Interview transcripts with all 16 local qualifiers for Saturday's Iowa Class 2A district tournament at Solon. Each of these wrestlers either won or finished second at the Assumption Sectional tournament.

Clint Harland, Assumption, 103-pound runner-up

(On where this big day came from) "I felt that I haven't wrestled to my potential all year. We have got the best coaches here, though, and this was the best I've wrestled all year." (On how he was able to ride out Monticello's Brock Wendt in the finals for nearly 4 minutes) "I've been working with all of my coaches on top. I felt that match was pretty big. When I wrestled ranked competition before, I usually get that in my head, but this time I wrestled my style, and it seemed to work. I'm focused on districts, I really want to get to state, but I'm not going to look forward to that. When the time comes, I'll be ready and hopefully it will come out good."

Grant Rosenboom, Assumption, 112-pound runner-up

(On wrestling Monticello's Landon Felton, where Rosenboom built a 7-0 lead but got caught in a headlock to open the second period) "I was in pretty good shape, and even then (when Felton threw the headlock) I thought I'd be able to roll through it, but he had a little bit better strength, a little bit better position...and it ended up how it ended. I definitely feel like when I see him at districts, I'll be a lot better, a lot cleaner, and a lot more points scored." (Was he worried about having to wrestle back to advance?) "Was I concerned? Not exactly. I wasn't planning on it, but I thought if I wrestled the right match, how I'm supposed to wrestle, I'd go to districts and that's all that matters."

Bradley McDermott, Assumption, 119-pound champion

(On being happy with his performance) "I'm actually not. I felt good at the beginning of the day, but later I just started feeling worse and worse. It's not my conditioning. I just didn't eat right. I don't know if I ate enough at the right times over the course of the week. I definitely could have wrestled better. I just didn't feel 100 percent. So I did enough to secure the wins and go home. It's just not really a great day." (On knowing what to fix for next week) "I just need to probably eat a little better, warm up a little better. I just need to take care of the little things, and those will help a lot. As a team, we should have performed better, but I still believe that we will be state champions. We were slow, we weren't as aggressive as we should be, but you'll have those days. When it comes to state we'll step it up." (At team dual sectional Tuesday night) "We need to all come out really aggressive, just all-out, everything we have. We have to show people that we are the No. 1 team."

Tony Parks, Assumption, 125-pound runner-up

(On dropping to 125 and getting back to wrestling after dealing with family issues last week) "I feel good. Cutting down the first couple of weeks was hard, but after that it wasn't too bad." (On what happened in the final seconds of the title match against Anamosa's Jason Bowers) "He just reversed me in the last couple of seconds, and that shouldn't have happened; when I made it to the wrestleback, I just wrestled as hard as I could. I wanted it." (On changing his strategy of trying to ride to one where he takes opponents down and cuts them loose) "I can taken anybody down when I want to (nods his head toward 160-pound teammate Landon Williams) Pinned him, he remembers (laughs). Seriously, I don't want to be getting on top too much. I need to get out as fast as I can and not just keep sitting there."

Nick Becker, Wilton, 130-pound champion

(Asked about his injury sustained at the Bob Lueders tournament in Clinton) "The doctors thought I had a chipped vertebrae. I had an MRI and a CAT scan and X-rays done and they finally cleared me. I feel fine. I was definitely ready to get back on the mat. I just did the best I could, I got my stuff working." (On feeling comfortable at 130) "I'm feeling a lot better than early on the season. I weigh 138 normally, and my body-fat didn't let me get down to 130 right away." (On working out every day with 135-pound champion Kyle Paulsen) "It's helped me a lot. I've improved a lot on my technique. I can tell, by watching my tapes, that I'm wrestling better." (On next week) "I have to keep wrestling my best, hopefully have the same performance level as today. Just go out and give it my all."

Mundo Cadena, Assumption, 130-pound runner-up

(On moving up from 125, where he'd wrestled most of the season) "They didn't really feel any stronger than most of the 25s. I felt better wrestlng 30. (Did he cut much to get to 125?) "I didn't have any cutting problems. I just wrestled at my weight. I've been eating in front of all the guys who've been cutting (laughs)." (On scoring early against Becker) "I felt pretty confidence I could take him down, but his tieup was pretty good. He really only did one move to take me down. I'm hoping it'll be a different match if I see him at districts."

Kyle Paulsen, Wilton, 135-pound champion

(On how he got back points in the finals against Anamosa's Ryan Dolan) "One was off a takedown, a sweep single where I kept going and got some cheap backpoints. Kept trying to do a ball-and-chain tilt, where you reach in between the legs and grab the wrist and pull him over the top. I just kept rolling. At the end of the second I kind of worked a snap half-nelson and got some back points there. Just stay basic and work the same moves. You can't change much now. It's too late for that. This time of year, you have to win to stay alive, so it didn't matter who I got (either Dolan or Assumption's Jeremy Felderman). I have to wrestle the same match." (On districts) "I know there's a kid from Waterloo Columbus (Taylor Hotek), who beat Dolan in overtime. I need some good matches that will go full-length, but I need to still look for pins and work for them anytime I can."

Nick Georgean, Assumption, 140-pound champion

"I just went out and wrestled, kept my head in it, I didn't think about anything else at all except for one match at a time and wrestling my match. It's all about experience at this point. It's all about the time and putting in the time in practice, creating situations, creating scrambles. Everything you see on the mat, we run through it in the room. Everything we see in competition, we do in practice. The room gets us ready for every possible match scenario. State's the ultimate goal: I've set it and I'm just going for it."

Kody Moehr, Northeast, 140-pound runner-up

"I've just been working very hard, and it's paying off. I didn't start the season how I wanted to, but this is when it counts." (On when things started clicking) "It was Christmas break, that's when the big turnaround. Since Christmas break, I've been winning a lot more, working a lot harder, and turning things around." (Was he surprised to pin his semifinal opponent so fast for his first match?) "We hadn't seen Anamosa, but I was just ready to wrestle. I got a takedown right away, like I wanted to, and it just kept going from there." (On what makes Georgean a tough opponent) "You can't give him a bad position, he's going to capitalize on that. I put myself in a bad position, but I'll come back next week ready to go." (On what's motivated him) "Last year I was wrestling a kid that became a state qualifier. I was beating him until the end of the second period. That motivated me to get out there, because I knew I could wrestle with those guys. So I set state as a goal."

Brody Grothus, Assumption, 145-pound champion

(On feeling bad that brother Bradley, at 189 pounds, didn't qualify for districts) "I love my little brother, he's got a big heart, but in those situations (Bradley appeared not quite with it after a head collision with Central DeWitt's Wes Maass and it may have contributed to him being pinned in the semifinals), you have to be willing to take injury time. That will come with more experience. He's still going to be a big part of our team at state duals, along with the other guys that didn't make it to districts." (On being taken down by Anamosa freshman Logan Hewitt in the finals match) "That's definitely a wakeup call. I snapped him right into my legs; if you do that, they'll make you pay for it. Next time, I'm not going to let him take me down." (On the team performance) "Ten isn't the 14 we wanted (to qualify for districts). Every single guy is a tough competitor, every one of them makes us better. We had some good days. We got off to a big start with Clint and Mundo, but as Jeremy (Felderman, at 135) and Riley (Andrew Riley, at 152) and my little brother fell, it takes a toll on the whole team." (On what Tuesday night means) "It's definitely the first chance for those four guys that didn't make it out. They'll have a chance for redemption."

Landon Williams, Assumption, 160-pound champion

"Coming in, I didn't think I had that much competition. The first kid, not pinning him made me a little mad, but I teched him, it was all good. I just have to keep wrestling the way I have been. I've pretty much beaten all the other so-called good kids, so if I wrestle like I should I should be in position to win (state)." (On being told that opponents' fans and coaches shout out things that his opponents should do against him) "I think it's hard to score on me. I don't give people much of a chance." (Would he just let them go before they could) "Yeah." (Can you wrestle better) "Yeah, probably, but I am wrestling super-good right now, especially on my feet."

Mitch Bielenberg, Northeast, 171-pound champion

(On feeling sick early Saturday) "I ate too much fast food, Hardee's chicken strips. I feel good now (laughs)." (On getting to this point) "Last year I wrestled about 15 pounds light as a 189-pounder, this year I've cut 15 to be a 171. I feel confident out there. I'm one of the bigger 71-pounders." (On using the cradle to score back points) "I just haven't really learned any other moves. That's a Northeast tradition (the cradle)." (On working with 189-pound champion Spencer Lueders) "We've just pushed each other so hard. I don't think anybody else works harder than me and him. We push each other, we try different moves." (On what making districts) "It means everything to me, but I have to keep going on, to be a state champion. It's just another step up the ladder. I'm trying to fill in with what (2009 Northeast graduate) Brian Hoffmann did last year. I want to be like him."

Spencer Lueders, Northeast, 189-pound champion

"I felt like, throughout the day, that I didn't wrestle to my potential. I was nervous. I had no reason to be. I'd beaten everyone in the bracket and yet I came in a little hesitant. I was feeling good about the wins; I had thought I'd pin my way through the tournament, but a win's a win, and just get ready for districts (agrees with idea that maybe not making it out last year played a role in the nervousness)." (On why the cradle, which got him three nearfall points against Central DeWitt's Wes Maass, works so well) "You have to stop their first move. Prevent them from getting a full stride but make them put their weight forward; once I get them there, they're a little bit in trouble." (On being hit for a stall point late) I know I was still shooting, still staying active. The last few matches, I've been giving those up. I was shooting singles but haven't been doing anything extra. If you want to win by stalling, you're not going to win every match." (On what's next) "Just go back to having fun and not being nervous. I'll work my butt off so I don't have to worry about my conditioning."

Sam Gervase, Assumption, 215-pound champion

(On whether he gets prepared for what's ahead from two first-period pins) "It's a step along the way. The real preparation comes in the room and in the practice you put in during the previous week. When we're working in the room, we're doing the work that prepares you for matches that we need to win." (On the challenge of facing fellow unbeaten James Morris of Solon, a Division I football signee at Iowa) "I think it's an opportunity that will make that much more prepared for state. I beat (Independence's Ryan) Fank 2-1, and he beat Fank 5-3 with a last-second takedown. I feel I have all the tools to pull off a victory. I just have to execute." (On the team performance and not getting everyone out to districts) "That's part of the postseason. You have to prepare for obstacles in order to overcome them. There's always room for growth. We'll have to make steps in the next week, both as individuals and as a team, to get ready for individual state and dual state at the end of February."

Tom McClimon, Central DeWitt, 215-pound runner-up

(On what he did since losing to Wilton's Sam Skelley in the first match of the year) "I'd been playing basketball, so this was my first year. I just progressed throughout the year. I really didn't know anything at the first part of the year, but my coaches have pushed me, and I was able to score more points (this time, in the wrestleback against Skelley)." (On what will need to happen next season) "We just have to keep working harder in practice. Our seniors were great, but we just all didn't get it done. We'll do it next year."

Tyler Swope, Assumption, 285-pound champion

(On whether he feels prepared based on two pins inside of a minute each) "Sometimes it's like that. You get in what you get in, if you get it in in 30 seconds, that's what you do. You have to do what you have to do to get mentally prepared." (On being happy to get to this point) "District for me means the next step, I don't know if I'll truly be happy unless I can get to state. Whether it's junior high or elsewhere, state is the ultimate. You want to be able to say `I participated in the Iowa state tournament.'" (On how next week will go) I"t's definitely just being smart with what I do and how I do it. Everybody has a tendency to slack off at this time, but I'm going to stay mentally prepared for every match."