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NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS

March 19, 2011

Dustin Kilgore

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by the first-ever National champion in Kent State history, No. 4 seed, Dustin Kilgore, improves 38-2 with his championship at 197 pounds. Questions.

Q. How important was it to come out and get the monkey off Kent State's back and win the National title for them?
DUSTIN KILGORE: It's the best feeling ever. This is going to help out with recruiting so much. In the future this is going to build such a good team, I'm hoping, for Kent State, because they deserve it. The coaches are phenomenal, what they've done. They've helped me through everything, and you know it's going to make the program all-around better.

Q. A couple of minutes ago it seemed that the match is going the other way. Could you tell us about it. It just seemed to change really rapidly. You took advantage of the opportunity and got a pin. Could you tell us about that final series?
DUSTIN KILGORE: I could see he was out there. It was 5-1, I believe, 5-1, 4-1. I knew without a doubt he was pushing the pace hard. As soon as I saw him get tired I knew right then I had to push myself twice as hard, harder than ever before, because I wanted it and I got it. And, you know, I'm just thankful that my body was able to have the conditioning it does, because without a doubt that's what got the job done.

Q. This is not a slam towards the Kent State program at all, but it was not a program that got a lot of pub compared to some of the other ones, including Ohio State. When you chose to go there, can you talk about that and what don't we know about the Kent State program?
DUSTIN KILGORE: Right off the bat the first coaches that ever talked to me while I was in high school was Jim Andrassy and Josh Moore. I knew right from the start they were dedicated. They wanted me more than anything. And I could see it in them they would work hard. They put everything towards me to getting a National title.
And Kent State's never had a National champion. So I knew it would mean more to them than anywhere else at all.

Q. He kept thwarting your attempts to take it down with a single. You took a ton of shots. I heard someone say you're going to shoot yourself out. Did you feel fresh and were you getting frustrated with him constantly defending your shot?
DUSTIN KILGORE: I wasn't getting frustrated. You don't do a lot of thinking; the adrenaline is doing the thinking for you. I was pushing the participation. Those shots, that was probably what was able to wear him out, get him tired. So that's just my style of wrestling. I take shots. My best defense is my offense, without a doubt.

Q. Looking back to the decision to move up a weight class, you know, we talked a little bit about it yesterday, but you went out there and showed that there wasn't anyone in this country at this weight class that could stay with you when you're wrestling at your best. Talk a little bit about that journey, because it ended up at the top of the podium.
DUSTIN KILGORE: I mean, going into the season, I didn't know what to expect. Going up a whole other weight class. These are all new guys I haven't seen before. And, I mean, I knew I was the same size as them and I needed to just keep working harder and harder to get there. I suffered two losses towards the middle of the season, and I don't regret them one bit.
You start to be at that No. 1 spot and you take it for granted, and you kind of look past a lot of the obstacles that are in your way.
But those losses remind me where I was in this game, and it straightened me out. It made me want this National title more than anything.

Q. Talk a little bit about your conference, the MAC, and there's been individuals that have come out of there and won National titles before, but the quality of the wrestling not only on your team but also on the teams that compete against you on a regular basis?
DUSTIN KILGORE: You know, it's a small conference. We don't have as many guys as Big Ten, Big 12, or maybe some other conferences.
But, you know, you get those individuals that are just like me. They want to accomplish something really big for their school so they're pushing as hard as they possibly can.
And you get those individuals who are pushing just as hard as you and they want the same goal and you come up against them. And, you know, it all around makes you stronger.
I mean, I don't know how to put it. We just -- our conference -- there's six teams of us total, and it may not be like any of the other big conferences, but, you know what, we're coming through.
I think this year since I've been at Kent this is the best I've ever seen our conference with National qualifiers, so we're getting up there, getting better.

Q. Last night you talked about gaining the weight and Coach said you actually went to Alaska. Is that right?
DUSTIN KILGORE: Yes.

Q. What was that about?
DUSTIN KILGORE: Stayed up there with a buddy of mine. I was up in Alaska the previous summer. I asked him if I could come up there, because wrestling, I mean, it's an all-year sport pretty much, at least it always has been for me. And I wanted to get away. I wanted to just relax and get away from the whole atmosphere of the city and everything else.
I love the outdoors and fishing. What better way to do it than that right there. And I was very fortunate to have a buddy to allow me to stay with him for a couple of months, and it was the greatest vacation ever, and the relaxation, I was able to get a lot of stress and get rid of it and just relax and start fresh going 197.

Q. Do you think this is going to put Kent State into a new upper echelon of wrestling?
DUSTIN KILGORE: You know, I hope so. We've got some good recruits coming in next year, and hopefully they see this and it makes them want to just achieve the same thing that I have, because we definitely have the coaches, without a doubt, to push us and get us where we want to be.
I mean, I'm here today. This is proof. Proof of it right here. Kent State, we've never had a National champ and finally did it.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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