2022 NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP

March 18, 2022

Jacob Warner

Iowa

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations to Jacob Warner the 6th seed out of the 197-pound weight class, advances to the national championship.

Q. How did you set up the 4-point tilt? Did you feel it? Did you know it was going to be there? Did you see an opening?

JACOB WARNER: -- from last year and turned him here so I knew I could do something on top. My last two matches were won by being able to ride so I knew it was going to be a big factor in this match. All week, all last week I was working on getting that wrist tight. We were working on it at the hotel and focusing on it and I got that wrist and I knew as soon as I got the seat belt into his hip I knew I could do something with it, I knew I could get it, didn't get it, I had to stick with it, keep elevating and going into him and made the difference.

Q. Handful of matches you have lost this year have been the inability to close. You closed both of these matches today. Is it mental? Gas tank? What made the difference?

JACOB WARNER: Both. I've had a rough year, a lot of ups, a lot of downs, I take losses really hard, probably harder than what the common person thinks. I remember sitting -- I was sitting after I lost for the third-place match, showering up, Tom was sitting in there, we weren't saying a lot and I'm an emotional wrestler, I always have been and he said what's it going to take to win the national title and I said I don't know, it's going to take a lot of things, it took finishing matches, riding hard on top, and getting out of bottom with 9 seconds left. This whole season I have learned a lot, have a lot of losses and it's paid off, now I'm here.

Q. Jacob, you have had a lot of firsts here at the national tournament, First time you beat the kid from Nebraska.

JACOB WARNER: Three years, yes.

Q. So you got it off your shoulders, now you made it to the finals of the national tournament, first time. What do you need to do tomorrow night to finish this Cinderella run?

JACOB WARNER: I don't know if I would call it a Cinderella run, I knew I was going to be here, I knew I could win this tournament and obviously I'm in the national finals for a reason. I've got to wrestle hard, score the whole time, don't give up easy points, finish in matches. I know if I do that I can win this tournament.

Q. You talked about the ups and downs of this season. How much does it mean to you having had so many close calls all year long?

JACOB WARNER: This season was a lot of let-downs and all the matches I lost I felt like I could have won and that hurt. It hurts me a lot but I'm not grateful I lost but I'm grateful for the lessons I learned, right?

Feeling good and, yeah, I learned from them, I talked to my coaches and my teammates, Myles Wilson, Aaron Costello, Abe Assad, they're my roommates they talk me through things and level my head and when I'm going crazy they bring me back to surface and I'm super grateful for them and my coaches.

Q. Did you make adjustments in your training, mental toughness? Combination of both?

JACOB WARNER: Combination of both. This is probably the first year I dove into mental training, Terry is big on it. I always thought I had it, you know? But you don't ever have it perfect and that's what I learned this year is that I can always get better on that mental stride. Trainingwise, I know we train hard at Iowa, we train the hardest in the world, I'm not worried about how hard I train, maybe a little more specific, working on individual things but I know I put in the work.

Q. For the whole team it's been painful a year ago you won this and all those guys chose to come back but they won't be winning national championships, are you providing some salvation for them?

JACOB WARNER: Maybe a little, they're hurting, they're feeling it and I feel for them. Michael Kemerer, Kaleb Young, Jaydin Eierman, Marinelli, those four guys, guys I came into the program with and they made an impact on my life and Iowa wrestling won't be the same without them and I want nothing more than for them to win a national title. They're four of the hardest working guys I know, some of the best people in the world, they're coming back, they're getting the next best thing. Marinelli and Kemerer got two wins each tonight to put themselves into a position to keep going. That shows the type of people, how they were raised and the type of coaching we have here. You can say it was a disappointing year, we are probably not going home with the nationally title, I don't know the team score, I haven't paid attention but there is little itty bitty things we did well and that's huge. That's huge for them to come back.

Q. You are considered a senior at the University of Iowa but you could come back next year and wrestle again, are you going to?

JACOB WARNER: Yeah, I'm getting my master's so I have to take one more year to get my master's, kind of works out perfect for me to come back and wrestle, I don't know what to do, I've wrestling since I was 6, so I don't know what else I would do.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Jacob. Good luck tomorrow.