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NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPSMarch 18, 2011Nick AmuchasteguiJonathan ReaderPHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA 174-lb. Championship MODERATOR: We're joined by the No. 1 seed at 174, advancing to the final, Jon Reader from Ohio State, 38-0 after his victory. We'll take questions for John at this time. Q. John, your first final. You talked about it and how you wanted it to be special, but what's different about this championship that maybe you didn't have last year? JONATHAN READER: I'm just wrestling. I'm just competing. I'm having fun. I'm wrestling for the glory of God every time I'm wrestling on the mat, just laying it out there. Win or lose, I put my heart and soul on the mat every time. I picture myself as a warrior. You gotta lay it all on the line. Q. John, do you ever go through your mind and think, oh, well, I could be as great as Jake Varner and all the other ISU greats? Does that ever occur in your mind? JONATHAN READER: No, because they're all amazing athletes on their own, and I'm just trying to state my name in the NCA history books right now. We've had numerous, numerous athletes come out of Ohio State, and I'm blessed with the opportunity to have not only a coach, but I look to him as a father, and I'm blessed to have someone that can coach me on and off the mat. I look to him to be relaxed and for guidance, and he motivates me, and I'm just in a great place right now. Q. Congratulations. Seems like you've almost shied away from any publicity or promotion almost as if you're on a secret mission, but it's very public. Have you felt that way? Has that been something you've been doing intentionally? JONATHAN READER: No. Like I said, I'm just wrestling for 7 minutes as hard and smart as I can. And coach keeps it very simple for me, and it's all about staying relaxed for me and just wrestling and wrestling all positions and looking to score points, and I'm just excited for tomorrow and I'm just real excited. Q. John, can you talk a little bit about that semifinal match and what was the challenge there? JONATHAN READER: Jack Spates is a great athlete, and he was strong. I think I shut down way too early. I think I was a little excited before the match. But one of the things, you learn and you progress forward and you gotta get the job done every time you step out there. And it's just about competing. And it was a great match and a great fight. Q. Kind of a tough season for Iowa State comparison to other years when the teams overall had more success. But you've stayed really very focused individually. What are your thoughts about being able to maybe come out here and win this and be a champion although the team didn't have the season they were looking for? JONATHAN READER: I worked my tail off all year. You get to this part of the season and it really is about you. You gotta be selfish. This isn't just a sport, it's a lifestyle, and I live a life, and I do all the right things on and off the mat, and I'm just a mat rat, and I love to learn. When I walk in the room it's not about -- I don't know everything. I'm open for things and I'm just excited. Q. Jon, I have to ask you about Nick Amuchastegui. He came when perhaps a lot of people didn't expect him to be in this final. How much do you know about him? JONATHAN READER: I've seen him compete a couple times this year. We were actually in the same bracket in Midlands. He's a great athlete, and he didn't make it this far in the bracket for nothing, and it's going to be a battle just like every final tomorrow for each guy. You gotta go out and compete. Q. We had another Davidson guy wrestling the other day in the freestyle match here, Brent Metcalf. Are you guys still close? Are you guys the way you are as wrestlers going all the way back to your time in Michigan when you learned the sport and broke through on the age group levels? JONATHAN READER: Yeah. Brent is a great guy on and off the mat. He's a tremendous athlete as well as a person. And we were on the same high school team growing up, and we had great mentorship with Coach Roy Hall and Coach Elliot, and they kind of molded that group into just guys that were hard-nosed and never satisfied and just to break someone, and it was a great opportunity to be on the same team as guys like him. MODERATOR: Any other questions for John? Congratulations. Good luck tomorrow. We're joined by Nick Amuchastegui from Stanford, the No. 7 seed advancing on to the finals tomorrow, so congratulations. He improves to 31-3 with his victory tonight, on to the 174 finals. We'll go ahead and take questions for Nick at this time. Q. Nick Amuchastegui, talk a little bit about Stanford. Coming out of the 7th seed to compete for this thing, I think it's magical. Does it feel that way for you? NICK AMUCHASTEGUI: It does feel good. We've worked for it all season. We've had the goal of this all season. For that reason it doesn't feel too surprising or magical. If you saw how we worked every day, you wouldn't think it was too magical. But it feels great. That's for sure. Not always does hard work pay off so well, so I'm really thankful for that and blessed for that. Q. Jason Borrelli, your head coach, seems to have things on the right track. Can you talk to us about him? NICK AMUCHASTEGUI: Yeah. Jason came in as a head coach my sophomore year, and he really turned that program around a lot. There's group of kids in there that all have their minds straight to be the best they can be at wrestling in school, and that's what that Stanford is all about is excelling in both of those. So the kids have the right attitude and don't waste their time partying and running around, and that's why this program has been able to succeed athletically and scholastically, whereas so many other teams you see them succeeding athletically, but their lives otherwise are full of a lot of things that ours aren't. And I'm proud to say that. And that's a lot due to Jason's recruiting. Q. A little bit about your thoughts of the key factors in your victory in the semifinals. Obviously Mack Lewnes has reached the finals before, so he's a very talented and experienced guy. You went out there and won the match. What do you think was the key for your victory? NICK AMUCHASTEGUI: I think it was a little bit of not caring who's who. One of the things I try to do is not pay attention to who's ranked what this year and who's done what. I just go out there and wrestle the best that I can, wrestle my positions, know what I think he's going to do and make some adjustments according to that. But I think it was walking out there without really considering the things that it looks like from the outside, being 7th seed, him seeded higher and all that type of thing. Q. Do you ever feel like you're overlooked wrestle-wise and maybe people think of you as just the smart guy and not the tough wrestler? NICK AMUCHASTEGUI: I don't feel like I have to overcome that. I don't feel judged like the nerdy little guy. So, no, I wouldn't say it's something I have to overcome. And if people do, more power to them. I'll just do my best anyway. Q. You, Geeson and Gentry are all from southern Oregon. NICK AMUCHASTEGUI: Yeah, man. Q. How did you guys all end up at Stanford? How did that little community, you create so much success? NICK AMUCHASTEGUI: That's a great story. Matt Gentry came from the same high school. So I didn't know him when I was growing up, but he won the NCAA his junior year. I was buddies with Zach. Zach and Gentry were close. Zach got in first and his dad talked to my dad and said Stanford might be interested in your kid if he's got good enough grades. He said, man, that sounds awesome. I've wanted to get him in there since about seventh grade, but it's hard to get in. We stuck with it, talked to the coaches. It's tough to get in there even as an athlete. But all three of us are fortunate enough to get in and then had two years all of us there together running around and having fun. Matt took care of me and Zach when were younger and I really looked up to him a lot and he taught me how to enjoy your meet and smile and have a good time here. MODERATOR: Other questions for Nick at this time? Congratulations. Good luck in the final tomorrow. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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