There are some real good eighth-graders coming up. We return almost a full squad with state championship experience, and when they graduate, the ones replacing them will be tougher than your average sophomore.

If you're a state champ at this level, you keep wrestling the same guys all the way up. So if you just stay where you are (placement wise), you're a state champ, but you always want to improve.

We're real excited about sending 11 to state. We also got a big boost from our junior varsity wrestlers, which is what you need to win a district championship.

They know they need to wrestle their next opponent, and only worry about that one. There's no sense in looking ahead, because if you do that, you might not be there.

It's big any time a freshman wins a match against someone like that.

It's great to see kids come into this rivalry match and get after it. To win a match in the conference is a big deal; to win one on the road is a bigger deal. To win one here, well, it's huge.

We're second-best in the state as a dual team, but we're ranked fifth as a tournament-style team. I think that's about right, but we'll see what we can do this weekend.