This afternoon, Head Coach Cael Sanderson and 133lb starter Marcus Blaze spoke to media ahead of Saturday’s Journeymen Collegiate Duals vs. North Dakota State and Stanford in Nashville, TN.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EJDL4kLqoI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2StGbXDF8Y
Cael Sanderson – Head Coach
On the Large Crowd and Support at Wyoming Dual:
I was excited to get out west. I mean, growing up in the west and the mountains and that kind of country was kind of cool. My father, my mother, aunts, and uncles were out there, and a lot of people made the drive over to the match just from those areas, like some people from Colorado, Colorado Springs, and obviously Utah. So it was cool, and it was a great match. I think great crowd. I heard that it was the largest crowd they’ve ever had for a dual, so I love to hear that. It was like that a couple years ago when we were at Oregon State; it was a great crowd, too. Our guys wrestled pretty well, and it was a lot of fun for everybody. (0:06 – 0:50)
Significance of the Dual Winning Streak Record:
I don’t know, I can’t really speak for anybody else. We’re just trying to get better and just trying to make progress as the year goes on, as a team obviously. But, you know, we compete as individuals, so that’s kind of what we’re looking at. We’re looking forward to a couple more fun matches. It’s good for us to get on the road as a team. It’s good for the bonding and the team building stuff. We have a couple fun matches again this week, so it’s a lot to look forward to. (1:14 – 1:47)
Clarifying Nate Desmond’s Weight Class Situation (125 lbs vs. 141 lbs):
I saw that [I] said something about that, yeah, my bad. Did I say he couldn’t make 125 [lbs] again? I mean, he could make 125 [lbs] again, it was just a lot of work for him. He’s a tough kid. When he made 125 [lbs], he didn’t complain; he was smiling and had good energy. Obviously, he competed really well at that weight. As a redshirt, he’s a guy we want to get in matches and get ready to go. Obviously, [Nate] Desmond is a guy we’re counting on in the future, and he’s got a great future ahead of him, great wrestler, great competitor. Guys can go up and down, and he’s a strong kid, so he can wrestle up like he did and wrestled really well. (1:56 – 2:50)
Desmond’s Long-Term Weight Class Future & Filling in for Aaron Nagao:
I don’t know, we’re trying to figure things out, and the kids are making decisions, deciding what they want to do. He weighed in lower so he could move back down. Obviously, you’re doing all the math on those things before you weigh in. I really don’t know what the future looks like in there. Maybe [he’ll fill in longer], I really don’t know the answer to that. He could do really well at any of the three bottom weight classes. He has a big frame; he could bulk up in the future if he wanted to. We just have several guys that we are confident in, obviously at 141 [lbs]. It was a good opportunity to give him that match on the road in front of a full house. You want to see how guys do, just give him that opportunity for training purposes and preparation. He did a nice job. He was going up a couple weight classes from where he was maybe a month ago, but he obviously responded well, and we’re excited. (2:58 – 4:14)
Thoughts on the Journeymen Duals Structure (Two Matches) & Redshirt Event Count:
I don’t know. I asked that same question. I kind of stayed out of the loop on some things, which I should probably know more about. Last year we had a lot of fun; we had three exciting matches in a row. It was the same day [PSU] Women’s Volleyball team won the nationals, which made it even better. We were able to watch that in the locker room and stuff. But, two matches, whatever. We’ll get our matches in this year and be ready to go. [Regarding the redshirt rule,] it counts as one event. Even if it’s a two-day event, it’s counted as one day. (4:25 – 5:04)
Using the Final Matches for Starters or Reserves:
We just don’t have a lot of matches, so we’re trying to get matches right now. We’re trying to get our match count up. We don’t really play around a lot with that. We generally just wrestle our best team that’s ready to go. That’s just kind of been the standard wherever and whenever we wrestle. (5:17 – 5:32)
On Josh Barr’s Travel Status:
No, [Josh] Barr didn’t make the trip last week. He could have, but yeah, he’s making the trip this week. (5:39 – 5:44)
Update on Aaron Nagao and Braeden Davis:
Oh yeah, definitely consideration [for Braeden Davis]. [Aaron] Nagao is doing well. He wrestled earlier today, so he’s working his way back. We’re just being patient and letting things kind of work themselves out. (5:55 – 6:04)
Marcus Blaze – Freshman, 133 lbs
On the “Weird Cradle” Finish:
I mean, I’ve never actually hit that move before in my life. It was just kind of a little leg into a cradle, and yeah, it just ended up working out. (0:08 – 0:17)
On Planning Moves in a Match:
It just kind of came to me. I don’t ever really plan to hit any moves out there; they just kind of go all off a feel. (0:24 – 0:34)
On Developing Feel with PSU Training Partners:
I think obviously having better partners and stuff is going to help me get better at wrestling. Just having Coach [Cael] Sanderson and them, and having the best coaches in the world and best partners in the world definitely helps me out. (0:40 – 0:54)
Who Provides the Toughest Test in the Room:
I don’t really have any specific, but Coach Nick [Lee] always gives me a good run. [Zain] Retherford—you know, all those guys are all really good, so they all kind of test me. (1:02 – 1:13)
Wrestling with Childhood Heroes:
Obviously, you’re honored and grateful to have training partners like that. It was like surreal at first—just wrestling with him. It’s like, “Holy cow, I watched [Zain] Retherford kind of smoke some guys when I was younger,” but now that I’ve been here for a while, it’s just like, “Oh, hey, what’s up, Zain?” [Zain] Retherford is just Zain, and yeah, he’s cool. (1:26 – 1:48)
Areas Where He is Being Tested (Unseen by Viewers):
I think it’s just continuing to get to my offense, looking for ways to score points, and getting better on the mat. That’s always a big area in college wrestling: being able to get off the bottom, being able to turn people. So I’m just continuing to work on that stuff. (2:00 – 2:14)
On High School Friend Winning the Iron Man:
Obviously, Grey [Burnett] is one of my best friends, especially in high school. We went to the same high school, so that was really cool to see him win. (2:19 – 2:28)
On Being Named Penn State Student-Athlete of the Week with PJ Duke:
I think it’s cool. Obviously, I’m just grateful for them thinking that I did a good enough job to get that performance. It’s just cool to see that [PJ] Duke and I were chosen from all these student-athletes. (2:38 – 2:51)
