Derek Moore (Photo/John Sachs)Congratulations on your season thus far. A lot of people are saying that with your big win over Nathan Morgan and him beating Andy Simmons (of Michigan State), that, depending on what happens at the NWCA All-Star Classic, you should be ranked No. 1. Do you care about rankings at all? Do you even look at them?
Moore: Everybody definitely looks at them. A lot of people say they don't care about the rankings. It's not that I care about them, but it's always nice for fan support, family and everyone to see you're ranked. But in terms of how I prepare or how I'm going to wrestle, it doesn't really have any effect on me.
You've had some disappointing NCAA tournaments. You were having a great season last year. You won the Pac-10's, but then got injured in the second round of the NCAA's. What happened?
Moore: I took him down in, like, the first eight seconds. I was kind of letting him go and he turned and dove into my knee. And it was kind of a weird angle and it caught the ACL.
It has to hurt not being an All American three years in a row, especially last year when you were looking so strong.
Moore: It was very frustrating. Very frustrating. We'd never gone to that tournament with ranked wrestlers before. We had me. We also had Ken Cook. We were looking for an All-American or even higher.
How do you think you would have done if you were healthy?
Moore: That guy (Brandon Rader of West Virginia) ended up taking sixth place and he went close with Nate Gallick, who ended up winning it, so there's a lot of what ifs, but I know I would have wrestled my heart out and had a chance of placing high.
Looking at the immediate future, what are you expectations for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational? There's going to be some tough people there. What do you have to do to win it?
Moore: I got to bring it hard. I've got to work on my offense for sure. You saw that last match (against Iowa State's Mitch Mueller). I feel I can dominate on top. I feel no one in the nation get away from me. I feel as long as I can get at least one takedown, I'll come out on top.
Derek Moore (Photo/John Sachs)Moore: That's been in the back of my head ever since that match. I stopped wrestling. I started going defensive. I had all my offense going in the first two periods and then I stopped wrestling. And ever since then I've just thought about that third period. It's definitely been on my mind. I won't let that happen again.
Based on your style, at a tournament like this, how much do you think having no riding time here affects you? (The Fullerton Open doesn't keep riding time).
Moore: It definitely affects me a lot. People chose top or bottom depending on riding time. That's an extra point or a loss of a point. So I think it's a big factor. As well as having a two minute first period (instead of a three-minute first period).
It seems that because of your height, a lot of people are able to get in on your legs, but not a lot of people finish on you. Are you comfortable from that position?
Moore: I'm very comfortable defensively on shots. I actually enjoy people being in on my legs. I have no problems scoring or being offensive from a defensive position. A lot of my points come that way or from scrambles.
In high school, you placed twice in the California state tournament. Since you started competing in college, you've beaten a lot of people with more high school credentials than you, even a lot of California wrestlers who were more decorated than you in high school. To what do you attribute your progression as a wrestler in college?
Moore: I believe it's the coaching. In high school, I feel like I could only be taken to a certain level -- the Northern California section area level. I tried to get out as much as I could during the summer for freestyle and stuff like that to get a more broad coaching experience. But still, I think I could only be at a certain level. But once I stepped into college, I had Mark Munoz, Lenny Zalesky, and the different coaches that we have, who just bought my repertoire of moves and technique up so much.
What was the reason that you chose Cal Davis? Based on your credentials out of high school, I have to think that there were other in-state wrestlers who were ahead of you in terms of recruiting -- whom you've subsequently beaten since.
Moore: Exactly. Actually I didn't get any scholarship money my freshman year. I was kind of a walk on, kind of a recruit, but after my first year where I did so well at nationals, I got money. But there were other schools looking at me out of high school. Brown, West Point, but they just didn't really do it for me. I didn't really like it there. Davis was close to home. A good school to go to. And I knew a couple of guys on the team already.
I was reading that you are the first person in your family to go to college, is that correct? (Editor's Note: Moore is a biochemistry and molecular biology major)
Moore: Yeah.
Derek Moore (Photo/John Sachs)Moore: Yeah, they would have loved being here today, but they'll be at all my matches and Reno and Vegas and they'll come to Nationals. But it's been really nice being close to home and all my family support has been great.
What do you think about this tournament's (Fullerton Open) growth? Iowa State is here this year. It's a lot different from when you were a freshman.
Moore: It's great to see this tournament get to where it is because there's a lot of great high school wrestlers who wind up leaving California because of lack of opportunity.
What do you think you have to do to be the national champion this year? First, second and third place graduated, so it's a pretty clean slate.
Moore: 141 is definitely an open weight class. There are a lot of guys who want it. Whoever steps up and decides to wrestle their tournament of the year at nationals will win. I just got to keep working hard and keep my eye on the goal.
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