Athlete quotes from Medal Matches of the World Freestyle Wrestling Championships

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John Fuller (USA Wrestling)
09/14/2003


Men's 84 kg/185 lbs. - Cael Sanderson lost dec. to Sajid Sajidov (Russia), 4-3  "I needed to get in the match from the start and wrestle with no mistakes and that didn't happen."    "I didn't wrestle well and this was the time to wrestle well."    Men's 120 kg/264.5 lbs. - Kerry McCoy lost dec. to Artur Taimazov (Uzbekistan), 4-1, ot, 6:12  "I was in between ideas and kind of lost my footing."    "I'm real excited. I proved I can win at the international level and get the so-called monkey off my back. That's definitely a positive."      Women's 48 kg/105.5 lbs. - Patricia Miranda lost dec. to Irini Merleni (Ukraine), 5-4  "One half of me is freestyle-minded, thinking that with a 3-1 lead I was going to be defensive. The other half of me is more college-minded, where I continuously want to attack."    "I don't think that freestyle is a style that can be left up to the ref's calls. They decided not to call passivity and that is the end of it. I had a chance to win the match and I didn't."    Women's 51 kg/112.25 lbs. - Jenny Wong dec. Alena Kareisha (Belarus), 3-2, ot, 6:01  "I haven't fullfilled my dream of winning a World Championship, but coming back and winning after a loss was important to me. You just have to kind of drag yourself away from (the loss)."    "We work on (the clinch) on a daily basis, especially on this level. There are a lot of important matches that come down to the clinch."    Women's 55 kg/121 lbs. - Tina George lost dec. to Saori Yoshida (Japan), 5-2  "I am usually pretty good in that position, defending the single-leg, but I guess I wasn't good today."    "I felt that I wrestled to the best of my ability and the smartest I could."    "As a team, we're competing the best that we've ever competed as far as the U.S. is concerned. If we keep improving, then next year we could be untouchable. That's our goal."    Women's 59 kg/130 lbs. - Sally Roberts pinned Marianna Sastin (Hungary), 5:36  "(The semifinal loss) is really upsetting for me, my coaches and I'm sure my fans, but I am glad I was able to come back and get the win. All I wanted to do was get on the phone and cry to my mom, but I have to keep my composure and go out there and wrestle."    Women's 67 kg/147.5 lbs. - Kristie Marano dec. Ewelina Pruszko (Poland), 7-1  "For myself, (winning this year) is different because I am only an hour and 45 minutes from my home. Team-wise, we have done tremendous. This team is great. We have worked really hard and we deserve every medal we get."    "My heart goes out to the other girls."    "(My daughter) enjoys it. She loves it. She's my number one fan."    Women's 72 kg/158.5 lbs. - Toccara Montgomery lost dec. to Kyoko Hamaguchi (Japan), 4-1  "I think Kristie's win put a fire under me and made me want to perform more than anything else."    "It was just me trying to hold her still and waiting for her offense instead of capitalizing on my offense."