133-pounder Nick Suriano
Opening Statement: It feels great. I just came back from a guy who beat me earlier in the season, top guy, world-class guy, and it feels good. Kind of lost for words. A lot of adversity, a lot of negativity I overcame.

Q. Nick, you called out, I'm not sure intentionally, but you called out Micic a couple times this year, whether it was in Vegas or the Big Tens. Did you do that to try to get in his head?
NICK SURIANO: No, I said what I think, honestly, and I think he was trying to play it safe. I've been there before. Last year I was hospitalized, I couldn't move. Nine days I was straightened out.

So I don't know his situation. He's a hell of a competitor. It was a great match. I thought I could have done some things better, and I'm happy, man. I feel great.

Q. What has changed from when you went (indiscernible)?
NICK SURIANO: My mentality, my drive, remembering my story, remembering where I came from. You know, I kind of went out there like I had to hold on to something, but this time I came out like I got something to prove for me, my family, Rutgers, my support team. I just did what I needed to do.

Q. Nick, it seemed like a lot of guys kind of try to take emotion out of it and be as calm and collected as possible. It seems like you thrive on your emotions and you're very emotionally in tune with yourself. Can you talk a little bit about that?
NICK SURIANO: Yeah, I'd say I'm just -- I'm driven. I'm aware. And I'm up for any challenge at any time. I've never ducked a fight ever. I've been saying that. And it's been my day. It's been my week. The last couple weeks I've been doing what I do best. It's a lot of hard work.

Q. If you had a low point this year, it started when you wrestled Fix. Can you talk about what that match did for you and what you did for those two weeks to get over that?
NICK SURIANO: Since that match, I wasn't where I needed to be. I let things get in my head a little bit psychologically. I started worrying about the wrong things.

I fixed my wrestling. I fixed my mindset. I didn't forgot where I come from. I stuck by my family. I listened to my pops, my dad, my No. 1 coach, and I got Rutgers, all state, positive people behind me, and there's nothing better than inspiring the youth, and for me, it's just about overcoming adversity, overcoming adversity and never quitting.

Q. You've talked a lot about adversity and mindset. What does it take to be able to make that shift and go from the negativity to the positivity and have the kind of performance you did tonight?
NICK SURIANO: Yeah, you know, we all have negative moments in our lives where we find negative things instead of focusing on the positive, instead of focusing on working harder, getting better, getting stronger, we focus on dwelling, and I was worried about the past. It happens. If you want to be great, you want to be good, you've got to think big.

You've got to look ahead, and that's what I did, and I'm hungry and I'm blessed. I'm happy to be back, and hopefully my teammate, Anthony Ashnault, does his thing, we make history again, two finalists from New Jersey, two champs.

149-pounder Anthony Ashnault
Opening Statement: This is just pretty cool. I'm sitting up here in my singlet in a press conference. I feel like a rock star right now, but I'm really excited. This is a moment I dreamed about, a moment to run out on that carpet, take that stage and put on a performance. I've been dreaming about that moment for a long time. So I'm excited to be able to make it a reality.

Q. You mentioned it, but how sweet is it after a couple of near misses to be here in this moment?
ANTHONY ASHNAULT: Man, that match was nerve-racking for the situation going into it. I wasn't nervous at all just because I wrestled him a bunch of times in practices and competitions, but just like one wrong move, he's the kind of wrestler that wins a lot of matches by one point to get the takedown at the end, and I think that just causes us to be a little tentative on our feet.

But I knew I was going to have to do something like that to win that match. I knew he was going to come out with a good game plan after the dual meet we had this year. He's a very tough competitor and he's a very good kid. Props to him for a great match. But I was just prepared. I worked my whole life since I was four years old starting to wrestle for an opportunity to be on the stage in the national tournament, and now it's here.

Q. Obviously you and Nick Suriano are going to be talked about a lot together in the same sentence. What are the biggest differences between the two of you?
ANTHONY ASHNAULT: His name is Nick, my name is Anthony. He's from Bergen Catholic, I'm from South Plainfield. I don't know, we're just kids having a good time out here, man. He's super serious and super locked in when he goes to compete, but he's a normal kid outside of this, and we're very good friends, and I was so excited to see him compete this whole tournament. He's finally like competing and opening up and just letting his offense fly, and he looks like the best guy in that weight right now.

But we're just excited to have two Rutgers guys. I came to Rutgers at a time when Rutgers wasn't close to the top 20, and now we're consistently in the top 10 in this tournament, and last year we finished right outside of the top 10.

And the goal coming in was to have me and Nick be champs, and our whole team supports us for that. Our families and our fans, and it was kind of expected for us both to be in the finals, and now we're ready to go win it.

Q. Anthony, sometimes people think that you two are almost like an odd couple, you and Suriano. Is there any truth to that? And also just talk about being the face of the Rutgers program. Like when you earned your fourth All-American, they made a point of announcing it. Is there any pressure to having that?
ANTHONY ASHNAULT: In previous years there's been a lot of pressure. I put it on myself mostly. But honestly, this year it's been all about me and what I want out of the sport and what I want out of my life, so the pressure, really I took it away from doing it for Rutgers and doing it for the state, of course. Of course I want to be doing that, and I want to put Rutgers on the map, and that's why I came to school, to put Rutgers and get guys like Nick Suriano and get top recruits out of high school, but at the end of the day, this is something I want to be doing. I want to be the national champ for myself, and glory to God, but this is a goal that I've had written down and I've looked at for a long time.

But being an odd couple, I don't really know what you mean by that. We grew up wrestling, going to the same coach for a long time. I remember actually he was in seventh grade and I was in high school, I already won a couple state titles, and I always made it a point to do the most like out of anyone, stay after, come early, and he was a little twerp, little 70 pounder, and he wouldn't leave practice until I was done, and we were running splits side by side and doing pull-ups, push-ups, whatever, in his little Under Armour shirt, like he does now still.

But from that moment I knew he was going to be special, and we had a good bond just from the sport. I don't know if you would say that's an odd couple. I think we're just two competitors that want to win and are willing to do whatever it takes.

Q. Talk about Micah Jordan in the finals, obviously a guy you've beaten twice this year. Talk about the confidence you have going into that match and also coming from a great wrestling town like South Plainfield just really putting South Plainfield on the map.
ANTHONY ASHNAULT: Yeah, I was rocking my Tigers South Plainfield shirt before that match. For me it was just a special moment. I wanted to soak it in and remember where I came from. You know, I've been to the semifinals twice and lost. It was more just being grateful, being out there, and I just wanted to take a moment to realize my journey, and no matter what the outcome of that match was going to be, I was just grateful to be there.

And coming from South Plainfield, we're a very big wrestling town and we're a very big community, family oriented, and I've got a lot of people here that came to watch me from there, and I'm just so blessed and extremely grateful that my family is here to support me, and I extend that family all the way to South Plainfield people, and I'm just blessed.