2023 NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP

March 17, 2023

Mikey Labriola

BOK Center

University of Nebraska

Semifinals Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: Mikey Labriola, ladies and gentlemen from Nebraska, finalist at 174. Mikey, congratulations. Give us your thoughts and emotions on becoming a finalist tonight.

MIKEY LABRIOLA: Unbelievable feeling. It was a super tough match, and I'm not really the best at riding guys. And I found something out about myself, I can ride guys. So it was super exciting, emotional moment. And I just look forward to the finals tomorrow.

Q. Tomorrow, you face Carter Starocci. You guys have a lot of history. What's something this time around that you're thinking of after the Big Ten tournament? What are you going to focus on to make different?

MIKEY LABRIOLA: I'm trying to focus on letting it fly and basically throwing the kitchen sink at him. I have wrestled him reserved, and I got nothing to lose as my last match as a collegiate wrestler for Nebraska, and I just want to put on a good show for Husker Nation and the rest of the country.

Q. Mikey, you rode him out and then chose neutral. Why is that happening as opposed to ride him?

MIKEY LABRIOLA: Just the possibility of him riding me out. I thought it was a smart decision to go on my feet. I'm confident in my leg defense and wrestling on my feet. He rode me pretty good for a bit in the third period, so didn't want to get into that situation again.

Q. How do you prepare for those moments? It's not exactly the sport you have to get to sudden victory and then to tie breakers, how do you prepare for a moment where you have to get gritty and tough?

MIKEY LABRIOLA: My coaches honestly prepare me for that. Every week we do practices where we wrestle live and do mock situations, just like that, 30 seconds left in ride out. We could have done a 10-minute in the room and we're out. We prepare for that.

Q. This is your first semifinal. And when you think about your journey from Wilson as a little guy here, the journey, has it been worth it? How much fun has it been? What are you looking forward to representing the Lehigh Valley on Saturday night?

MIKEY LABRIOLA: It's been an awesome journey, and I wouldn't take anything back, even the bumps in the road. It has been fun. I've grown so much over the years from Wilson, I have to thank those coaches who have been in my life up to this moment for putting me in this position and helping me get here. This isn't just something I did on my own. My coaches from eighth grade to college have molded me into this person.

Q. You're joined by Sammy Sasso in the finals representing District 11.

MIKEY LABRIOLA: Thank you.

Q. Do you and Sammy talk?

MIKEY LABRIOLA: Yeah, every time I see him before he goes out, we say good luck. We run into each other a lot. We wrestled Ohio State this year. I love Sammy, man. He's a gamer. I'm a gamer. I got a lot of respect for that guy. I hope he does well tomorrow.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much, Mikey. Good luck tomorrow.