2023 NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP

March 15, 2023

Pat Popolizio

Mark Manning

Chris Pendleton

BOK Center

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Chris Pendleton, Pat Popolizio and Mark Manning.

Q. Chris and Pat, I know both you guys were coached by John Smith. You wrestled at OSU. How has OSU and how has Coach Smith's coaching impacted the way that you run a program?

PAT POPOLIZIO: First of all, it was an honor to wrestle for Coach Smith at Oklahoma State. Just the mentality that he instilled in his athletes, obviously you can see it when they're out there competing to this day.

But the mentorship that he's had as far as coaching aspect is a lot different than what it would be as an athlete. But I think when you can take what Oklahoma State's done and you take your philosophy with you as a coach and you can implement that kind of same mentality and get that instilled in your athletes, you're going to have success.

And I think you talked about it earlier. There's a lot of guys in the Oklahoma State wrestling tree that are out there now. And they're starting to bring tradition and a culture of wrestling that traditionally at certain schools wasn't there. And we get a little bit of buy-in and just a little bit of that taste what it was like out in Stillwater. It gets contagious.

And that's something we've been able to bring to Raleigh and have a little success with it.

CHRIS PENDLETON: For me, I think the first thing you learn when you walk in the doors at Oklahoma State is it's told to you very clearly that no one's bigger than the program. And it has kind of shaped the philosophy of our culture at Oregon State, that it's not about one person -- it's not about me, it's not about Angle or Trey Munoz.

It's about the collective pulling together the right way. And I'm really grateful that I was a Cowboy.

Q. There are 25 All-Americans that are not seeded in the top eight; they're not projected to win. What's happening with college wrestling that there's so much talent?

MARK MANNING: 23 years at Nebraska, not 26. But three at UNI.

I just think there's just a lot of young kids that are ready to go right out of the gate. Whether they redshirt or not, they come ready as competitors. And the skills are a lot better than 20 years ago.

And just kids are more ready to compete on this level. They're not afraid. And you see the byproduct right now, just different people's lineup. And obviously you come to the NCAA Tournament and you expect this guy to be seeded this, and they're not.

I think it's something that you have to get more used to because you've got to earn it every year.

PAT POPOLIZIO: A lot of that is a big part of it, kids coming in ready to go right away as freshman, seeing success right away. Then throw in the guys that are taking a sixth year. There's a lot more talent that's implemented in the brackets, and it's going to play out for the next couple of years.

You're adding in a lot more talent and experienced guys in the field. It's a good blend of talent.

CHRIS PENDLETON: I think that there's a level of parity that's starting to hit Division I. Twenty years ago, when I was in college, you could name three or four programs that would continually be in the hunt for a NCAA trophy.

When you look at the brackets you look at who's entered, no one knows. I think there's 15 teams, with the rise of the ACC, the Pac-12 and the continued dominance of the Big 12 and Big Ten, I just see a lot more parity across the board.

Q. Coach Manning, two returning all-Americans and you have five guys that weren't here last year competing. From the beginning of the season until now we've seen a lot of growth from your team. How would you assess your younger guys' performance?

MARK MANNING: Our younger guys just took off, particularly guys like Brock Hardy and Lenny Pinto and Silas Allred. They're all freshmen, they're learning on the fly. They're a lot different guys now than in November.

And you say that, but it's the mental growth besides just figuring the wrestling out. It's the mental growth, it's the maturity you need to be able to compete week in and week out, especially in the Big Ten; you're challenged all the time.

So you have to grow up fast and some guys figure it out and some guys don't. So I just think we had started the year a little banged up and not a big deal. But it's where you're at at this time of the year.

We always talk about the five best days in March -- two at the Big Ten and three here. So that's where you want to be at your best.

And so I think it's just a learning curve and it's a journey that you get your guys believing in and understanding that week in and week out you can jump levels.

Q. Whenever, like years ago, you were wrestling under John. And fast-forward, whenever you're wrestling I guess against him on the mat, on another side, what's that like? Is it surreal for you guys?

CHRIS PENDLETON: For me this is my first year getting to really compete against him. And I really wanted to beat him. That was my goal for sure. But I think it's a little bit surreal, like you said, somebody that's been a huge mentor and a huge influence in your life.

I don't know about Pat. But it definitely makes me coach a little bit differently. I'm a little less animated. A little more subdued.

PAT POPOLIZIO: Yeah, I mean, one thing John has taught me is to be a competitor, one as an athlete and more so now as a coach.

And he says it all the time: If we're going to get in a dual meet we want to beat you. And I say it back to him. We've been fortunate enough to have that opportunity to compete against them. It's made our team better.

So just bringing out the true competition as an athlete and as a coach. It's been a good experience.

Q. Taking into consideration all the logistics of conference realignment, what challenges does it present to you guys individually and how do you guys go about it?

CHRIS PENDLETON: That's a loaded question. I think that we just have to kind of wait and see how everything else shakes out. And we're in a position last year where we had to add a team. We ended up bringing back Stanford. I just want to just continue to grow the Pac-12 and see how it shakes out.

PAT POPOLIZIO: On our end, we're in a smaller conference. So adding teams would obviously have an impact. But the biggest thing is just control what's in your control. A lot of this isn't in our hands, and administrators and obviously presidents of schools are dealing with all that. And I think the one thing we're learning is everything you read might not be true. So we'll see how it all shakes out.

Q. Because you're at different levels, you're here, first year at this tournament, and, you, multiple years at the tournament, how do you assess this tournament after it's over? You have your pre-calculations of where your team should land, where kids should do in terms of that success or not. Once it's all done, how do you assess that, continue progressing your team to being a contender every year?

MARK MANNING: I think maybe your heart rate, right? You check your pulse on Monday as a coach. But no, I think it's just all about development. Guys are going to rise to the occasion this weekend. You find out who those guys are. And so when that light shines the brightest, you have to be your best and you find out if your young men have that in them.

And so it's great. What a great opportunity. It's being grateful for this opportunity to compete and you rise up into it and find out what guys have. And it's magic. And so it might not have it this weekend, might have it next year. You never know. That's what you live with as a coach. But as a competitor, it's about them focusing on what's right in front of them.

PAT POPOLIZIO: I think for both athletes and coaches, this is probably one of the toughest tournaments you can ever compete in. It's an emotional roller coaster for athletes, along with coaches. You've got one athlete at a weight, but as a coach, you're sitting there with possibly nine or ten guys in the tournament.

So you've got to -- when it's all said and done, you want to make sure that it's all been done on the front end. You've prepared your guys and put them in position to accomplish their goals. And if they fall short, hopefully they have time to come back and learn from their mistakes that were maybe made and continue to evolve as a coach and make yourself better and make them better.

CHRIS PENDLETON: I think it being a post-tournament assessment is the beauty of the sport, you're going to win or lose. Dreams are going to be made reality and hearts are going to be broken.

There are really not a lot of moral victories. Go around the blood round and give them a pat on the back and tell them a moral victory, and these are the things that they'll be thinking about the next 20, 30 years of their life. And that's why it's such a beautiful tournament.

Q. Coach Manning, can anybody beat Penn State? And what do you guys need to be that team?

MARK MANNING: I think we -- probably I can speak for Pat and Chris -- it's all about just focusing on your team. Absolutely. You never know. But, yeah, they have some big guns and obviously heavy favorites at some weight classes. They're going to score a lot of points.

But you just never know. You never know who is going to get hurt. You never know if someone is going to get upset. We're all human. And there's no one superman out there. But they're probably the odds-on favorite, right? But you never know. It's going to happen some day. And they're probably not going to win 20 in a row or something, right? Alabama doesn't win all the time. Georgia doesn't win all -- you know, there's going to be a streak end sometime. Maybe this year. Maybe not. I don't know. But absolutely possible.

PAT POPOLIZIO: That's the luxury of what we're doing. We're here to compete and put guys in position to accomplish their goals. And it's obviously teams score into it. The tournaments are different than dual meets. So maybe one day when we get into a dual meet championship, hopefully that happens, I think you could see some bigger upsets.

But in the tournament you have the opportunity to come back and score a lot of points. It presents different challenges. But hopefully that's a different topic for a different time.

CHRIS PENDLETON: I think that anybody can be beaten at this tournament. We tell our guys all the time, when you're a little kid, you don't envision yourself beating the 76th team in the country, you're beating the Penn States, the Oklahoma States, Iowas, those are the people you're chasing after. And you've got to take them off the pedestal and go scrap.