2025 NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP

March 22, 2025

Antrell Taylor

Wells Fargo Center

Finals Media Conference

157 pounds

Antrell Taylor (Nebraska) d. Joey Blaze (Purdue), 4-2

ANTRELL TAYLOR: Man, I'm really at a loss for words. This is really crazy. All I can say is I'm very grateful. God gave me the talents and ability to do all of this. And I am doing it for the people that ain't here no more, like my brother, my pops. I'm doing it for them. They're in my heart. They were with me during that W. And all I can say is I'm very grateful for this moment.

Q. Let me say this to you, because I know what you went through and I know that other folks may not know because you talked about this months ago and the ability to dream while your work matched the dream. What's in your heart right now? I know you're thinking of family, the state and your teammates.

ANTRELL TAYLOR: All I can say, like I just said, what's in my heart is my pops and my brother, man. That's all I can think of right now. I'm surprised I ain't up here crying. But they're all I could think about right now because I know how happy they are sitting up there smiling at me. Man, it's crazy.

Q. You lost to Joey Blaze at the Big Tens. What did you learn from that match that you applied here?

ANTRELL TAYLOR: I knew he was going to be in my face the whole match. He likes to nickle and dime people. I stayed in good position. Didn't let him get past my head and hands defense. And I just stayed focused all seven minutes and wrestled my match.

Q. A lot of times when teams win back-to-back titles in any tournament, not just the national tournament, that really shows some strength in the room around those weight classes. Could you talk a little bit about the people you work out with? Obviously you put three straight guys in the Finals in those weights, but you've got other people that are helping you. Talk about how rough it is to work out in the Nebraska room around your weight.

ANTRELL TAYLOR: Man, it's a fight every day. You've got to have your shoes laced ready to go because there's no off days in that room.

Since a freshman I've been going with Ridge Lovett, James Green, Bryan Snyder, just the best guys in the room -- Peyton Robb. Always go for the best guys in the room because I know they're going to push me to be great. And now I'm sitting here just based off my hard work I put in every single day.

Q. Would you talk about the team energy, because you guys set an all-time Husker record? I feel you guys were bonding the entire weekend. What did it feel to be a part of this?

ANTRELL TAYLOR: The culture is amazing. You don't really see this type of culture nowadays. We're a hard-fought team. We don't expect nothing. We want to fight for every single thing there is to fight for.

I just think that hard-nosed mindset that we have in the room, and that's just what makes our culture so great. Because we want to fight for one another no matter what. Win or lose. We're going to pick each other up. It's just a brotherhood around there. It's amazing.

Q. The key was the takedown, right?

ANTRELL TAYLOR: Yeah.

Q. Talk a little bit how you got that done and where you found that positioning to be the one to put the points up?

ANTRELL TAYLOR: I would say that's been my shot since I could -- I don't even really know how long I've been doing that. Since I started wrestling. The ankle pick has been my bread and butter.

I seen it and I just went for it. I knew there was short time on the clock, and that shot right there I could finish and get up to his hips quick. So I went for it. I seen the opportunity and I capitalized on it.

Q. The streak stopped with Jordan Burroughs. He won the last title in 2011 -- until now. He wasn't around the program, but what did he mean to you growing up knowing he was the Husker legend?

ANTRELL TAYLOR: I used to watch him. He was probably one of the only wrestlers I watched growing up, because I wasn't too into the sport until about high school. I was always watching Jordan Burroughs.

And the funny thing is, him and me went to the same church. Me and him went to the same church. I used to see him every Sunday when I was there. I was really looking up to him as a role model growing up.

I wanted to go to Nebraska. That's always been a school I wanted to go to. To see how good he did there, made Nebraska no option -- I wanted to go there no matter what. He's definitely a good role model for everyone, including myself.