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NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP

March 19, 2016

Nahshon Garrett

New York, New York

THE MODERATOR: Entering the room is Cornell's Nahshon Garrett. Nahshon, a brief statement about your match.

NAHSHON GARRETT: I'm excited that the outcome was me winning it. But I did wrestle with a little bit of fear and anxiety. I didn't take as many shots as I probably could have. But I guess I'm not going to focus on what I didn't do and focus on what I did do, which was (indiscernible) the hands hard. Those guys are obviously really good at grinding people out, and that's how they win most of their matches. I think I did what I needed to do in order to stay in there.

Q. Do you remember the last time you have been called for stalling three times in a match ever in your life, and did that affect you at all in your strategy or didn't it matter?
NAHSHON GARRETT: You know, it didn't matter that much. Yeah, I didn't realize I was stalling. But I guess I could have been a little more offensive. But those guys are good at what they do. They're good at pushing guys around and playing the part really well. So he did his job and he did what he needed to do and I did what I needed to do.

Q. When you first got out there, you just stood at center mat while he was bouncing all over the place. What were you thinking about right before it began?
NAHSHON GARRETT: Well, I was thinking about having peace and calm myself in the midst of everything going on. I just really needed to show and express that I had a peaceless state when I was out there and that's what I wrestled with and I wrestle with confidence. And I think I was just trying to portray that, express that to the best of my ability.

Q. You said you were nervous. When was the last time you remember being nervous going into a match, even though you said you tried to calm yourself down?
NAHSHON GARRETT: Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't say nervous. I wouldn't say nervous as much as I would say just, I think, it made me (indiscernible) have expectation get in my head a little bit and not setting aside the idea of winning or losing and just wrestling for the sake of wrestling, and wrestling for the sake of putting a show on for people. And I let the expectations just wear on me a little bit. And he doesn't tire me out. I tired myself out.

Q. This entire tournament you were really having a lot of fun with the Cornell fans. Just what was the atmosphere out there like tonight?
NAHSHON GARRETT: It's awesome. It's easy to get caught up in when they were singing the National Anthem I was in tears because I was overwhelmed by the glory of the spectating and just everything emanating from me and from everybody else and it's just a, it was a pretty amazing thing. And I was a little emotional before my match. So I had to calm myself down and had to get slapped in the face a couple times before I actually went out there on the mat.

Q. Could you describe where you were at emotionally at this time last year in comparison to now?
NAHSHON GARRETT: Last year? Oh, last year was a bad year. There was a lot of stuff going on last year with me cutting weight and losing the second round and then getting pinned and come back to fight for fifth and having injuries in my knee. Yeah, obviously it's good because I won it, and everything that comes with the winning. But other than that, just the joy of being able to compete and enjoying wrestling. Last year I didn't enjoy it; this year I did.

Q. Was there any difference wrestling -- coming up a weight class, do you feel like you wrestled a different style and had a different energy? And the follow-up is you've qualified for the Olympic Trials will you go and at what weight?
NAHSHON GARRETT: Yes, and I have 50 second indiscernible).

Q. Seemed to be in this match a lot of head slaps. Did you actually use that to your advantage at one point. At one point seemed like he had his arm out and you shot in for a takedown. What was the effect of all of that in this match or was it more than normal?
NAHSHON GARRETT: I think I really expected that he was going to grind out like that. I did expect myself to take more shots because I believe that my shot was open there that whole time. But for some reason I didn't pull the trigger. And the result was a lot closer than I expected to be. But he did a good job at his game plan, which is exactly what I figured he would do and I didn't stick to mine. That was that.

Q. Going from a 25-pounder and then you're going to go 57 kilos at the Olympic Trials, is a 24-hour weigh in a lot different than a one and two hour weigh-in? Could we see anything that would affect with that weight cut? Because you could be our Olympian, I don't think there's any question that's up in the air, that weight. Is the weight cut something you're concerned with at all at 57, similar to the 125 cut that really affected you last year? You weren't the same person that you were and the person you are now. You're kind of a different person. How is the weight cut in this 24 hour difference?
NAHSHON GARRETT: I would say that going down to 25s, I think getting down and not having to deal with the grind of collegiate wrestling, every day grinding it out, constantly having to get in there every day, one hour, two hours every day. And then having to compete every weekend, I think it's going to be a little bit more a relaxed atmosphere as far as the freestyle. I think I'm going to be able to take -- obviously I don't have that much time right now. But I think by the time -- if I accomplish my goals of making the team and then I think I'll have enough time to just figure out getting down and how to control my weight and making sure that everything is within the 24 hours that I'm as good as I would be at 33s or whatever other weight I would be going.

Q. The double leg that won you the match in the last period, do you feel that that was about as good a double leg as you got? It really seemed to be a clutch one, and it took him right down, were you setting that up, tell us about that shot?
NAHSHON GARRETT: I mean, that's a shot that I have in my arsenal. It's a shot that I felt like was there the whole time. Again, it's not anything that necessarily I was doing. I was getting on me because I figured he was going to do that. It was just a matter of me pulling the trigger and getting after it. And I really just didn't do that as well as I wanted to do that. And so there's a little bit of -- it's hard to say disappointment, but it's a little bit of -- you just don't want to wrestle with fear. You come here this whole time and this is my last match and I want it to be, just me grind it out getting the shots and I just wasn't, I just didn't do it. And hopefully when I compete again I'll be able to indiscernible) back up and wrestle like the person that I am and be able to put on a show and wrestle one of my favorite wrestlers, Jordan Burroughs.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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