Quotes from U.S. champions at the Dave Schultz Memorial International
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John Fuller (USA Wrestling)
02/08/2004
PATRICIA MIRANDA "This really changed my wrestling. Usually, I out-physical my opponents more. I was very fatigued in my matches. It forced me to execute." "I know that it's not just my wind that will win it. I found a way to win when my body was screaming no." STEPHEN ABAS "I am using this as a tune-up for Krasnoyarsk (Ivan Yarygin Memorial). The competition there is the best." On Jeremy Hunter: "He always puts in a good, hard six minutes. I thought he was more offensive than defensive. I don't think he felt like he should should because of my re-shot." TINA GEORGE "She didn't respect me. She thought that I didn't deserve my medal last year at the World Championships. She is one of those that thinks that if you don't beat everyone in the weight class, then you don't deserve the medal. This win goes a long way towards proving to myself and her that I can compete at this level." ERIC LARKIN "I have been training par terre. I don't get anything back home for par terre training, but ever since I came out here a couple of weeks ago, I have really improved a lot of little things in how I wrestle in par terre. If I really want to excel on the international level, I may have to move out here." "He was tired. He's huge too. He is so strong on the double. I didn't feel like I could move when he hit it on me." FARUK SAHIN "I wanted to wrestle in this tournament last year, but I got in a car accident on my way to the tournament. This was a very good experience for me. (U.S. Army wrestlers) prepare ourselves very good for this tournament." "I will definitely try because it is my dream. I want to make my dream come true." KRISTIE MARANO "The Canadian coach told me we wouldn't wrestle at about 2:30 p.m. I had wanted to wrestle for more practice. I wrestled pretty well this tournament. I'll find out how well after my dad and I go over the tapes. I had to be my best to win, but I also wanted to try some new stuff, whether or not it cost me some points." . RULON GARDNER "He's good at the clinch. Right now, I am working on a one-on-one basis every day, on how to beat them. We are two wrestlers going 100%, going for each others throats. He has a nasty inside trip. It is so successful. He won the first clinch, I won the second two clinches. He is learning about me; I am learning about him. We didn't use all of our weapons here at this tournament. In two months, tit will become nastier. The intensity will go up even more. This was a good one, another stepping stone, another knotch on my belt. But now I have to prepare for the next one." JOE HESKETT On his improvement: "The whole point of this is to get better. I consider myself one of the best guys in the world. The next couple of months I have to prove that." GLENN NIERADKA "We will probably meet again at the U.S. Nationals or the Olympic Trials. This was a big win for the U.S. Army." DANNY FELIX "This is my first win in awhile. It is nice to get one. I have been second other times. We will see each other again, depending upon our seed at nationals. I wrestled last week in Manitoba; I've had 10 matches in just a few days. The whole purpose is to get mat time. I felt good this weekend." ERIN TOMEO "I was confident in my wrestling all weekend. I wrestled this to prove to myself that I could win this tournament. If I continue to be strong, I can compete with anyone." "This is a good preview of the U.S. Nationals. Every match I get better and better." LEE FULLHART "This is a good warm-up for me. I will see these same wrestlers again in the Nationals and the Olympic Trials. I need to improve to be able to wrestle tough matches in-a-row." TIM HARTUNG "I wrestled good all weekend. I have prepared a lot in the clinch. I was trying to find a way to score, but we had to go to the clinch. Morrison is very strong defensively. I have a lot of work to do, but it is good to see where I am at." STEVE MOCCO "I tried to push the action, push the pace. It wasn't an ideal win. It wasn't a dominating win, but a win is a win. I forced the pace enough in the first period to where I thought he was too tired going into the clinch."