U.S. Finals quotes from the Dave Schultz Memorial International

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
02/09/2003


 U.S. championquotes from the Dave Schultz Memorial International    WOMEN    Patricia Miranda  "I have been working my whole life for this, but didn't realize that until I went to college. I am thankful for all the opportunities I have to train here (at the USOTC). The opening of the resident program and the announcement of Olympic women's national wrestling coach Terry Steiner has been big. Terry deserves half the credit. My preparation since the World Championships has been mostly mental. I have to stay ion the moment. That has been the difference in my wrestling. I've always had certain skills. It's just about putting them together in one six-minute show. This is definitely a positive shock; I was prepared for it so I'm not surprised."    Jenny Wong  "Her dump move, I knew it was coming, so I didn't let her get into position to have it. We went into the clinch. She tried an inside trip and didn't commit to it. I took it from there. After that, she had to come after me and I used it to my advantage. She has beaten me three times. This is a big win for me."    Sally Roberts  "I'm really excited. I was in my zone. For once, everything came together. It came slowly. I have been working my butt off. Instead of being Sara McMann's No. 1 competitor, I decided to go down a weight class and work with her. I beat a national champion! I knew she had a lot of upperbody. So I wrestled with intensity and moved around so she couldn't throw me. My gut wrench worked all week. I knew it was good when I turned Coach Steiner in practice."    Sara McMann  "There was nothing different in that match. The Lord was with me. Not a thing has changed. I opened up more in this match than the others. It was critical for me to show that these girls can't score on me. If they score, they wouldn't score much. I had to shut them down. I didn't give up things from my shots. Every match, I had total respect for my opponents. On a different day, if I was not wrestling well, it might not go my way.    Toccara Montgomery  "Basically, I knew her style was upperbody. I wrestled her last week. Coach Kip (Flanik) told me to go outside her. I figured I could go upperbody or outside on her. She's a great wrestler. She's an up and coming star. I need that kind of competition for my future in wrestling. I was not happy I lost to her last week but I wasn't too upset. I learn 10-times more from a loss than a win. It opens my eyes. I train harder. I had never wrestled anybody with her style before. I reviewed it and studied and it paid off. I think a lot of my confidence is from Kip in my corner. He wasn't with me in Canada. He believes in me, knows my abilities and can pull it out of me."      FREESTYLE    Sammie Henson   "I have been wrestling on and off. I'm really committed now. I train really hard. The way I train, I needed some time off. Then, I'd come back and lose some matches. I wasn't doing this, getting good matches. I needed this. This is a good win for me. I won last week at the Manitoba Open. This is two in a row, back to back. This helps Sammie Henson. By the way, I did get two more points that they did not get me. I have two boys. My wife is real balanced. She's a tough person. She's the one who said I have to stop being a baby and start training hard."    Jared Frayer  "It was a good tournament. Seeing the guys who were here, I knew it was a stacked weight class and it would be a true test. It is a great international tournament. It 's a great tuneup, a great look at where I am. This is the most relaxed I have been for a long time wrestling. I go to Cuba in two weeks. I need to get better every time I compete. Schwab was an animal. He keeps coming. I knew it was going to be a good match."    Casey Cunningham  "Joe Heskett is real talented and had a great tournament. I had to get my mind to refocus after the first two matches where I didn't wrestle well. I was happy that my turns could work for me. This event is great. I have only been overseas once, to Japan. This is a great international event. Wrestling different styles from different countries helps me to reach my goals. The Lord willihng, I will accomplish my goals. I'll keep training hard. God has a plan and I'll keep doing my best."    Tim Hartung   "I felt good condition-wise. I haven't been turned much the last two years. The gutwrench he scored bothered me a bit. I knew it was going to go into the clinch. I am confident there. I have been working on the clinch. I knew he was tired. I knew if I scored on him in the clinch I could win. I saw it in his body language. I knew if I stayed solid, I would score. I knew he couldn't take two more minutes of me banging on his head. Every win is a confidence builder. I had a great run last year and made the U.S. team. There are some guys back in my weight this year who are talented. I have a lot to work for. It's exciting to see that the end is in sight on this journey."    GRECO-ROMAN    Kevin Bracken  "I got it going on him, in terms of pushing myself. Hopefully, when I push myself to the limit, they are at their edge. One of the big tricks to wrestling when you are tired and pushing hard is to execute your technique as well. That is what our coaches push us on, on a weekly basis. I think the Dave Schultz International Tournament with all the foreigners here is outstanding. I don't think I have ever seen anything like it in the United States. My schedule, with Concord first, then Schultz and then Cuba, followed by Guatemala and Turkey is like an Ironman for me. It should help me get better."