Steve Eckert Quotations

Ricky is the feel-good story of the year. You could tell he wasn't nervous and he went out there and really wanted to win.

He's a slow starter and it's been that way most of the season -- he gets better as the match goes on. I don't know what fired him up, but he got a second wind and it was over.

I'm happy for Alex, too. It was disappointing for him last year to get knocked out.

I was excited to get both those guys down there, but both of them when they came off the mat said that they were not ready to wrestle. I think the ambiance got to them, which can be the case when it's your first time down there.

That was a great match. Neither one of those two kids deserved to lose. That match was won and lost by a coin flip.

The sectional is always so tough. Only the strong survive. We did well. Nine of our 12 guys got wins and it was nine to see so many guys win a match.

Demetrios has been the guy all year. He's been the lead dog and the leader of the guys in the room. He deserved to be there.

I opened up the paper (last) Saturday morning and when I saw the (Proviso East) score I felt bad for the boys. Finishing 5-1 is a great thing and we haven't been that close in a while. But I just felt so bad for those kids.

I pointed to each kid before the match and challenged them. I told them either they were going to show they were contenders or pretenders. ... They proved they are contenders and did a nice job coming back.

It was a heck of a night -- pretty exciting. The score was not at all indicative of how good a match it was. We made it exciting for the people who came out to watch us.

The big thing for Alex was that he got a great draw. You always have to come to wrestle, but it always helps when you're on a good side of the bracket. Alex was the best wrestler on his side.