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NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 18, 2016John SmithNew York, New York THE MODERATOR: We have Oklahoma State head coach John Smith with us. Coach, you might make some general comments about how the evening went. JOHN SMITH: Well, it was a day of mostly good, a few bad, but I think this morning's round and this afternoon's round put us in a little better position. Obviously take a trophy home. So with that, you know, that's a sense of pride. Q. John, you've been around a lot of great wrestlers and you have a senior, Dieringer who is wrestling excellent right now and has had a great career. Could you talk about what makes him such a fantastic wrestler and the kind of person he is as well? JOHN SMITH: Well, he kind of says what Cael said when I briefly heard him that it was fun. It's fun when you're whipping everybody! When you're getting tech falls and pins, that's fun and everybody is having fun! He's seen the other side of it. I've seen him where he's not having as much fun, but Dierenger is a guy that enjoys his wrestling, you know? He enjoys putting points on the board, you know. I think if he wins tomorrow he will go down as probably one of our five best, you know, when you really just look at his record and the points he scored, three-time national champion, four-time All-American. So it says a lot, storied program like ours. Q. John, a lot of talk about Penn State not just this year but their future because they have such young talent, but so does Oklahoma State. You said they needed to have a trophy to take home. Talk about what this group can do as we look into the future and what does Joe or Chandler wrestle those matches? JOHN SMITH: You take a look and you say I'm getting beat by major decision. I got pinned in my last match in a side row, you know. Even though I was up, I lost 6-2 in the blood round, you know. Just kinda recognizing that, hey, it's pretty tough and we need to get a little bit better and we need to get a little bit more focused on our skill and being able to put points on the board, being able to defend. So I just think you grow as a team when you recognize that it is tough. You know? Q. You've coached family before, but this is a whole other level, this is your son, 7th, 8th, All-American, he loses a tough match against Peterson. How much different is this compared to coaching Chris? JOHN SMITH: I think it's probably a little bit more nerve-wracking for me, coaching my son. Really everything was okay until we got here. Then, you know, things changed a little bit and you want to see him have success and of course he's developing, I think, and he's going to continue to develop. It's that process of developing that you wrestle a lot of close matches and you win a lot of close battle and those are the ones that, you know, kind of wrenches at you, especially the ones you win close and even the ones you lose close. But overall, you know, it's been a good experience all year long. THE MODERATOR: Coach Smith, thank you for your time, good luck tomorrow. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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