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NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 20, 2015Matthew BrownST. LOUIS, MISSOURI THE MODERATOR: We welcome 174 pound finalist, Matthew Brown of Penn State. Matthew, an opening statement about your match tonight? MATTHEW BROWN: It was a tough, tough semifinal match always against Mike Evans of Iowa. He's a tough competitor. I was fortunate enough to come out with the W. It was a close match. Q. You were in this position two years ago. What do you remember from being in the finals a couple years ago and how can you use that experience as a loss to help prepare for tomorrow's match? MATTHEW BROWN: Two years ago was the first time I was here at the NCAA tournament. I wasn't complacent at all, but I was ecstatic just to be in the finals and I wrestled a really tough match. Ended up dropping in overtime a loss. But I didn't celebrate after my quarters becoming an All‑American, because that's not my goal. I'll have a chance to meet that tomorrow. Q. Did you expect Evans to shoot like he did? I mean, he hasn't been as aggressive against you like he had there or like he was there in the past? MATTHEW BROWN: Yeah, we thought he was going to change up the strategy a little bit, and my coaches instructed that really doesn't change my strategy going in. He didn't think he would go bottom, which he didn't. He thought he might shoot more, so we were kind of expecting that. Q. Were you surprised that he chose neutral in the third or did you expect him to go down and try to escape? MATTHEW BROWN: I felt comfortable if he did go down I'd be able to ride tough, so no, I wasn't stressed. Q. So when he went in for those moves and you were able to escape out of them, especially that one late, what kind of things did you see that you were able to get out of there and fight it off and keep your lead? MATTHEW BROWN: Just keep wrestling tough. That was one thing. I wanted to go in and wrestle through every position, and I was able to do that. I wasn't able to get the takedown like I wanted. But in the Big Ten finals, I gave up some scrambles. That was something I was trying to work on consciously. Q. How much confidence did you have after beating Eberle? He was the guy you said the other day you'd like to have avenged that loss to him early in the season? MATTHEW BROWN: It was a quick release, but I've also dropped matches to Iowa. So at 74, there is no easy match in the final or in Daytona. Q. We talked last year about your goal to be the first RM to win the National Championship. Can you talk about that a little bit? MATTHEW BROWN: Sure, the RM acronym stands for return missionary. I was fortunate to serve a mission for my church for two years in Mozambique and Angola from 2009 to 2011. We've had some awesome return missionary wrestlers, but none of them have won an individual title. So I remember five years ago when I left my mission I wanted to come back and do this. Q. Can you talk more about that and what it does, when you have to go away from the sport for two years and come back? Also, when Coach Sanderson made the decision to red‑shirt a couple key All‑Americans, he in a sense gave up the run of team championships. What did that do to you? Obviously you respect Cael, but talk about that as well? MATTHEW BROWN: That's a lot of questions. The first one, we never thought we were out of the team race. I don't think you can after we go 7‑0 for the first round. So we were in it. Just with a lot of tough competitors. Can you repeat your question? Q. (No Microphone)? MATTHEW BROWN: Yeah, for two years I stayed off the wrestling mat. I preached my faith and I gave service. And it's something where I woke up every morning and I did P90X. Those were the workouts I got. Q. You kind of hinted when we talked Monday that you said you don't want to do this the rest of your life. I think you have plans to go abroad again. Is that your plan? Do you foresee this being your last wrestling match? MATTHEW BROWN: Do you have a job for me? No, when I said I didn't want to do this forever, you only have so many years of eligibility, and that's what I was trying to get across. I would like to compete for the Nittany Lyons Wrestling Club, and after that I hope to fulfill a different career. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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