Tom Brands – Post Illinois

Brands: I’m hot, hot under the collar right now.

Q: What are you most bothered by right now?

Brands: I feel like they won the majority of the matches, they won three matches. I feel like they won the majority of the matches.

I am kinda embarrassed too. I took the spotlight away from Alex Meyer. I mean wow. The thing is that attack he hit he can do that earlier, and he can get the first (takedown) and then he can do it, and do it, and do it. That’s what we got to do and that’s what we have to believe. Just because we come out in the end and we have that reputation (of comebacks), and Alex Meyer is that kind of wrestler, that doesn’t mean that he can’t also use that first 30 seconds, the first 45 seconds, first minute…and then into the fourth-fifth-sixth-seventh minute. And then in that 419th second he gets the fall.

You can just do that by grinding it out and you can be up 15-1 and get the fall, with one second to go. And that is what we want to see. So, I am greedy. I’m a poor sport.

Q: What did you see out of (Meyer) in the final minute?

Brands: I saw the guy squeezing the heck out of us and not enough attempts. So it was kind of like going, I think we got a stall call,  but we never really got to the guy. It was really slow because it was almost like he didn’t have an arm he was just wrapped around (Meyer’s) chin and head and not letting us move.

The one shot (Meyer) hit, wow. That was deep head across, stacks him up and ultimately (Brunson) holding on led to his demise. It led to us being able to pin him. Because it was really tight and (Brunson) was hanging on and he was hanging on when they went. But I give Meyer a lot of credit and we have to put the spotlight on him.

But I don’t feel like we won that dual meet. I’ll tell you that right now.

Q: Why not?

Brands: Do you feel like it, how do you feel? Put yourself in our shoes and how things were going. Giving up a major decision at 165, just giving up the same thing over and over again. We got a lot of work to do. We have seven days off that’s the first time in a long time that we’ve had seven days off. We need to do it right. We need to be ready for Northwestern.

Q: Who are you upset with in particular in the Clark match?

Brands: I’m not upset with Clark because I know we got a competitor there. It’s 5-1 and you dig yourself into a hole against Ohio State, 4-2 this match in the first period. Those are first period scores and it should be 4-2 us. It’s very simple strategy what these coaches and opponents are doing to him because he comes out kind of working his way into the match, into that period. So they are coming out and they are getting quick scores. We have to get the first takedown, it’s that simple. You have to come out harder and things will go more your way at the end.

Then you get guys laying on their belly like they did at heavyweight, took him until the third period to go to his belly, probably because that was the only time we had him down. Look at 184, we put a hard ride on, that guy goes right to his belly. You put enough heat on somebody eventually you’ll get to them. Clark is not using the full seven minutes to put the heat on.

The other thing is with Kelly and Clark is there is too much underhooks and too much control. We’re giving up too much control. A guy has double underhooks and we’re burying our head. We have to control that. Or we have to do that dynamic whips and carries, and getting underneath guys with some explosive type stuff off maybe their control tie. We have a two on one where we can get to that leg, but it was never really there because it was too slow.

Clark is upstairs and he’s hurting right now. He’s a competitor and he does not take losing well. We have to get him tuned in right now.

Q: Moore and Evans?

Brands: Moore and Evans will be in the lineup on Friday.