	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS

March 19, 2011

Jordan Oliver

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

133-lb. Champion

THE MODERATOR: Joined now by our 133-pound champion, Jordan Oliver, who came in as a No. 1 seed and took home the championship. He's now 29-0 he, finishes his season undefeated against a familiar foe tonight. Questions for Jordan.

Q. Hochstrasser was able to kind of slow you down in your dual meet a few weeks back. Were you determined to be able to open up and put points up early in this one?
JORDAN OLIVER: Yes, definitely had a mindset to go out there and put points on the board right away. Thinking if I scored right away, the pace of the match and the tempo would have to pick up, because he would have to attack me then.
And I'd never stopped attacking, but it opened up things up more for me to get to my double and my leg attack.

Q. People all week have noted how diverse you are on your feet. How much of a strength is that that it's not just one go-to takedown but six or seven different things?
JORDAN OLIVER: That's a huge factor. And a great thing to have for any wrestler. Because your opponent isn't looking to shut your one takedown off. If you have one takedown, your opponent could focus on that and work on shutting that one takedown off to try to counter your attacks.
But having multiple attacks, I have different leg attacks I can go to. I can go shrugs and everything else. So it definitely helps being so diverse on my feet. Because my opponent never really expects what attack I'm going to go off next.

Q. This is something people have been talking about you since you were a freshman in high school. Can you talk about the journey getting here and how rewarding it is to be at the top of the podium?
JORDAN OLIVER: I don't even think it's set in yet. But I just know it's been a great journey, and a lot of hard work and dedication has gone into it. And also a lot of blood, sweat and tears.
And I don't regret any minute of it, even taking losses, going through high school and even my freshman year in college. So it just helped me and also made me into a better wrestler.
So I wouldn't take one thing back of anything that has happened in the past so far.

Q. Kind of a silly question, but was there ever any point in the match where you thought you might have a chance to use a Jermaine Jones throw?
JORDAN OLIVER: I definitely thought about it when he got to the single. But when he did get to the single, it was kind of off of my shot, and we got in a little scramble and he came out on to my leg.
By the end of the scramble, I already had him out in front of me fighting his hands, so I was able to counter it and didn't have to rely back to the Jermaine Jones.

Q. Jordan, can you talk about the difference between last year and this year and what you did between the two years to make yourself a champion this year?
JORDAN OLIVER: A lot had to do with countering, making sure that I didn't cut my weight wrong this year. I think that was a huge factor last year. It limited me on the mat and it took a toll on me. So I wasn't able to go out there and perform the way I wanted to and wrestle as hard as I could.
So definitely coming into this year I made sure I focused on my weight control, but also every day in practice just staying focused and getting as much as I can out of every practice and every workout and making sure I didn't leave nothing behind.
So that really helped me, helped motivate me, but also made me more confident.

Q. Could you talk a little bit about the coaching staff at Oklahoma State and the tradition of wrestling there and the resources they put towards the success of yourself and your teammates and how that helped you achieve your goals?
JORDAN OLIVER: Oklahoma State is an awesome program, and, as you can tell, we have 34 national titles. I was hoping to get 35 this year. It didn't happen. But just everybody that surrounds you and the coaches are just such a positive influence and a motivator to make sure you get better and to strive to be better.
And wrestling's such a big deal there at Oklahoma State, and you definitely don't want to let them down. But just having resources like Coach Smith and Eric Guerrero and Tyrone Lewis and Kenny Monday, if you look back, they've all been on the Olympic team or rural teams and have been a very successful wrestler, so they have a lot with the wrestling aspect and also just being there no matter what it involves, either wrestling or outside of wrestling, whether it's school or personal problems.
So it's awesome.

Q. Coach Smith won two Olympic gold medals. You've been on Junior World freestyle teams. Are going to be doing any freestyle this spring and is the Olympics something you're going to look forward to at some point in your career, something you're going to shoot for?
JORDAN OLIVER: Yes, my ultimate goal ever since I was younger and growing up was to win an Olympic gold medal. It wasn't to be a national champion or a state champion.
Of course, those things come along the way, and come along with the journey, but my ultimate goal and something I always wanted to do was win an Olympic gold, and I'm definitely looking into wrestling freestyle this summer and competing at the trials and everything and going out for the Olympics, the Olympic team trials next year.

Q. With the team being as young as it is, you getting this taste of success at the highest level, what does this do motivation-wise? Has your role transformed from being an underclassman to team leader? Now you have that legitimacy as an NCAA champ. Can you talk about how your role changes from now going on?
JORDAN OLIVER: I definitely think the guys are going to be more motivated and want to work towards success, and they've seen me every day in the room. When I'm working hard, it just motivates them, and they say the things I have accomplished and what I have just done. And I hope it can motivate them and push them to work harder in practice and to do everything right.
So in the long run they become successful.

Q. Talk about being the 34th national champion at Oklahoma State. What's it feel like to be the second national champion from Houston?
JORDAN OLIVER: It's just an honor. Looking back to Easton, so many great wrestlers have come out of there, Jamarr Billman and Bryan Snyder and Jack Cuvo and Bobby Weaver, who was an Olympic champ, it's an honor to be mentioned with those names.
And as for Oklahoma State, the same thing, just a lot of great wrestlers and successful wrestlers have come through there, and just have my name up there on the wall with them is a great honor and it's a great experience.

Q. To go back to the match, the takedown and the tilt at the end of the first period, could you walk us through that, what you saw as the opportunity for the tilt there?
JORDAN OLIVER: I pulled off a shot towards going for my double leg. I ended up on a single and he pulled me up. And I was in on a seatbelt, and I'm really comfortable in upper body and know attacks to get off from there. So when he was pulling me out of bounds, I was sucking him in trying to keep him in-bounds so I could look for an opportunity to score.
And as I was, he tried to step in and actually Polish me, which is a throw. And I noticed it right away, which I stepped out of it and was able to drop down to a double and right there catch him on his back and hold him for a two-count, which was a very big part in the match.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297