Question And Answer With Chris Williams
3/7/2001 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 7, 2001
East Lansing, Mich. - MSU junior wrestler Chris Williams (Jr./Perry, Mich.) is on his way to Iowa City, Iowa for the 2001 NCAA Championships March 15-17. Williams has had a phenomenal career both as a Spartan (125 lb.) and competing in Greco-Roman all over the world. He recently sat down to discuss his performance at the Big Ten Championships and his preparation for the NCAA's. Williams also gave a little insight on the differences between Greco-Roman and collegiate styles of wrestling.
Q: What are your feelings going into the NCAA Championship?
W: I think if I wrestle as well as I did at the Big Ten Championship, I will do well at nationals and will have a chance at being an All-American.
Q: How are you preparing yourself for the NCAA's mentally and physically?
W: There are some little things to work on, but no big adjustments. The most important thing we need to adjust to is bigger and better competition. We have to stay relaxed, with eight days until we go it is easy to get worked up. We need to save up that emotion and energy. But, by this time in the season if you are not prepared you shouldn't be doing this (wrestling).
Q: Your coach called you `the surprise of the tournament' rising from sixth seed to take third in your weight class. What is your take on your performance at the Big Ten Championships?
W: I think I wrestled solid and consistent. There were no real ups and downs, I wrestled well for the first six minutes and in a split second I was taken down.
Q: You started this season off ranked 19th by Amateur Wrestling News, did that produce any pressure or expectations?
W: There was no pressure or expectations. I know I am a better wrestler than that, I was as good as the top five. I didn't place at nationals last year and that is why I think I was placed so low. It is a matter of performing and proving yourself. If you perform you win, as I was ranked number four about a month ago.
Q: What is the difference between the Greco-Roman and the collegiate style of wrestling?
W: They are totally different, Greco-Roman is all upper-body and collegiate uses the entire body. It college they are more worried about the head and hurting someone. We are the only country with a collegiate/high school style of wrestling. In other countries, they have Greco-Roman and Freestyle. I have been wrestling Greco-Roman for years. I love it and hope to compete in the 2004 Olympics.
Q: What are some differences between competing at the world level rather than the national collegiate level?
W: It was an eye-opener competing in Greco-Roman world tournaments. The competition was more than how hard you trained it was technical and to the `T'. I went out there hard, but not perfect, I was used to just bullying the other guys. I think it is to my benefit being able to compete at that level both for the different types of competitors and also the crowds. Iowa is the biggest wrestling school and no doubt has the biggest crowds. There is no way to prepare for crowds, you just have to try to block them out. The screaming crowd against you sometimes equals motivation to prove to them that you can win no matter what.