Made my first stop this afternoon at 4 Pennsylvania Plaza – Madison Square Garden, the site of this year's NCAA Championships, which begin tomorrow at noon.
Definitely a new feel out here in New York City, compared to previous stops such as Des Moines, St. Louis or Oklahoma City. And that's not only because there are sushi booths on the main concourse level, where there are usually popcorn and hotdog stands. Much more hustle and bustle on the streets outside, as expected, but even inside the arena there is a different energy about it. Although it's an 18,000-plus-seat arena, it's a much tighter compact setting compared to previous places, as the stands feel like they're right on top of the mats. I think a lot of that has to do with the age and location of the arena. At the press conferences this afternoon, one of the more common words used to describe it was "historic."
Having wrestled at MSG on three occasions previously, Cornell 133-pounder Nahshon Garrett explained the difference between it and other venues in which he's competed before.
"I would say it's probably a little more intimate because I just think the places I've wrestled before at nationals are a lot (more spread out)," said Garrett. "When I came here it seemed to be more compact. There's a lot more people fitted in, so it seems like you're closer to people. You're closer to the crowd, you're closer to the excitement. You just seem closer; you don't feel distant."
Feeding off the historic feel, NCAA announced today that it will hold a ceremonial weigh-in prior to the final round Saturday. The 20 student-athletes who advance to the championships will step on a legendary scale on the MSG Theatre stage, the same one that had been used with boxing greats like Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, George Foreman and more.
In addition to that news, five coaches (Cael Sanderson of PSU, Pat Popolizio of NC State, John Smith of Oklahoma State, Tom Ryan of Ohio State and Tom Brands of Iowa) and five student-athletes (Nick Gwiazdowski of of NC State, Alex Dieringer of Oklahoma State, Zain Retherford of PSU, Kyle Snyder of Ohio State and Garrett) met in the MSG media room with a couple dozen reporters. USA wrestling legend Dan Gable was also on-hand, although he didn't address the crowd. (This trip is always good for a Gable sighting, and it took all of 10 minutes this year.)
Usually not a whole lot of substance to come from these advance press conferences. But here are some odds and ends:
- As the only PSU student representative selected to attend the presser, Retherford was asked about his success this season against some of the top-seeded wrestlers at his 149-pound weight class and if that gives him any added confidence.
"This is the NCAA tournament," he replied. "So everybody's going to be going for that national title in your bracket. Doesn't really matter who it is. I just don't think it really impacts me at all. I'm just focused on having fun and enjoying this process and this tournament."
- Representing Ohio State, Snyder was asked by one of the national wrestling media to think back to last year's NCAA in final, in which Snyder was pinned, and to describe it. The question was met with a wry grin from the Buckeye sophomore.
"Yeah, I can describe that night," Snyder shot back, igniting laughter from the gathered reporters. "I remember that night pretty well."
From there, however, Snyder's response was enlightening. Almost always at this tournament you only hear the story of the winning wrestler. Rarely do you get it from someone who had been pinned. One year later, Snyder shared his experience.
"It was hard, especially (since) it was kind of a mix of emotions, because we won the team title last year," he said. "Some of my best friends won NCAA titles. You don't want to be jealous for them. You want to be happy for them, but just as an individual, you want the same thing. So it was kind of hard for me to be around them, even though I am super happy that we got it done as a team and I'm super happy for the individuals who got it done now. It was hard to be with them in that moment because I was hurting pretty bad, but the rest of the night really wasn't that fun. Coach Ryan made me come up and speak so all the Buckeye fans who came to our meeting get-together, that really wasn't that fun for me to do, but I had to do it."
The following September in Las Vegas Snyder won a world championship in freestyle. At just 19 years old, he is the country's youngest wrestler to ever win a world title.
Coming only six months after his loss to Iowa State's Kyven Gadson at 197, Snyder said he didn't use the pin as motivation going forward. However, he did rely on the experience to reevaluate his approach to the sport.
"I wouldn't say it catapulted me to what I did during the summer, but I definitely learned a lot," he said. "It made me reevaluate the way I think about the sport. It made me re-assess my wrestling more and I got better in that under hold position, too, so I'm not going to get thrown that way hopefully anytime soon."
Following the world title, Snyder initially planned to take an Olympic redshirt, but opted after holiday break to return to the college mat and bump up to heavyweight. At 6-0, he is seeded No. 2 behind two-time returning champion Gwiazdowski.
"When I heard about (Snyder was coming back), I thought, OK, it's another challenge," said Gwiazdowski. "I've overcome challenges before. I talked to my coaches and people on my staff, and we changed some things up. But overall we are on a pretty solid track to begin with."
- In addition to Gwiazdowski, Dieringer will be working toward his third national championship this week. The Cowboy 165-pounder is riding a 78-match win streak that dates back to January 2014.
Asked where a third title would place him in Ok. St. history, Dieringer replied, "Hopefully one of the greatest. I heard that Coach said I would be top five. That was pretty cool to hear."
- Dieringer's coach, Smith, exchanged some friendly and funny banter with Sanderson after one of the questions. Sanderson was asked if he thinks he'll be able to catch Oklahoma State's total of 34 national team championships.
Before he could answer Smith replied first.
"Most of those championships I didn't win," Smtih said. "I've got a small number (5) compared to that, but (Sanderson) has a got a ways to catch us. To catch me, I think he just needs one more."
That, too, drew some laughter from the crowd, before Sanderson said, "I don't think anyone is really worried about that.
"I think as coaches we're just trying to put the best product we can out there on the floor and try to help kids reach their goals," he said. "If you do that, you have the ability to win a team championship. That's a great bonus. Obviously, we all want to win, and everyone up here has a chance to win, but I don't think it's anything personal or that I'm trying to catch this guy or that guy. If you're doing that, you're probably really not going to make it real far in the sport."
That's it for now. Looking forward to providing coverage as we go along here the next few days.
Definitely a new feel out here in New York City, compared to previous stops such as Des Moines, St. Louis or Oklahoma City. And that's not only because there are sushi booths on the main concourse level, where there are usually popcorn and hotdog stands. Much more hustle and bustle on the streets outside, as expected, but even inside the arena there is a different energy about it. Although it's an 18,000-plus-seat arena, it's a much tighter compact setting compared to previous places, as the stands feel like they're right on top of the mats. I think a lot of that has to do with the age and location of the arena. At the press conferences this afternoon, one of the more common words used to describe it was "historic."
Having wrestled at MSG on three occasions previously, Cornell 133-pounder Nahshon Garrett explained the difference between it and other venues in which he's competed before.
"I would say it's probably a little more intimate because I just think the places I've wrestled before at nationals are a lot (more spread out)," said Garrett. "When I came here it seemed to be more compact. There's a lot more people fitted in, so it seems like you're closer to people. You're closer to the crowd, you're closer to the excitement. You just seem closer; you don't feel distant."
Feeding off the historic feel, NCAA announced today that it will hold a ceremonial weigh-in prior to the final round Saturday. The 20 student-athletes who advance to the championships will step on a legendary scale on the MSG Theatre stage, the same one that had been used with boxing greats like Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, George Foreman and more.
In addition to that news, five coaches (Cael Sanderson of PSU, Pat Popolizio of NC State, John Smith of Oklahoma State, Tom Ryan of Ohio State and Tom Brands of Iowa) and five student-athletes (Nick Gwiazdowski of of NC State, Alex Dieringer of Oklahoma State, Zain Retherford of PSU, Kyle Snyder of Ohio State and Garrett) met in the MSG media room with a couple dozen reporters. USA wrestling legend Dan Gable was also on-hand, although he didn't address the crowd. (This trip is always good for a Gable sighting, and it took all of 10 minutes this year.)
Usually not a whole lot of substance to come from these advance press conferences. But here are some odds and ends:
- As the only PSU student representative selected to attend the presser, Retherford was asked about his success this season against some of the top-seeded wrestlers at his 149-pound weight class and if that gives him any added confidence.
"This is the NCAA tournament," he replied. "So everybody's going to be going for that national title in your bracket. Doesn't really matter who it is. I just don't think it really impacts me at all. I'm just focused on having fun and enjoying this process and this tournament."
- Representing Ohio State, Snyder was asked by one of the national wrestling media to think back to last year's NCAA in final, in which Snyder was pinned, and to describe it. The question was met with a wry grin from the Buckeye sophomore.
"Yeah, I can describe that night," Snyder shot back, igniting laughter from the gathered reporters. "I remember that night pretty well."
From there, however, Snyder's response was enlightening. Almost always at this tournament you only hear the story of the winning wrestler. Rarely do you get it from someone who had been pinned. One year later, Snyder shared his experience.
"It was hard, especially (since) it was kind of a mix of emotions, because we won the team title last year," he said. "Some of my best friends won NCAA titles. You don't want to be jealous for them. You want to be happy for them, but just as an individual, you want the same thing. So it was kind of hard for me to be around them, even though I am super happy that we got it done as a team and I'm super happy for the individuals who got it done now. It was hard to be with them in that moment because I was hurting pretty bad, but the rest of the night really wasn't that fun. Coach Ryan made me come up and speak so all the Buckeye fans who came to our meeting get-together, that really wasn't that fun for me to do, but I had to do it."
The following September in Las Vegas Snyder won a world championship in freestyle. At just 19 years old, he is the country's youngest wrestler to ever win a world title.
Coming only six months after his loss to Iowa State's Kyven Gadson at 197, Snyder said he didn't use the pin as motivation going forward. However, he did rely on the experience to reevaluate his approach to the sport.
"I wouldn't say it catapulted me to what I did during the summer, but I definitely learned a lot," he said. "It made me reevaluate the way I think about the sport. It made me re-assess my wrestling more and I got better in that under hold position, too, so I'm not going to get thrown that way hopefully anytime soon."
Following the world title, Snyder initially planned to take an Olympic redshirt, but opted after holiday break to return to the college mat and bump up to heavyweight. At 6-0, he is seeded No. 2 behind two-time returning champion Gwiazdowski.
"When I heard about (Snyder was coming back), I thought, OK, it's another challenge," said Gwiazdowski. "I've overcome challenges before. I talked to my coaches and people on my staff, and we changed some things up. But overall we are on a pretty solid track to begin with."
- In addition to Gwiazdowski, Dieringer will be working toward his third national championship this week. The Cowboy 165-pounder is riding a 78-match win streak that dates back to January 2014.
Asked where a third title would place him in Ok. St. history, Dieringer replied, "Hopefully one of the greatest. I heard that Coach said I would be top five. That was pretty cool to hear."
- Dieringer's coach, Smith, exchanged some friendly and funny banter with Sanderson after one of the questions. Sanderson was asked if he thinks he'll be able to catch Oklahoma State's total of 34 national team championships.
Before he could answer Smith replied first.
"Most of those championships I didn't win," Smtih said. "I've got a small number (5) compared to that, but (Sanderson) has a got a ways to catch us. To catch me, I think he just needs one more."
That, too, drew some laughter from the crowd, before Sanderson said, "I don't think anyone is really worried about that.
"I think as coaches we're just trying to put the best product we can out there on the floor and try to help kids reach their goals," he said. "If you do that, you have the ability to win a team championship. That's a great bonus. Obviously, we all want to win, and everyone up here has a chance to win, but I don't think it's anything personal or that I'm trying to catch this guy or that guy. If you're doing that, you're probably really not going to make it real far in the sport."
That's it for now. Looking forward to providing coverage as we go along here the next few days.
