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NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 21, 2015Drake HoudasheltST. LOUIS, MISSOURI THE MODERATOR: We welcome NCAA 149‑pound national champion Drake Houdashelt of Missouri. We'll have an opening statement. DRAKE HOUDASHELT: It was a tough match. But nothing really mattered but just winning. And I pulled it off. Excited. Q. I've been hearing Patrick introduce you as NCAA national champion. You've had close calls before. How did this feel right now? DRAKE HOUDASHELT: I don't know. I can't really explain it. It hasn't sank in yet. I don't know. It's crazy. Q. How were you feeling with the match going into sudden victory? DRAKE HOUDASHELT: I wasn't really thinking. I was just looking at my coaches. So tired. He told me to keep going. And it paid off. I was feeling pretty confident in myself going into overtime. Q. You kind of blocked a shot of his and then were able to quickly get it to him. Talk a little bit about that technique. It was kind of slick. It gave you the title. DRAKE HOUDASHELT: Yeah, I was getting my collar tie good on him. And it was working as a good defense to his shot. He's got powerful shots. And I knew in overtime he was going to try and rip one off. And I just hung on the collar tie. And when he shot I shoved him forward a little bit and got his leg to come up a little bit and just ran with it, I guess, and took him down. Q. Last year's match against Hend, did it have an impact on the way you wrestled tonight? DRAKE HOUDASHELT: Not at all. Different year. Last year didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was just the match at hand. Q. Talk about being out there, seeing, I don't know, a thousand Mizzou fans, the Terrible Towels. Did you hear them during the match, did you hear the chants? DRAKE HOUDASHELT: Actually, I just don't hear much besides my coaches when I wrestle. But I could hear everyone screaming for me and definitely pumped me up and helped me out, I think. It was nice to have them right there by me. Q. With all the pageantry going on before the match, what were your emotions heading into it? DRAKE HOUDASHELT: I mean, my coaches told me everything that was going to go on before my match and that I was the first match up. And I knew what to expect and I just stayed focus on my match and everything went well. Q. I was walking by and I saw Coach Thompson giving you a pep talk before the match about no one's worked harder than and things like that. Could you talk about what went into this and how it feels at this point, and also you had that moment when you jump into Alex's arms, how great did that feel? DRAKE HOUDASHELT: Jumping into my coach's arms, honestly, every night when I'm laying down in my bed all I do is imagine myself hugging all my coaches after me winning. And crazy to do it right now. And it just feels unreal. But no matter‑‑ everything went‑‑ I mean, I just wrestle hard every day coming into the room no matter what mood I'm in or what kind of day I'm having, I just put everything aside and just wrestle and I always give my best effort every day in practice and it paid off. Q. The way this weekend turned out in terms of the team, how much this victory means? DRAKE HOUDASHELT: I mean, it means a lot. Our goal coming in as a team was to win it. But also another thing I had to do was focus on myself and then the team would take care of itself. So I just focused on myself and let the team take care of themselves as well. Q. You mentioned this is something you've imagined at night. For how long has that gone on? DRAKE HOUDASHELT: I'd say ever since I committed to Mizzou, when I was in high school. All I thought about was getting my hand raised out there on the mat, on the stage, and it kept me up a lot of nights, stayed up very late just laying there thinking about it. Q. First of all, did you get to pick your walkup music? Second of all, how satisfying is it from being at this position and falling short to finally having the satisfaction of knowing that you've got it all done? DRAKE HOUDASHELT: First question, yes, I did pick out my walkout music. I love Johnny Cash. And what was the second question again, I'm sorry? Q. Having fallen short before‑‑ to finally be there. DRAKE HOUDASHELT: Yesterday was my third time in the semifinals, and just the breakthrough felt great. I don't know, this year is just different. I didn't look at things as in this system as quarters, finals. Just a match and I gotta go out and win. And I just did, so exciting. Q. You've talked about this and talk about if you would kind of full circle, here you are in St. Louis again to finish it off. Can you talk a little bit about that? DRAKE HOUDASHELT: Yeah, I'm from the St. Louis area, right outside of St. Louis, O'Fallon, Missouri. And that's where I started wrestling when I was seven. And it's kind of nice to come back to St. Louis and finish my career off especially like I just did. It's unreal. Q. What's next for you and how great does it feel to win that last match in black and gold? DRAKE HOUDASHELT:  Yeah, what's next is, I don't know, probably get some chicken fingers and french fries. And then just to win, I don't know, it's great. My coaches and teammates put so much work into me being successful. And it's nice to go out there and win not just for myself but for them, because they put in just as much hard work as I do every day and just glad we won. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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