For Immediate Release
Contact: Sean Maguire (sean.maguire@okstate.edu)
March 12, 2012

John Smith Previews the NCAA Championships

STILLWATER, Okla. – Oklahoma State wrestling coach John Smith visited with the media at the OSU wrestling room today to preview this week’s NCAA Championships. Some of his comments:

Head Coach John Smith
On Jordan Oliver
"Starting with Jordan – returning national champion. He needs to really focus and bear down on what makes him very effective on the mat. He needs to execute, he's going to have to chase some people down most likely. He has several pretty good wrestlers at his weight class that he can't overlook. Obviously, he has one loss this year, and that should remind him that a poor match can end up in not the place you want to finish. So, I think with Oliver it's about focusing on his execution and his skill level and definitely his pressure, the way he applies pressure to his opponents. Nothing is given; he's going to have to earn it.”

On Jamal Parks
“Obviously, Jamal was a first-time All-American last year. I think it's for Jamal just about being the hunter. He's been the hunter all season long. When he's chased his opponents down, he scored in the first and the second and the third period. There were things in the past we wondered why he wouldn't do it, well that journey takes some time, and he stayed on that course of developing that intensity and confidence in order to take people down. He has to keep hunting people down. He didn't get a lot of them that wrestled him this year: they got in a three point stance and tried to shut him down, and when that happens you have to go after them. You have to hunt them. You have to take them a little bit at a time. I think for Parks in his senior year, overlook nobody, it's a tough weight class. There are guys he has not hit. There are guys that are pretty good wrestlers, but when he's focused on hunting them down, he's executing to the level where he can be the nation's best wrestler this weekend.”

On Chris Perry
“Chris Perry is kind of like night and day from where he's gone to where he is now. His whole style and mentality has changed from even when he was a young kid. He's bought in to the mentality of putting pressure on people, not sitting and waiting and letting things materialize. He's done a great job in his transitional wrestling where he's gotten to a leg and finished and immediately was into a breakdown, and before he knew it, he was looking for a turn. He's had one of the biggest turnarounds in style that I've ever coached in a single year. Jordan Oliver was one of them as well from his freshman year to his sophomore year. He needs to make sure that throughout that tournament he's focused on that, that transitional wrestling along with that chain wrestling, that 'Not only am I going to break people, but I'm going to wear them down. I'm going to wear them down, I'm going to wear their confidence down. I'm not going to give them a second to think about how they can take a break, how they can slow me down.' That's what has made him good this year, that's why he's not been upset one match or two matches is because his transitional wrestling and his whole philosophy on the way he wanted to wrestle has changed. He has a great mentality right now with his attitude of putting pressure on people.”

On the seeding for the NCAA Tournament
“I don't think you're ever pleased. I thought we could get a couple guys seeded in the top 12 that were there a week ago, and disappeared somehow. Unfortunately, when you get in there and you don't have somebody working for your region, it's tough, but it is what it is. No real surprises. There were guys on the bubble. I was a little disappointed [Chris] McNeil didn't go, but I think the main disappointment is that he is a senior. What the seeds tell us is everyone is overlooking us. I don't think Oklahoma State's name is coming up among the teams that can really challenge for a national championship. We have to perform well over our seeds to make it happen.”

On whether being an underdog gives extra motivation
“It should. I think respect is important. Some of our guys [Jon Morrison, Josh Kindig, Dallas Bailey] could have had a seed if they [the committee] looked at it real close. I think it's something that needs to motivate you to show that you're worthy of being considered an All-American. Those are the things that really need to materialize for us. I do believe as a team, we're wrestling well, we look good; good attitude. Training has gone well – it was our first full week of training since Jan. 1, so it was nice to get a full week of training in. Hopefully our best wrestling is ahead of us. I feel like we have an opportunity to have a great tournament and find ourselves in the middle of it.”

On why he thinks his team may have been overlooked by the committee
“When you look at the tournament, it might take 100 points to win this tournament. As of the second week of February, we had a heavyweight [Alan Gelogaev] who could score 25 of them. So when you take 1/4 of your points away and they're gone, you start to scramble. What we have to remember is three fifth-place or sixth-place finishes from someone is worth about 25 points. You could have three guys get All-American and finish sixth, and it equals to the number of points a winner gets – so, that's why. I knew when we lost him, that we had to make up the difference and it was going to be a battle to make it up. I do think we could be in that position. I think we can wrestle our best tournament of the year, and if we do that we could see some prizes.”

-OSU-