George Crooks Quotations

Central Crossing beat us last year and they beat Mount Vernon last week, so on paper it should be a really even match. Usually that's pretty accurate, so it's just a matter of who steps up and gets the job done.

Burt wrestled varsity full-time this season and made it to the district which is a very good achievement. It was great to see him progress and do well at the end of the year.

Based on the numbers we had, we got the most out of it. The kids gave us their best and sometime we just didn't have enough people in the spots to make it happen.

I think we're in a good spot. You want to get as many kids out of sectionals as you can.

Marysville is ranked in the state and they have seven state qualifiers back. That's going to be a tough one.

We have a good group of hard-working kids. Hopefully when the time comes, their weight will be scattered out like it was this year. With only 17 kids, we were very fortunate to be able to spread them out to make a team.

Travis came out harder than he's done before. He almost shot right off the whistle, which we thought might happen, but he didn't go for it. I got to know Travis fairly well and their coaches, and I have a lot of respect for their program. Those guys are outstanding, but it's just a pleasure to beat them. Certainly that's what we want to do.

What it comes down to now is the kids who want to move on need to step up and be a little tougher. Those who don't (step up) won't (advance).

Anthony might be wrestling a little too defensive. It might be time for him to step it up and start being more aggressive.

This isn't a surprise, but you don't want to take it for granted because a lot of things can happen. The competition was really steep. The wrestling was outstanding in almost every weight class. I feel very fortunate that they made it because that was their goal. They're both undefeated. ... We all would like to see them in the finals and be a state champion.

There will a lot of good competition from Division I and II schools.

There were some matches that we thought we should win that we ended up not winning. It made the difference. The guys wrestled hard. We just didn't win where we needed to win. It was a nice atmosphere.

I want to see the kids give it all they've got until it's over for them or they go on to the next round. That's all I want to see.

The nerves were there that he didn't realize could come in. You're trying to get a two-timer and that's easier said than done. The way he came out of that double-overtime match with a win -- that's tough to be on top and do that. I can't say enough good things about him.

You want to win an OCC match. On paper we should win.