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NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP

March 18, 2016

Cory Clark

New York, New York

Q. If you'd like to make a brief statement about your match.
CORY CLARK: Didn't go the way I wanted it to, but I just stayed in there. And I didn't get frustrated and just kept my mind straight and kept wrestling. I knew I had to shoot to win. I knew I had to shoot to score. So I got a little bit sloppy taking some shots that may not have been there, but I knew that was wearing on him. Whether it was a great shot or a bad shot, as long as my counter-offense was good and my defense was good and I wasn't letting him get a reshot, I was able to really get him to start thinking defense, defense. And once a guy starts thinking defense, that's when you get to the leg and you finish.

Q. At the beginning of the year, before any of this, before the season, the first media availability, you told me that last year losing in the finals is something that motivated you, something that you took to heart. What do you have to do differently this time?
CORY CLARK: A lot of it's the same. It's just kind of small tune-ups mainly just in my head. I can't let the crowd -- can't let thoughts, negative thoughts impact you. Sometimes as a competitor, that's tough to do. And maybe last year was my first time, maybe this, maybe that. I'm not going to go back to last year. This year I'm going to come ready to wrestle, and I'm going to put the best me out there, the best Cory Clark on the mat, and when that happens, I shouldn't be disappointed in my results.

Q. You said you don't want to feed off of negative thoughts, but do you feed off of positive thoughts considering the way Gilman won his match? Did that have any impact on you going into this match?
CORY CLARK: Slightly. I mean, it's great to see that, and it helps, but the type of mindset I've had my whole life is what happens before you or after you, none of that matters. You've got to be selfish in this sport, and the team kind of takes itself if you're selfish and you do your job individually, so that's what I worry about is me. And I tell my teammates good job; they tell me good job. We influence each other. But, personally, if Gilman -- not to bring up last year, but last year Gilman didn't win his semifinal, and I still went out there and did my job, so that's kind of a prime example.

Q. At one point you and Thomas were in the same weight and then you guys obviously have trained and been together as part of the Hawk program and have a chance to be national champions on the same night. Just talk about that journey. Because, clearly, along the route, both of you guys have gained from the opportunity to be teammates.
CORY CLARK: I mean, yeah. How often does that happen where back-to-back weights win from the same school. Job's not done yet. We haven't done that yet, but we have an opportunity. We had an opportunity before this tournament started, and we've continued that. Tomorrow night, we're there. One more match, and I mean, that's a pretty big deal. It's a pretty cool thing to do.

Q. Talk a little bit about your high school. You've got three guys that could be all-Americans here from that. What do you think about that? One of them is your teammate and then we've got another one from Missouri.
CORY CLARK: Really that just says a lot about our high school coach, Jason Christenson. He's a big-named high school wrestling coach. But individually is another thing. I've been saying individually a lot in this interview, but I feel like that's where -- you've got to be self-motivated. Your coach can only do so much for you. If you're a self-motivated, hard worker and you've got a good coach, that goes well together. If you're not self-motivated, you're not a hard worker, a good coach can try and get the most out of you. But it's a lot easier if you're just an individual and you do things right on your own. And that's kind of where I feel credit to our high school coach, credit to our college coaches, and credit to ourselves.

Q. You got Nahshon Garrett in the finals tomorrow. What do you think about him? He's been wrestling real hot lately.
CORY CLARK: Yeah, I think he's real explosive. He's long. Not necessarily lanky, but he's a long explosive, long arms, blast type shot guy from what I know. But I mean, this is a tournament where each round you can wrestle people that you're not familiar with. You've just got to be -- you've just got to be ready to go and ready to wrestle your match. I know what he's got, but I've got to -- in order to win this match tomorrow night, I've got to get to what I've got.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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