Nov. 7, 2008

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - With nationally-ranked seniors Justin Dobies and Keegan Mueller leading the way, the Carolina wrestling team will open the 2008-09 season Saturday in Raleigh at the NC State Open. TarHeelBlue.com caught up with sixth-year head coach C.D. Mock on the eve of the season opener.

TarHeelBlue.com: How did preseason workouts go and was there anything that stood out?
C.D. Mock: We changed a lot. That's what coaches look to do. If something doesn't seem to be working, you look to change it. We made a lot of changes this year. We really intensified our workouts and increased them. For the most part, we have been training twice a day, four days a week, pretty much since they got here for school. The practices are short, and it's not twice a day in the wrestling room. We've doing things like 7 a.m. in the weight room and 9 p.m. running.

Right now I'm very pleased and so are the guys on the team. We're in better shape that we've ever been at this time of the year. The thing is making sure they don't burn out.

We're doing things differently and we've got a group that allows us to do things differently. They're ticked off and they want to win. We're getting no respect. The rankings just came out and we're not mentioned - it's beautiful.

THB.com: Did not finishing as strongly at ACC and NCAAs over the last couple of years prompt these changes?
Mock: It's a combination of things. That is a big part of it. That motivates the decisions we make because it's not how you start, it's how you finish. But it's not like we've never finished well. We're not throwing the formula completely out. We're keeping the things that we think work.

But there are other factors that come into play. If you are getting up at seven in the morning, you are probably going to bed early the night before. We want to motivate them to go to bed early. That all comes into play. I wasn't sure how it was going to fly with the guys on the team, but they love it.

THB.com: What do leaders like Justin Dobies and Keegan Mueller do for your team? It seems like they are almost an extension of the coaching staff.
Mock: The leadership is huge. It's something we really haven't had. Your leaders need to be credible and it's not so much about being vocal but being credible and being respected. This is the first year that I've been coaching that we have the type of leadership that is credible. It's an extension of us. I don't have to say much and if I do say anything, it is done very quickly and the leaders can carry it through to the team.

To have good leaders you have to have good followers. It's just a good solid group. The younger guys that we have brought in over the last couple of years are going to be great leaders because they are great followers. They're working very, very hard. They respect our leaders; they do what they're told. They've done everything we've asked them to do. All of that is part of the chemistry that makes this one of the most exciting teams I've been a part of.

THB.com: Who are some wrestlers that might make a jump from last year to this season?
Mock: Mike Robinson at 125 got a taste last year. He redshirted and won a couple of tournaments. He's injured right now, but we're expecting Mike to step it up this year.

Jared Royer will be back. He's had a lot of injuries and has been out the last two years. The last time he competed he was an ACC champion. He's going to see some time at 133, and we're expecting a lot from him.

Both Kyle Kiss and Nick Tenpenny are probably going to redshirt. The last time Ben Fiacco wrestled, he was a 157-pounder. Ben came to me in the middle of last year and said he just couldn't keep the weight down. I didn't even realize he was struggling because Ben does it right but it was really starting to get to him. Ben's going to be our 174-pounder this year. He bumped up two weight classes and he's cutting weight to get there.

We're got a lot of guys that you haven't seen for awhile that will be back.

THB.com: Who are some newcomers to look out for?
Mock: Nick Shields at 125 is going to a force to be reckoned with. We'll see more this weekend, but he's been outstanding in the wrestling room. He's just a great kid all the way around. He's going to give people fits at 125 and he's just going to get better and better because he works his tail off.

Ziad Haddad, the highly-touted heavyweight that we got, will redshirt behind Dobies this year. He'll be pushing Dobies and is getting better and better. The other guys we got are all just solid, solid guys. We have a lot of depth, but I don't know who will get in the lineup. We'll know a lot after this weekend.

THB.com: What does your new assistant coach, Jack Jensen, bring to the staff?
Mock: Practically, he brings a heavyweight coach. With Alex Maciag, Dennis Drury and Justin Dobies, it would be a good idea for us to have a heavyweight coach. That's where a lot of our talent is.

What Jack brings from my standpoint is enthusiasm and his experience of being a part of a national championship team and wrestling national champions on Oklahoma State's team every day. The fact that he can walk in our room and tell our guys that nothing different is going on here and that you can compete with those guys is huge. I can tell them that until I'm blue in the face but I didn't just come from Oklahoma State. In our sport that is absolutely huge.

Jack wrestled with Oklahoma State's heavyweight (Jared Rosholt) everyday. He's ranked No. 1 in the country. The second day here after wrestling Dobies, Jack came over to me and said, `Dobies can beat him. I don't know where he's been, but Dobies is every bit as good as Rosholt.' That's huge.

THB.com: What do you hope to get out of the early season events?
Mock: Things have changed. It used to be for me all practice and it still is to some extent. I'm raring to go. I'm so tired of practicing and I can't imagine how the guys are feeling. We're real excited for this weekend, mainly from a coaches' standpoint so we can see what type of mistakes we are making. You can't what a guy does in the wrestling room and try to fix mistakes. You've got to see them in competition. In that respect, this weekend is hugely important for us to be able to find out what are we doing wrong and what do we need to fix with each guy.

Having said that, you tell the guys to go out and cut loose, don't worry about it, it's not a big deal. This is not ACCs trying to qualify for nationals. However, with the new qualifier system to get to nationals, things have changed radically. Now, these matches are important. You cannot go out and consistently lose to good people, mess up at ACCs and expect to get a bid to nationals. To get a bid to nationals, it is important to beat some good people early in the year. That's one of the reasons why our schedule is one of the toughest in the country.

THB.com: How important is it for your program to host an event like the ACC/Big Ten Clash?
Mock: It's awesome. This has blossomed into a phenomenal event. Minnesota has already contacted us and told us they want to be here next year. My assistant, A.J. Grant, sets this up and runs it.

Eddie Smith Field House is a phenomenal facility for this event. We want to keep it there. We have a country breakfast and a pig pickin' and we have teams from Illinois, Michigan State and Wisconsin coming down - it's freezing up there - and they love it. It's really a great event and we could add a fourth team for next year.

As far as the teams, the Big Ten is the toughest conference. To be able to get them to spend the money to come down here and wrestle, it's not only great for Carolina, it's great for the ACC. It's super for the state of North Carolina. I think it will packed with high school kids that don't ever get to see these other teams wrestle. These are the best teams in the country right now and to be able to see these guys wrestle is great for our state.

I'm very excited about the event. Milwaukee Tools is going to be sponsoring the event along with a couple of others. It's a great event and huge for our program.

THB.com: What can be expected out of the ACC this season?
Mock: The ACC has grown immensely in credibility in wrestling over the last couple of years. I believe that by the end of the season this year it will be evident that the Atlantic Coast Conference is the third best wrestling conference in the nation. I think it will be crystal clear. We are beginning to rival the Big 12 in our ability, in terms of our talent. There are right now two teams ranked in the top 25.

There is a very, very good chance that there will be three teams in the top 20 at nationals from the ACC this year. That's huge.

In the past, there have been ACC teams - Carolina, NC State - with three or four really tough individuals on their team. If you have two or three guys place or win at nationals, it's easy to move up the standings. But what we have now are two or three great individuals on each team but in addition we have dual meet teams that are going to be able to go out and compete against other top-10. It's solid right across the board. You're talking about five or six outstanding wrestlers on these teams and that is a result of these programs all investing huge in wrestling - new facilities, new coaches. Straight across the board, they've made an investment in wrestling. It has propelled the ACC and is largely why we're stepping up and building a new facility as well.

THB.com: How beneficial will your new facility be?
Mock: We're wrestling in the same room that I wrestled in when I was here. I'm not going to go into my age but we're talking 20-25 years. We're not looking to have a pretty room. We're going to, it's going to be beautiful. Our problem has been space. We have to split practice because we can't put everybody out on the mat at the same time.

We will have the best wrestling room, the nicest wrestling room, the most practical - from a practice standpoint - in the ACC. That's what Carolina is about, being the best in the ACC first and foremost.