Russ Witzig Quotations

Perez is the best in the area at that weight class. So we knew it was going to be a tough match. But Thomas had a great tournament.

Lowe is the real deal. He's ranked third in the state, I think, and hasn't really even been challenged in this area yet. There aren't many teams around here that has a guy that can compete with him.

I can't say enough about Brandon. He wrestled really well today, and all season long.

Kyle had a good tournament. He just ran into a really tough wrestler there, but he'll have a chance at the sectional.

I was glad the match started at 275 (heavyweight). Because that meant we could end with Zach and Brandon, and I liked our chances with those two.

We had 12 of our 14 wrestlers place in the top three. I told them before we started that it would take a championship effort from 14 guys, and we got that.

We felt as if we should have won it last year. This year, I don't think we were the favorite because we knew the kind of team CM had. They have some big guns in that lineup and I knew it would take a good effort from us and we got it from all 14 kids.

It would have been very tough to take Edwardsville down anyway. They are so strong we would have struggled winning the regional with Zach. But since we don't have him, I don't see any way we can win it. We're just going to focus on getting as many guys into the sectional as we can.

Brandon is having an outstanding season. He just goes out there every match and attacks his opponent.

Brandon is so confident in his abilities and that's what makes him so special. He was tired, both guys were, but he's so confident and I don't get too worried when he gets in a tight match because he finds a way.

Ryan just wrestled five really physical matches and was able to get ahead and get some big wins. He got some big pins against tough guys and got us some extra points. I thought that the dual with Mascoutah and CM would come down to pins and I think it did.

I'm really proud of Andy's efforts to finish third. He finished behind two of the top ranked guys in the state and he's giving up 50 pounds to just about everyone he wrestles because he's only 203 pounds.

I'm not real happy with it. We had a bad day yesterday with a couple kids I thought would get through not getting through. I really thought we could be a top-five team.

I really felt Brandon should have qualified for state a year ago. He just made a mistake and it cost him.

I didn't think we were the favorite at all. They finished ahead of us in the Granite City Tournament. I was hoping, but I didn't really know how it would turn out.

He's really on a roll right now and finally beat the Mascoutah kid (Kent Williams). They had some tight matches this season, but Kyle finally beat him.

It was a good win. They have some good kids, Wood River is back at double-A now and they are struggling with their enrollment a little bit. But they have some very good wrestlers in that lineup and they all came out and wrestled hard against us and didn't give us anything.

The four guys that made it have been the same four guys that have been consistent all year long. And they came through again today.

Edwardsville is head and shoulders above the rest of us. But after that, I think the field is balanced with us, Alton and CM. We all have really good guys in the lineup.

It's a rivalry for us because we hang out a lot. It doesn't mean as much for the kids as it does to us.

It's a win. We got two wins tonight and that's what we came for. Now we have to get ready Friday night for three more.

Those two were closer than I thought they would be, but those are two good wrestlers Alton has. They made us work for those wins at those classes.

Grant is a good wrestler and Steve had to work for that one. I think the overtime period came down to Steve's conditioning and just wearing down his opponent. When Steve is in a close match, I don't worry too much about him. Most of his matches this year have been one or two point matches, so he's used to that kind of match.

He already owns the career wins record with 123. I haven't had a chance to total things up yet, but by the time the season is over, I think he will own just about every record we have. He's got 28 pins this season and pinned all five of his matches on Saturday. He's got some pretty lofty goals about placing in state this year and if he keeps on the path he's on now, those are very reachable goals.