It really started us off on the right foot. If he had a shaky match, that could have made it real difficult.

Things are kind of right where I expected them to be. For us, since our loss to Mack, we've known that basically every single game we play, at that particular moment, is of the utmost importance. We're not concerned about looking ahead, we're concerned about our next game and the same is true for everybody right now, the next game is the game of the year.

He's been in such a loaded weight class his whole life, and he's always been the underdog, always been overlooked, and yet he comes away with title after title. With the quality of wrestlers, it's probably the toughest weight class at the national championship and (the toughest to) walk away with two national titles. He has to be categorized as one of the best of all time.

We hoped to get him through the tournament, but it just wasn't meant to be. That's unfortunate for him because he's a great wrestler, a great representative for the school, but for him not to be able to train and work out, it's difficult.

We obviously wanted him pretty badly. We went after him hard and offered him a good scholarship. Anytime we're able to land a top kid, it's a great day. But that's just one step in the process. It's a long way from a national title.

As far as the travel and the crowd and things like that, it's always nice to be home.