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NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS

March 18, 2011

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

133-lb. Championship

MODERATOR: We're joined now by No. 1 seed at 133 pounds, Jordan Oliver from Oklahoma State, who with this win improved to 28-0, advancing to the finals tomorrow. So congratulations, Jordan. We'll go ahead and take questions at this time.

Q. Jordan, do you have any idea how much time was left on the clock right before that takedown at the end of the first period?
JORDAN OLIVER: No, I didn't. I know I got in on a deep single and I was working to finish it. And just while I was taking him down to the mat, I actually heard the refs counting down. And just so happens I kind of rushed it as I heard the countdown a little bit and went for the back trip and came out on top, and then I scored the takedown before time ran out.

Q. Hochstrasser from the West Coast is super aggressive and has a high tempo at all times and you're the slickest kid in the country. How do you think that match-up will go tomorrow night?
JORDAN OLIVER: I faced him two times before this year. He's a real great competitor. I just try to go out there and stick to my style which is attacking and looking for my attacks and my shots and stuff and scoring points. So it should be a real fun match. And I'm looking forward to it. Like I said, he's a great competitor. He keeps a high pace, so should be a lot of scoring, hopefully just my part, but I'm looking forward to getting in there and fighting.

Q. You at times last year struggled in the third period because a certain issues, I guess. This year you seem like you're getting stronger as the match goes along. Can you talk about just that progression and getting that under control?
JORDAN OLIVER: Last year I made a little -- couple mistakes in my weight and not getting it down as fast and as slowly and being mature about it. But this year coming in, having the past experience, I was able to handle things better and correcting my mistakes I made. And it was just -- it was a different process and I took it a different way and especially after losing NCAA last year, I made a pact to myself that I would be down back at 133 and I would do things right this time.
And everything has been working out good and keeping at the routine, even coming into practices, just being able to wrestle hard every day and then get out in the match and not feel tired and just feel better and get stronger as the match goes on has really been a plus for me.

Q. Talk about being this close to home and being in the national finals on a big stage. That's got to be a pretty cool feeling.
JORDAN OLIVER: It's really exciting. Motivates me every match to go out there and put a show on and give the crowd some action and let them see wrestling. And just being able to come home and compete for my first national title, it's a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity and it's a great experience and I'm just enjoying every moment of it and going out there and putting it all out on the mat.

Q. Jordan did you think about last year's semifinals when you came so close to beating Ness, and did that match hold over at all going into this tournament?
JORDAN OLIVER: No. The past experiences and that was one I've held onto, and I used it to motivate me and to train harder. And every time I would think back and I'd be in practice or whatnot and maybe I'm feeling a little tired, just thinking back to how it felt to lose in the semifinals and being so close.
Just coming into this tournament, I knew I prepared and trained as hard as I can. My coach had me well prepared for the NCAA Tournament, and we have been doing everything right, so coming in here, I felt pretty confident.
MODERATOR: Anything else for Jordan? All right. Congratulations.
We're joined now by No. 2 seed from Boise State, Andrew Hochstrasser who improves to 27-1 with his victory tonight, so it will be No. 1 versus No. 2 for the 133-lb championship. So Andrew, congratulations.
We'll take questions for him at this time. So please raise your hand and we'll get the mic.

Q. Andrew, there was a point in this match when you were ahead. You were riding him tight. You almost got a little high, just like Sentes did this afternoon which turned to a pin for him. What happened there in the sense -- did you get a chance -- you didn't watch the match this afternoon, but you knew what he could do with that?
ANDREW HOCHSTRASSER: Yeah. I heard. I asked people what happened, and he tried it again, exactly what they told me. As soon as I felt it, I had to make a quick decision to let go or to come back, and I was able to straighten my body out and come back.

Q. Andrew, first of all, congratulations. Is there a redemption from last year? Seems to me last year you may have been a little bit disappointed about some of the things that happened or didn't happen.
ANDREW HOCHSTRASSER: This is the chance I have to make up for last year. Whatever happened, happened and can't take this for granted. So this is the chance I get. I'm going to milk it.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about what you know about Jordan Oliver and what kind of foe he poses for you tomorrow night?
ANDREW HOCHSTRASSER: Yeah. He's a great competitor, and he's real slick. So I'm going to try and shut him down and work my own stuff, make something happen. Feel like if I can make stuff happen, I put him in a different situation than he's been in.

Q. How hard was it to come to this tournament as a team with Boise State, knowing that Kirk Smith wasn't going to be able to wrestle?
ANDREW HOCHSTRASSER: It was really rough. We didn't find out until everybody else found out. We were still hoping and praying that he would be able to wrestle with us, but it hurt, you know. Everybody knew that they had a different role to play now that he wasn't going to be here, but I think we did all right. We didn't do as well as we thought we'd do, but we still got some fighters left in the tournament, so we'll see what we can do.
MODERATOR: Any other questions for Andrew?
Congratulations.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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