2023 NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP

March 17, 2023

Nino Bonaccorsi

BOK Center

PIttsburgh

Semifinals Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: Nino Bonaccorsi, Pittsburgh, finalist at 197. Nino, congratulations, start off by giving us your thoughts and emotions.

NINO BONACCORSI: It feels surreal. I've been saying this whole tournament that I know I can beat everyone that steps out there on the line with me, and I know if I just wrestle myself, I can do great things. It's all great. It's coming to fruition. I got one more to go, and I'm fired up to go get that title.

Q. Nino, you were here in 2021. What did that experience do for you and help you to get back to this point?

NINO BONACCORSI: Yeah. It's definitely a great experience. Not many people can say they made the finals twice. The first time around, it didn't go my way. So God has given me a second chance to redeem myself. I'm going to do everything I can to go out there and win that match.

Yeah, I think overall just wrestling how I've been doing and taking it one match at a time, one sequence at a time. A lot of great experience and a lot of second chances to do it again. I'm grateful.

Q. You are a flat guy, not a lot of emotion, but the past two matches, we have seen a lot of emotion from you. Can you talk about what has brought that about?

NINO BONACCORSI: Yeah. A lot of it's just come from -- I've gone from some of the highest highs in my career when I made the finals to one of my lowest lows, obviously not making the podium last year.

So it has been a long road since the Friday last March. It's been a lot of ups and downs, but just to see that all come to fruition and me and my close circle know how hard I've worked on this and how much I've put into this. They're just as grateful as I am. Just to see everything playing out how I imagined and everything working out how I wanted it to makes me grateful. Just so -- at a loss for words, I guess.

Q. You talked about how you were happy you wrestled these guys at 197, and Ethan Laird wasn't one of them. He gave you a little bit of a different match-up. He has a rubber knee, right?

NINO BONACCORSI: Yeah.

Q. And it definitely affected the way you attacked on your offense. What was the game plan like and in-match adjustments you made to get that takedown?

NINO BONACCORSI: Yeah. Like I said, I never wrestled Ethan before, but he's a hard guy to miss. He's always out there and doing great things. I knew it was going to be a tough match. He's a shooter. He has slick shots and some unconventional defense and offense. So I knew I had to make it like a grinder match. I couldn't be pitch perfect with my set-ups or my shots. I wanted to go out there and make it ugly, if I can.

Like you saw, I had actually got taken down first, and that was not part of the plan, but making it ugly is kind of what I wanted to do. Glad I was able to break through and toward the end those shots -- make it so he doesn't have as much slickness as the match goes on and then I can start ramping it up and scoring points.

Q. You know this is the weight class that was supposed to fall apart. You came as the one seed undefeated. You survived the chaos. How did you do that all season and at this tournament?

NINO BONACCORSI: I know I sound like a broken record, but it's all Glory to God. He's put me in this position. And through my faith in him, I've been able to keep a level head in these crazy matches and in such a crazy weight class. And with him and my supporters and coming off the losses last year, I gained mental maturity and my focus, and I was able to stay the course as the season went along. It's a long season, and it's easy to get to you and let it get you out of your funk. And so staying true to who I am and my values and morals is what got me here today.

Q. The last two years since you have been a finalist, how have you matured as a wrestler and how has it helped you through this tournament?

NINO BONACCORSI: I matured in a way that -- at least for me, it took me a devastating loss of last year's tournament to get through it. It was kind of different from previous years because I've made the round of 12 before, and I lost which is sad, but to go from making the finals to not making it next year and not even placing was a big thing for me.

I think what's helped me -- sorry, what was your question?

Q. How have you matured?

NINO BONACCORSI: Yeah. I matured by just not letting my achievements and these expectations myself -- I have high goals for myself, and it's easy for that to get in the way of my wrestling and my progress. And I felt like last year, I was wrestling to win and go back to where I was. And I think that hindered me and tightened me up.

So I think as all these big moments happen throughout the season, all these big matches, I took it as win or lose. I'm going to give it everything I have. Obviously when I -- you don't want to lose, but you lose. And if you go out there to win and make expectations of yourself, you can still lose. So I said why not go out on my terms, and that's led me to where I'm at.

Q. Nino, it looks like it's going to be Tanner Sloan tomorrow. Can you give us a quick game plan for what tomorrow looks like?

NINO BONACCORSI: Yeah, obviously really tough kid, solid in all positions. I have a lot of respect for him and I'm looking forward to going out and making it an ugly, barn-burner match. I hope it is high scoring, and I'm excited.

I don't know -- I know a little bit about him. Obviously it's hard for some of these top guys, it's hard not to see and watch them and hear them, but I'm going to go back with my coaches and just more so focus on me. It's not so much what the other guy is going to do or what someone is going to bring to me. It's what I'm going to bring to you. So emphasizing those points and fixing some key areas that I need to fix, and we'll be good to go.

Q. Nino, we all tend to think about you that you're going to wrestle on your feet and shoot a lot and get a lot of takedowns, but I think your riding gets overlooked sometimes. And early on in this one that was a key when you did get a takedown that you were able to ride him for an extended period of time. Can you talk about that and how you've improved in that area?

NINO BONACCORSI: I spent a lot of time this year as well as my mental and my key areas on my feet, to really dictate a match top and bottom. If you can get out, you're in every match, you're up against. So a lot of emphasis of being stingy and being persistent and not giving away easy points.

These top guys are going to be difficult to ride every single time throughout the period. Like I'm not a real efficient leg rider or anything, so I think being stingy with my points and having a lot of pressure and wearing on the guy on the bottom rather than turn him or go for double boots or anything is going to help me. Same with the bottom, just trying to work for that escape, no matter what the cost, so I definitely focused on top and bottom areas being stingy and smart.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Nino. Good luck tomorrow.