Airport is the team that probably would give us the most trouble. The wrestlers they have in the rankings don't really do them justice. They've got some tough kids. |
Collectively, that's what you're shooting for. That's pretty close to as good as we could possibly wrestle as a team. I've been coaching a long time, and this is as proud as I've ever been of a team. |
He refuses to let life get the best of him. He refuses to be overcome. He's the one who does the overcoming. |
It's so nice to see them believing in themselves. I've been telling them no one else has to believe in them, just as long as they believe in themselves. |
The only thing we didn't do was stick to the same way of wrestling. If you were here both nights, you saw the difference. |
The way I look at it, I expect him to repeat as state champion, I'll put it that way because I think he earned the state title. I have no doubt he'll do it again, but this time he'll have the gold medal to show for it. |
There is no comfort words can provide in a situation like that. The truest comfort I could give was simply holding him in my arms, and letting him lay his head on my shoulder and crying with him. That's all I could do. |
Tonight was a tune-up to get ready to go for the playoffs. We came out tonight just to make sure we were crisp and sharp as a playoff team. |
Unfortunately for Chris, he didn't have many avenues available to him. But fortunately for him, his dedication, and his perseverance and his work ethic have opened up a big door of opportunity for him as far as the rest of his life is concerned. |
We can't dwell on all of this. We've got to move forward. It's time to focus on those guys that are committed to making their dreams come true. |
We fully knew coming in that they were going to be a developmental program, but that's the kind of thing we like to see. I want to see wrestling gain popularity all over this area, not just at my school. |
We got to see how a lot of things shake out against a lot of the teams that we're going to see and have to face up in the Lower State tournament and state tournament. |
We have sort of a deeper bond that you really don't want people to share. Because in order for us to share that bond, we have to share a lot of the same misfortunes, a lot of the same walls of adversity we've had to climb. We've been forced to deal with a little more reality than any kid at that age should have to deal with. |