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We're looking forward to an incredible championship weekend here in Cleveland.
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We're excited to be joined today by four outstanding student
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athletes representing some of the top programs in the country.
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We'll begin with opening statements for me each wrestler, and
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then we'll open it up for questions from the media.
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Joining us today is Levi Haynes from Penn State, Jesse
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Mendez from Ohio State younger but.
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Still from Iowa State.
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We'll start with opening remarks from each student athlete, if
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you could each take a moment to reflect on your
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season and what it means to compete here this weekend.
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Levi will start with you.
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Yeah, I think it's been a good season. Seen our
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team progress pretty well throughout the season. We have a
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lot of young guys in the lineup and they've been
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taking care of business getting better.
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Aw So, before you ask the weird questions.
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Him Eric knob Snider from The Tribute Democrat and Johnstown
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PA Levi. In Cale's press conference this week, he talked
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about you, and he said that you're going to be
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one of the guys as much as anybody that's ever
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come through the program that he's going to miss when
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you look at the legends that have come through Penn State,
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what is it like to hear him say something like
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that about you?
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And lots of means I was doing my job.
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And your current college career care man's not too far
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away from where you grew up.
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Yeah, I grew up twenty minutes away. So I've been
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to this arena a lot. And uh yeah, having the
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opportunity to represent where I came from, it's just give
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me in the world to me for one nice talk.
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Zeb Miller, Akron, Beacon Journal, The Ohio Kents, Jesse, Oh yere,
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you got that dog? And yeah, Well, have you been
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able to capture the momentum from the season to the
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beg time to try and win your third in Serio
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title and potentially the Hodge Trophy.
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Yeah, I think it just it starts in the summer.
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You know, throughout summer we've been putting the work in,
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and you know, you want to start with the season
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strong and and I just I made an emphasis on
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trying to widen the gap this year and continue to
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score bonus points throughout the year. And you know, last
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year I had a couple hiccups, and you know that's
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a big emphasis for me was, you know, my performance
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the way I wrestle, and I really want to wrestle
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with extreme focus and you know, an offensive mindset for
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seven minutes. So you know, just from the start of
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season until now, that's that's been my mindset and I
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look forward to carrying that into the tournament.
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Hi, Jack and Cordova was cycling fanatic younger. How does
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it feel to be able to be here and represent
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Cuba and all the little kids who look up to
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you and hope to one day be in your position?
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Man?
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You know, it means a lot.
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You know, it's a good opportunity, you know, for me
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and you know from everybody out here, and you know,
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to be over here and then representing either you know,
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the country or school or whatever. Yeah, it means a lot.
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And you know, I can't I can't wait for tomorrow
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and the next two days.
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You guys come in with seven number one seeds and
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you know you've you've broken the scoring record the past
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two years. What is the success for you guys in
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this tournament? Is it breaking the scoring record again? Is
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it getting tane Americans again? What do you guys talk
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about is to what you want to achieve here.
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Yeah, I don't think we focused too much on the
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results of stuff like that, breaking records or anything, you know.
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I think each and every one of us kind of
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comes in with the goal just being ourselves and staying
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true to our character throughout these tournaments. You know, the
Load full transcript
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big moment is easy to just straight away from who
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you are and let that stuff kind of come in
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a little bit. So I think that's our main focus
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this weekend is just being ourselves and competing hard.
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Sell huge cheering section Northfield, Macedonia. They're going to be
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here in force, a lots of Italian Americans coming bringing
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the Gobba Google, They're gonna have it all. What's it
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like knowing that you have the momentum, the cheering section
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and it's the last ride.
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I think it makes it pretty easy to go out
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and just let everything fly. This is a big tournament,
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you can it can just get to you at some point,
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but just letting it fly and just being yourself out theirs.
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It's pretty easy when you have somebody supporting you from
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the back.
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John Kozak Flow Wrestling. As for Jesse, big storyline heading
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into the weekend is a potential match with you versus
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Sergio Vega true freshman. You were there one time as
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a true freshman. How often do you think about that match?
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How much are you preparing for that?
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You know, I don't try not think about it too much,
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but you know, you get excited for those matches. You know,
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going into your senior year, you get a fiery freshman
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and you know you want those Corystal highlines when you're
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you're looking back at your career, So you know, I'm
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really excited for it. You know, hopefully the cards playouts
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were the matchup Avans.
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Younger. You were out last season, so obviously your absence
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was felt. A lot of chirping this season of your
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return and your dominance and maybe how the season before
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that went.
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What do you hope fans and really your.
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Competition thinks going into this and knows what they're what
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they should expect from you.
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I mean, just seven minutes, you know, the hot wrestling.
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That's that's what they kind of splait you. Seven minute
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and then I'll fight. It's gonna be a fight with
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seven minutes.
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Leby, How did the experience at the Senior World Championships
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prepare you or help get you to this point? For
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your run here in the NCAA is.
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Yeah, it was a great opportunity to just keep getting
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better all summer. You know, I was always getting ready
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for another tournament, and uh, through that, iways just had
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a lot of opportunities, uh to just get better or wrestling.
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Each match I just treated as practice for my next one,
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and I think I made a lot of big gains
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throughout the summer and I got to see some cool places,
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meet some cool people. So I think it's you know,
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just kind of been ready since since the Senior Worlds
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and just getting better from every little piece of data
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collected through competing.
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LEVI Pennsylvania once again leads the tournament with fifty qualifiers,
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is at a point of pride for you. I know
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you've got teammates from from all over on the penn
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State team, But do you do you enjoy representing Pennsylvania
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and the lineage that has come through the NCAA tournament
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from there.
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Yeah.
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Absolutely, It's really cool to be a part of. And
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I think it's just really neat to see the history
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and heritage of wrestling in the state of Pennsylvania. It
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just seems like it keeps on getting better and better.
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You know, we just watch some the state tournament last weekend,
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and it seems like it just keeps getting better and better.
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So I'll look forward to watching some of those guys
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in the national tournaments in the future.
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Younger twenty twenty two, you're in All American at one
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ninety seven. Now you're at heavyweight. The guys are much different.
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They're bigger, You're really athletic, You've been battling injuries. What
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is it like to russell heavyweights compared to one ninety
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seven and this
twenty twenty two seem like a really
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long time ago.
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I mean, he's way better man. You know, I don't
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have to cut Wait, we just you know, which is hard.
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Everybody knows that.
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Well.
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Yeah, you know, I feel feel way better on heavyweight,
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you know, stronger than faster. I would say, so, Yeah,
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I feel a heavywere I'm on my best.
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It's for a Jesse and Levi. You guys both wrestled
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four years straight, no red shirt. You both won national
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titles before. Explain the decision to not red shirt, and
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then also, what is it what would it mean for
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you to end your career.
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With an NCAA title the first Yeah, it wasn't like
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the plan coming out of high school to go in
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you know, off the rit but you know, once you
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get in the room and you started getting that itch,
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you know, I just I wanted to go right away,
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and I started talking to the coaches, and I just
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I felt like I was ready, especially in a really
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tough weight class. My freshman year, I won thirty three
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with guys like rby Veto. You know, Dayton Fix is
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a tough weight class. But you know, I think the
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best way to get better is to go up against
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the best, and you know, that's what I wanted to do.
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So I wanted to throw my hat at the ring
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early and see where I was at. And you know,
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I think it's kind of catapult to me to have
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the success I've had and then you know, finish off
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my college career. The national title would you know, really
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cap off my career. But I don't really you know,
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hold myself to buy to my accolades. I'm trying to
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focus on our compete and my performances and I just
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want to wrestle like me for seven minutes.
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Yeah, similar to Jesse. You know, uh, my coaches and
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I just decided that at the time, I just thought
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I was ready to go, and uh I knew they
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had my best interest in mind. So just listening to them,
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and uh, I feel like at Penn stated you can
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get in the lineup, you go wrestle, so uh I.
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Felt really good about it.
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Trusted them, and uh you know, I was just getting
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better each time I stepped on the mat. And uh
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so what I plan on doing this weekend, you know,
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not too worried about, uh, you know, finishing off my
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career with the national championship. You know, hopefully my career
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uh is a lot longer than just this weekend. Uh So, yeah,
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I don't I don't really try to focus on that.
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Uh just focusing on being myself, I think is uh
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what I would look back on and be like, That's
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what I'm most proud of is in those big moments,
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I was true to myself. And uh I feel like
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when you hit all those blockses usually the the the
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winning takes care of itself.
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Rachel Gayarda with Internet, tell me this is for any
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of you guys, despite the pressure, despite the expectations, how
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do you continue to find joy in this sport?
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That's on me.
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I just like throwing people down.
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What we love you know, just go out there and
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you know, wrestle hard and that's what we love as
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we've been doing since we're kids.
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So yes, it's easy to get caught up in the
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noise is a lot of people talking about you, your performances.
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You know, whether the people love you or they hate you.
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But at the end of the day, we're we're doing
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all we love and you know it's uh. You're blessed
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to be able to get to do what you do
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every day and whether that comes with a lot of
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stress and h that's what you signed up for and
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now you signed up to do what you love.
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It's a great opportunity to represent our schools and the
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bearing in front of thousands of people.
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This one's for Jesse. Sorry, Tristan warner Win Magazine. Jesse,
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you've been vocal in the past about the Hodge Trophy specifically,
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you know, you talked about in addition to one upping
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Jaggers because you didn't win it as a freshman. He said,
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and you need to get the Hodge Trophy. Why is
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it important to you and what would it mean for
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you to bring that home and bring that bring another
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Hodge Trophy to Ohio.
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State Yeah, I just think with me and Jay's relationship,
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we're always trying to one up each other and we're
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always taking digs at each other and making fun of
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each other. So you know, if I just got something
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I could hang over his head that he can't go
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back and change, that's a That's a one of my books.
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Leevike, country Boy Can Survive Dinosaur. What's the Hank Williams
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Junior song this potential weekend? And is there an even
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any hunting any Just down home, good, good old fashioned
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fun lately.
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Yeah, I don't know what the song. Bell probably be
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hanging Junior some sort, but no, we're always always outdoors
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doing something so we have a good time. M