Shane Valdez Quotes (15 Quotes)

Kyle has been great to have on the team the last four years. He carries a 4.4 grade point average and I love the fact we have a kid who shows you can be an athlete and you can be a scholar at the same time. He does it in both realms.

The week before league he asked if he could wrestle at 173 pounds and go varsity, and here he is going to the section tournament now. He's wrestling light. He only weighed in at 166, 167 ... but he looked awesome today.

We were definitely happy. It's always good to come home with two medalists, so we're proud of them. They've put in a lot of work the last five years, and it's paid off.

I know Zach has been coughing, but the thing is, you've got to wrestle the way you are. Nobody cares about excuses this time of year. You just have to get it done, and I don't think Zach let that bring him down. He was ready for that match.

This is a good tournament, especially for our younger kids. We should have a lot of qualifiers.

Luke is extremely hard to score on. He's got good solid takedowns, he's solid on top and he's very hard to take down.

I think that's the first time since I've been here that we had everyone qualify.

I still think if they were to wrestle 10 times, they'd each win five times. Welch just happened to win this one. They're so even. I think you're going to see them battling each other in freestyle, and even in college, for a while.

Our goal is always to make it to state. Winning here is a nice bonus, but you could finish sixth here and still win state.

This was huge for Luke - especially for his confidence. He's worked so hard. It's huge to go into the state tournament with the confidence that he's the best wrestler in the state.

It was a good tournament, especially for some of the guys like Zach and Shane. This is the first year for them to try and break out and become solid varsity wrestlers.

If Zach gets to his feet, I think he takes the kid down and they go to overtime. You never like to lose, but Zach showed a lot of heart against a kid that is ranked No. 2 in the state and he learned a lot. Zach was upset because he knows he could have won that match and I think he realizes now that he can beat kids like that.

They are great kids who have worked very, very hard. They are examples of what we try to preach as coaches, that if you set some goals, set your mind to it and work hard, you can accomplish anything.

Not too many kids in California get to be up on that victory stand.

I thought Luke wrestled great. Lucas is solid and Luke pretty much handled him. He's right where we want him to be going into state - healthy, confident and feeling strong.