2025 NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP

March 21, 2025

Josh Barr

Wells Fargo Center

Semifinals Media Conference

197 pounds

THE MODERATOR: We welcome Josh Barr, winner of the semifinal with a 5-3 victory tonight. Josh?

JOSH BARR: Praise God.

Q. This is your first time at the tournament and first time in the finals. What does this moment mean to you?

JOSH BARR: It means a lot, but our coaches at Penn State train us well to be present in every moment. So I think that at the end of the day all the moments are the same and we're just playing a game. Grateful that God has blessed me with the talents I got. So grateful in the moment, and tomorrow will come when it comes, and right now I'm just here.

Q. Josh, can you walk us through from the moment you left the mat at Big Tens to the match here, what it took to get ready for this, how you felt, when you felt like you would be good to go, and what it was like to get through to this stage of the tournament with everything you went through the last couple of weeks?

JOSH BARR: I won't speak on it too much. It doesn't matter, really, to me. That stuff is all in the past, Big Ten is in the past. Whatever happened between then and now, it's all in the past. I'm right here. I'm grateful. Our God is a good God, whether I'm sitting here or I win 0-2 this tournament. He's the same.

So just grateful that obviously I have the opportunity to be in this position, and all glory to God for that. I couldn't have done it by myself. I couldn't have done it. It was all God. It was zero part of me.

Q. Josh, things didn't go as smoothly for the team as everyone maybe expected. Is this where the entire team effort came into play? You had seven semifinalists, might get four if Greg wins. But the expectations are such that fans expect more. Do you think the overall team effort was really good today?

JOSH BARR: Yeah, our team effort is 100% every time. I wrestle with the best team in the whole world, best ten guys in the starting lineup, the best 30, 40 guys, however many guys are on the team, in the whole world. Best coaching staff, best trainers, best support system.

The effort is there every single time. NCAAs is a really freaking tough tournament, as you have seen.

So, yeah, the effort is there every time. Our dudes wrestle as hard as they can, and that's all we can do.

I don't know what people are saying, but I think that we're doing great. Like I said, by myself, whether we are all in the finals, whether we all go 0-2, it's a tough freaking tournament. Best 300 guys in the country that are wrestling here today.

THE MODERATOR: Stephen Buchanan will face Josh in tomorrow's final.

Q. You said after both the Cardenas and Buchanan matches during the regular season that you didn't wrestle the way that you wanted to. Do you feel like you are wrestling that way in this tournament? And if not, what do you have to do tomorrow in order to reach that level that you're searching for?

JOSH BARR: I don't think I will ever wrestle the way I want to completely. That's a really tough thing to do in my head. If I wrestled the way I want to, I'd probably pin everybody in about 10 seconds. That's probably not going to happen too many times, especially in the NCAA.

So I think I have an idea in my head of how I want to wrestle those matches, and I think I did better tonight. But at the end of the day, it's just trying to get better every match. It's not even about winning and losing. It's about getting better and that kind of eternal principle of just trying to be your best every single time out and find things to improve upon. I'd probably say I didn't do the things I wanted to. That's just kind of how I think.

Q. What about an opponent like Stephen Buchanan excites you?

JOSH BARR: Tough dude. Penn State, Iowa. He got me once this season. Just excited. He's a man of God. So I'm grateful I get to compete against another man with strong faith. And I'm grateful we get to put on for the kingdom of heaven tomorrow, and I hope it's a good show, and grateful to be here and grateful to wrestle whoever is in front of me.

Q. Congrats on the win. With the President being here tomorrow, first off, were you able to meet him when he came to State College in October? Secondly, what does it mean for the sport of wrestling for the President of the United States to be on college wrestling's biggest stage?

JOSH BARR: I did not get the chance to meet him. I was hanging out with my girlfrienad, I think at the time or something, but I watched it, so it was cool. It's a great honor for the sport of wrestling. The sport of wrestling is in a place where it needs growth and that life and energy behind it and President Trump definitely brings that. I think it's a great thing for the sport and great to have our President's support as we try and compete to the best of our abilities tomorrow. I think it's just a really cool thing, great opportunity and just grateful that he's going to be here.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Josh Barr.