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NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPSMarch 21, 2014Alex DieringerOKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA 157 POUNDS THE MODERATOR: Alex Dieringer, Oklahoma State University. Q. Alex, just take us through that win and getting into the Finals. ALEX DIERINGER: I mean, I know it's going to be a hard‑fought match. He's a good competitor. Coach is always telling me keep up my attacks, and if I do that, it's going to be hard to stop me. Close match, but I had a lot of takedowns close on the edge. So I think that's what kept me in the match. He did do something to his knee, though; I heard it. But he's a good competitor. Respect him for keep fighting back in the match and it was a fun match, so... Q. I know you saw him earlier this year in the duel. You talked about you thought that was important because he wrestles with a little bit different style. But do you think you learned something from wrestling him then that you can use tomorrow night? ALEX DIERINGER: Yeah. Obviously he's been funking everybody all year. So as long as I stay smart with my attacks. Last time it was in overtime. So I stayed a little too conservative against him. But smart match to wrestle like that, just because, out of nowhere, he could just do some crazy high flyer stuff. Gotta be prepared for that. Q. Alex, last year third, right? Spent a summer of competing for a World Junior silver medal. Did that experience help you get more prepared for this season, and how much better of a wrestler this year are you than you were last year? ALEX DIERINGER: Oh geez. I've been getting better every day in the room. So since last year, last year, right before Nationals, when I started to get where I needed to be, obviously, to take third. But this year, I've taken a step in Worlds. I've improved a lot. Obviously that's a great experience, go overseas, not only the best in the United States, but the best in the world. So it was a great experience. And obviously I used that to my advantage. Lose your confidence when you take second in the World and come to this. This is the second toughest tournament I've wrestled compared to Worlds. Q. You talked about Ness's funky moves. That elevator, for example, he used on Green earlier today. Why is that so effective? ALEX DIERINGER: Geez, he's so long. I think it had something to do with it. I mean, he'll go to his back just to try to get someone on their backs. He'll try anything to score big points. And even if that's going to his back, he's going to try it. Give him a lot of respect for that because I would never go to my back for no reason, to try to do some crazy move. Q. I know you concentrate on yourself, but the team is having some good performances. You guys are wrestling here in Oklahoma, in front of the home fans. As an athlete who's made the Finals, are you aware of all that, and does it help you even do a better job, knowing that the Cowboys are right in the thick of things? ALEX DIERINGER: Yeah. You always want to score bonus points for the team, but once you get this deep in the tournament, it's kind of hard. There's going to be obviously the last final‑‑ the top four guys, it's going to be hard to score a bonus. But obviously, I knew coming in here that we were going to have a chance. We have four, approximately four finalists coming up. I mean, that's pretty darned good. That's better than last year. We suffered a bad consolation round this round. Hope Mars can pull it out, gets a W. But Eddie had a real close one. Eddie Klimara. And he's a great wrestler. The same with Collica. True freshman. We have big things ahead of us. So excited. Q. Did it do anything for you personally to see Kindig win? ALEX DIERINGER: Oh, yeah. I mean, coming in here, he had a seesaw season. He had, what, seven losses almost? So seeing that, obviously, 2 and 3 seed went down in his bracket. That left him wide open as long as he wrestled good. And obviously he did. I knew he could do it. But he had to prove it and obviously he did. I'm real happy for him. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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