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NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPSMarch 23, 2013Jordan OliverDES MOINSE, IOWA THE MODERATOR: To my left is two‑time national champion Jordan Oliver. Jordan, if you would start off by telling us about that takedown. JORDAN OLIVER: That's something I've always done. I almost had it earlier in the match. I was overtired, a little heavy. I could tell he wanted to go cross on my lead leg. Earlier in the match I did a jab fake, and I went to do the slide by, and I almost had it. There was something he was looking for. I kind of shied away from it and started dropping out on my low single and ankle pick. I got to him like three times but never finished, had my wrap single and didn't finish. I think changing the nut helped me out, and the last couple of seconds he's giving me pressure, heavy pressure. Hit the jab fake and went to the slide by again, and it ended up working. So just real grateful. Q. Jordan, how much was he able to‑‑ was his defense able to shut down what you wanted to do as opposed to you not being able to do what you want? Is he defensively sound enough to stop you from wanting to finish on him? JORDAN OLIVER: Yeah, right off the bat, when I shot that post double‑‑ I've been able to run through a lot of my opponents with that‑‑ he gave me a real strong feel. When I was chopping down, faking, and trying to keep the match case high, he was doing a good job of hitting the knee and coming into me, getting a hand in my face, and swelling things up. Really good hands and hand defense, which carries over from him taking the Olympic year, doing all that freestyle, guys develop a better head and hands defense. So Jason is a great wrestler. He's incredible, very strong and talented. Right at the beginning of the match, I could feel not only his defense is good, but I could feel his go‑arounds, and if I wasn't careful enough, I would get re‑attacked. So a real strong opponent. He was able to slow me up a little bit. Q. Jordan, what was more difficult, winning this first time or coming back, especially after not winning the last year, to come back and win it again? Which was the harder task for you? JORDAN OLIVER: I would say to repeat is definitely harder to do. Out of the first year, just going out there and going after something I trained for all year out of the first year, and then coming back the second year, it didn't end how I wanted it to, ended up taking second last year. So to be honest, this year was going to be even tougher. Winning it once, coming back as a runner‑up from last year, and knowing I lost the finals last year. I had to get that monkey off my back, but it's definitely a great feeling. I definitely would say winning my second national title was way more difficult than winning my first one. Q. Throughout the course of the year from last year then through the championship finals, I heard this a lot about the controversial takedown. How much did you hear about it? How much did you think about it? JORDAN OLIVER: You just said it, so I constantly hear about it. It's just something that's always followed me and asked. I had to let it go. It was tough. I took positives away from it, and it helped motivate me. Again, it is what it is. I'm still considered a runner‑up. So like I said, I had to put it in the past and move forward. The only thing I could do was take positives from it and make sure it never happens again. Q. Like what positives? JORDAN OLIVER: You know, going into the match last year, I look back, and to be completely honest, the style I wrestle and the pace I wrestle, I can honestly say me, the way I wrestle‑‑ and everybody's seen me wrestle‑‑ I've only wrestled like 30 seconds of the whole match, the first 20 seconds when I got the takedown and the last 11 seconds when I didn't get the takedown. If I don't get to my style and get to my attacks and wrestle the way I wrestle, you know, I'm just an average wrestler standing around and letting people slow me up. I could be beat by anybody. Again, it just reminded me that I need to stay with my style, keep my pace, high‑paced match, and always looking for my attacks, never slowing up. Q. Hey, Jordan, you described your winning takedown move as a move you're familiar with, something you did earlier and all that. Just go through scheming those final few seconds when the clock's at about 15 or 10. Are you trying to figure out what to do? Does the fact that it's a championship, does that make it any different? You wanted to do something that you're familiar with. How do you scheme that one last championship move? JORDAN OLIVER: This is something we practice all year long. Coach puts us in situations at practice and has to drill the last 15 seconds. You're up by 1, you're down by 1. What's your go‑to shot? What's the quickest score you can go to, something like that. So it's not like it's new to me. So I've been practicing all year. Like I said, I've been doing that stroke since I was in like fourth grade. It's real big for my school. They even call it the Easton Stroke. I was looking for a score, but I was down, and 15 seconds is a long time. It's a lot of wrestling. He was giving me pressure, and I was still looking for a wrap single or a low single, but I needed something to be a quick spur, not something I had to hit and work through it. During the match, I felt the pressure, I went for it and almost had it, and I got away from it and started changing things up. It came in handy in the last 10 seconds when I hit that jab fake, and I felt a bite. As soon as I felt it, I hit the side back, and the hand posted it, and I was behind him. Q. Jordan, can you talk about what the role‑‑ what the‑‑ the role ‑‑ the program in the community there played in your development to achieve to be a two‑time national champion like guys like Bobby Weaver and Jack Cuvo before you? JORDAN OLIVER: It was definitely motivation and inspiration. You're looking up to guys like Jack Cuvo and Bobby Weaver, and I was looking up to guys like Bryan Snyder and JaMarr Billman and those kinds of names. As a young kid, I was in the room with those guys in high school. Bryan Snyder, he wrestled at Nebraska and was very successful. JaMarr, successful wrestler. Those were guys I looked up to. And Bobby Weaver was an Olympic gold medalist. We definitely have tradition and inspiration. Wrestling is real big in my area, real big in District 11. So they just helped motivate and push me a long way, and I could say the same for Oklahoma State. I wasn't as good as I am right now but for Oklahoma State. When I first got to Oklahoma State‑‑ in high school I used to think I was untouchable. Some of the stuff I was doing is really neat. Now that I look at my tapes from high school, I'm like, man, I'm an average wrestler. I'm just okay back in high school, and I thought I was untouchable. I'm still developing and still figuring out things in the wrestling game. I've still got a long way. Q. Jordan, speaking of a long way, tell us about the grind. You've been through a bunch of them now. Do you take a break, or do you get ready to train for Vegas? Have you set goals for your freestyle as early as this year? JORDAN OLIVER: Yeah, I'm taking a break tonight. I'm back on the bus tomorrow. Get back to Stillwater, and my coach, my training partner, Coleman Scott, he's right there along with me. We've trained throughout the whole year. Obviously, I've traveled with him over the summer, going to London and getting to watch him compete in the Olympic Games and all that. The plan is to get right back into it, making the transfer over into freestyle, and making the World Team. They have a great situation in Stillwater with 55, 60, 66 and guys like Chris Perry and all the upper weights that are training and going to go out for the World Team trials. Trials are in Stillwater, so there's a shot I can compete. I get to wrestle in the arena in my home to make the World Team, and it's the ultimate goal for me to win the World Championship, to win an Olympic gold medal, and I'm with the right people, and I'm in the right environment. I believe this year I could make the team and win a world championship. THE MODERATOR: Jordan, congratulations. Thank you very much. JORDAN OLIVER: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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