in Iran) "If we go, I go."    (why is he winning) "Confidence. Moving up to 96 kg gave me a whole new fresh start.     (expectations at worlds) "I am going with the idea to medal."    120 kg Freestyle - Kerry McCoy    "I train to make myself better. I had time to adjust my strategy from yesterday. The biggest thing is to minimize and eliminate mistakes."    (about competing in Iran) "If the team is going, I'm going. It's really out of our control, the situation over there."    48 kg Women - Patricia Miranda    "This is the first time I won the National Open and had to sit out of the Challenge Tournament. It offered me a unique challenge to keep mentally cool. I was disappointing how I wrestled the second match. I didn't adapt quickly enough."    "The waiting between the matches gives me a unique opportunity to look at myself and my emotions."    (on winning the World Trials) "This will offer a unique advantage because the other countries have not been scouting me."    51 kg - Jenny Wong    (about reaching her goal here) "I still have a long way to go to be where I want to be. Eventually, I would like to be the Olympics and World Champion. This is a step on that path."    (the second match) "I knew going into this match that she would try to tie me up. I just tried to take some shots."    (about competing at home in Minnesota) "It's nice to be in Minnesota. There are may people I have not seen. It's really nice to see them. They helped to get me to where I am today."    (about being the frontrunner) "I tried not to think about being the frontrunner. I just went in there to wrestle."    55 kg  Women - Tina George-Wilson    "This is so long coming. I worked so hard. No one thought I was serious. I want to let everybody know I'm a World champion. I needed to finetune my strength and technique. I know I did everything to prepare."    (about the Worlds) "I'll start working out tomorrow, maybe tonight. I can get up in the next morning and work out the next morning. That's what makes a champion."    63 kg - Women - Sara McMann    "It wasn't as pretty as I like. A win is a win. I felt good the whole time. Both matches, I was confident the entire time. I'm really happy about that.:    (about beating Marano, a World champion) "She is an excellent wrestler, very defensive. I had to keep it clean. I couldn't make mistakes. This is what I have to face at the Worlds. She wrestles like she's a European. It gives me confidence."    59 kg Women - Lauren Lamb    "This feels great. The last couple of years, I wrestled with an injury and I was getting frustrated."    (what's next) "I'll be training for the world championships. I plan on doing more running."    67 kg - Women - Katie Downing    (about her thoughts after winning) "I am disappointed a little bit because the weight was kind of small. I'm excited because this is the first time I have won the World Team Trials. I feel blessed. I feel confident. I feel that I was ready with my training."    (about what's next) "I will probably have challenge matches, a