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NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS

March 19, 2011

Jordan Burroughs

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

165-lb. Champion

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Jordan Burroughs, becomes our fourth champion tonight to finish an undefeated season, 36-0. Second national championship. Questions?

Q. Did you post it on Facebook yet that you won?
JORDAN BURROUGHS: No, I like to stay engaged with my fans on Twitter and Facebook. A lot of guys want to know, a lot of people don't actually get the times and dates of it being on ESPN. So I try to keep them on live updates and post them.

Q. Nebraska's first two-time national champ. And with a lot of great wrestlers there, what does that mean to you, Jordan?
JORDAN BURROUGHS: Definitely an elite company to be a part of. I feel like I'm setting my own standard for a lot of guys coming in. We have a lot of tough guys coming in that are real hungry. So that record might not last long.

Q. Jordan, you wrestled this guy recently. It was a close match. And you went out and put the hammer on him with a takedown right away. Could you talk a little bit about what the difference was between this match and the one before, and was part of it the fact that this was the National Finals and you were ready for this?
JORDAN BURROUGHS: Oh, definitely. Coming up to this event, you don't get much sleep, it's like Christmas Eve. And this was a big day for me. And I just prepared well. We prepared well all week after wrestling such a bad match for me in the Big 12 final. It was a 2-1 score. I think that might have been the first match I didn't get a takedown in four or five years.
So that's definitely not the way I want to wrestle, and my friends and family came out, they paid a lot of money, and it was probably the last time they'll ever get to see me wrestle. So I wanted to impress them.

Q. Had the chance to talk with your mom and dad and sister today and also your wrestling coach. What's it mean to come back here from Winslow and win in front of your hometown crowd?
JORDAN BURROUGHS: It's amazing. Being close to home a lot of friends and family are here. Despite anywhere it was I was going to wrestle my best tournament and try to put together a lot of bonus-point victories. Coach Manning always stresses domination every match. I'm not satisfied winning by one or two points. So go out and wrestle my hardest match every time and hopefully get the major.

Q. They have an award called the Hodge Trophy for college wrestling. And I was just curious, in a humble way, do you feel that perhaps your season is worthy of that kind of a recognition?
JORDAN BURROUGHS: You know, that's not really for me to decide. One thing that I was always able to control and keep in my grasp was winning that second National title. So other than that, that's out of my reach and that's not for me to decide. Whoever decides those awards, I hope they look at the body of work that I put together this season and decide in my favor.
But if not, I still got my second National title, so I'm satisfied.

Q. Obviously I saw your whole career in New Jersey, came a long way since that freshman year. 16 and 10 and losing the first night in Districts when everybody in the state is wrestling.
JORDAN BURROUGHS: Don't say that too loud.

Q. But it shows where you've come. The second champ for New Jersey, what does that mean for you representing the state of New Jersey?
JORDAN BURROUGHS: Definitely elite company. You know what kind of sucks, this is the second time I won my National title immediately after the biggest upset in the tournament. In 2009 Caldwell beat Metcalf the match before me, and then today Bubba Jenkins pinned David Taylor. So it's always a hard act to follow when I go out there.
But I'm home and I feel good, and I wrestled well.

Q. You're coming off a pretty major knee injury, and all those kind of hard, long months of rehab, did you think this was at the end of the tunnel?
JORDAN BURROUGHS: I mean, me being in the position I was last year, this time last year, I didn't foresee this, being so dominant. A lot of people told me I'd never feel the same, I wouldn't be as quick or as fast or as strong. You kind of take those things into your head and they play games with you a little bit.
But the more the season progressed and the more I worked with my head trainer, Jeff Weber, I just felt great, and I felt like I was bigger and stronger than I was two years ago when I won the national championship, I felt if I could do it then I can do it now.

Q. Freestyle on the horizon, will you be at the Open?
JORDAN BURROUGHS: Yes, I'll be at the Open. We have spring break from school this upcoming week. I'll take a week off, hang out with my friends and family, and get back to work immediately trying to win some gold medals for the U.S. and make some money for our bank account.

Q. A little bit was my question, too, how much do you want to continue with wrestling through 2012, through 2016? Are you in this for as far as you can get?
JORDAN BURROUGHS: As far as my body takes me. Wrestling is my life. If someone asked me who I was, I would describe myself as a wrestler, one word.
It's what I love to do. It's my occupation. It's my heart and my desire and passion. So I'm going to do it as long as my body can take me, and then after that I'll probably still be wrestling past my prime.

Q. Your other matches with Caldwell were a lot tighter. What was the difference? Especially the one in the Big 12, he was winning until the end and never a chance?
JORDAN BURROUGHS: He wrestles tough. He always has a game plan. The first time I wrestled him I went out there, got frustrated. I let him kind of dominate me in certain ties and positions, and I let his game plan kind of mess up mine a little bit. I didn't have a plan going into the matches.
I wanted to dominate and get some takedowns this time. I had a plan, take him down, ride him as long as I could and get back on our feet sticking and moving. He doesn't shoot a lot. Keeps good position, great position the whole match, and I just had to kind of stick and move and take my opportunities when I saw him.

Q. You said your neighbor and your best friend really is what brought you to Nebraska, and then there's another -- do you feel it's a pipeline coming out of there?
JORDAN BURROUGHS: Yeah, New Jersey guys are great wrestlers, always the laugh being in the Midwest and saying New Jersey is the greatest wrestling state in the nation, we turn out champions year after year and I hope we can continue that pipeline. We've got a young kid, James Green, coming in, and a young kid, Andrew Campolattano, coming in next year.
We've got a great thing going on in Nebraska, and Coach Manning, he molds great wrestlers. We hope we can keep it going and hopefully more guys can buy into his philosophy and be multiple-time national champs.

Q. Since you brought up Andrew Campolattano, is there a feeling you might see him in a red uniform next year?
JORDAN BURROUGHS: I hope so. He's a great wrestler. He's a young guy. He looks hungry, and he definitely has the drive and desire to be a champion. So hopefully we can get him in our lineup and win some of the National titles.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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