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Monday MatChat: Tony Pescaglia
The weekly MatChat session is a season-long campaign in which various TigerStyle wrestlers and staff will stop by to answer whatever questions you throw at them! Now's your chance to learn more about how the team prepares for the NCAA Championships, what work goes on in the practice room and what the life of a student-athlete involves.
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Moderator: Welcome to Monday's MatChat with redshirt freshman Tony Pescaglia. Feel free to send in any questions! |
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| st.louis: do u think that this team is to inexperienced to win the national championship this year,good luck with the season |
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Tony Pescaglia: No. We've been training for this forever. Even though a lot of us are young we have older guys pushing us and teaching us. Ben's around teaching us and we have good captains. We're a good team and we're going to be good this year and in the future. |
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| Christopher (Naperville, IL): Do you think you can maintain the 125 pound weight over the next four years or do you think you will have to move up to 133. |
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Tony Pescaglia: I haven't really thought about it yet. I'm just taking it one year at a time. |
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| Luke Bader: I grew up in a family with 6 wrestling brothers. I know you have a family of wrestlers also. Growing up we had a lot of stitches, broken bones, holes in walls, and broken furniture. Do you have any good wrestling stories you want to share with us? It was fun watching you in high school and I look forward to following your successful college career!
Thanks,
Luke Bader |
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Tony Pescaglia: My senior year in wrestling we went to the Helias tournament and I don't remember what team it was against, but we had a competition to see who could pin their kid the fastest. I got like a 12 second pin, my brother K.C. got a nine second pin and my littlest brother got a seven second pin. So, I thought that was pretty funny. |
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| Tim (Columbia): Congrats on your first win. How much different is the college ranks from the high school ranks? Go Tigers! |
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Tony Pescaglia: It's definitely a lot more competitive. I think it means a lot more to be ranked in college than in high school because it's a lot bigger field. I hope to be ranked someday in the near future. You have to battle every day for the spot. That was a huge shocker for me coming into Missouri. |
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| Lynn (Columbia): Do you feel that there is added pressure on you to compete at Mizzou since you are a hometown boy. |
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Tony Pescaglia: I like the pressure. It makes me get up and keep going. I just feel like I have a lot of support in the community with my family being so close by. |
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| Bob (Mexico): Hey Tony! Good win the other night! So, what's it like having your brother on the team this year? Do you guys do a lot together outside of the wrestling room? |
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Tony Pescaglia: We live together so that's one thing we have in common. It's pretty cool to have your brother in the wrestling room. He's real tough and he's going to be real good. It's cool to grow up with him. It's kind of like high school all over again. We watch a lot of movies together. |
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| Matt (Logan): Good luck this year Tony! Question, what made you decide on Missouri? |
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Tony Pescaglia: I grew up here. It's my hometown and my family is here. Missouri's real tough so it was a perfect fit. |
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| Mark, Truman: So, what's coach smith like in the wrestling room? I've heard a lot of good things about him, and obviously he's getting good results. What's he like? |
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Tony Pescaglia: He really tries to get involved in our physical and mental game. I can see that he really wants us to be national champions just as badly as we want it. I like that he asks our captains what there opinions are on things. It shows that he really trusts us. It's great to have your coach trust you. |
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| Jo (columbia): What are the greatest obstacles you have had to face to become a starter at a top ranked program. |
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Tony Pescaglia: Last year my injuries got in the way. I made it a goal of mine to get strong enough to be injury free...hopefully. We have grueling practices so you have to be in the best shape at every practice. |
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| John Hall: How tough is it traveling to the east coast and fighting in two states in two days? Would you rather fight the toughest team the first night or the second night? |
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Tony Pescaglia: I'd say the biggest battle was keeping your weight down. I definitely think wrestling the tougher guy in the second night was better even though I lost. It helped calm my nerves. It was a big crowd at Hofstra so it was hard to calm my nerves. But, I hope to get the hang of it very shortly. |
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| Mike (Columbia): Do you find it challenging to be a good student and athlete? How do you accomplish this in your life. |
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Tony Pescaglia: It's pretty difficult, but you are a student-athlete so you have to keep your grades up. You make time for it. That's why Coach Smith sat us down at the start of the year. He said we had a choice. You could be two of three things, a student, an athlete or have a social life. I chose to be a student and an athlete. You still have time for fun, but it definitely takes up a lot more time. Plus, being an athlete you get tutors and mentors so that really helps out as well. |
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| Geddes (Columbia): How supportive were your parents in your wrestling career? |
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Tony Pescaglia: Well, let me just say this. My Dad flew all the way from Missouri to watch me in New York and whenever I had my match my Mom was on the phone with my Dad getting play-by-play. I can honestly say I wouldn't be the person I am today without the support of my family. |
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| Cindy (Pekin): How do you mentally prepare for a match? Do you wrestle your brother and take him down?! |
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Tony Pescaglia: Well, I put on my headphones and get away from it all. I get into my zone. I think what that other guy has to be thinking when he steps on the mat with me. I pump myself up to be the greatest of all time before walking out on the mat.
Me and my brother wrestle a lot...and that will stay between us. |
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Tony Pescaglia: Thanks for asking me all of the questions. Now, let's go out there and support the Tigers! |
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Moderator: Be sure to come out and support the Tigers this Sunday, Nov. 18, in the eighth annual Missouri Open in the Hearnes Fieldhouse. |
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Moderator: We'll have another MatChat for you next week...same time, same place! Check back to mutigers.com for more information on who our next guest will be! |
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