He's a good kid with a good head on his shoulders. He works hard every day in practice. He's a two-year captain. I made him captain as a seventh-grader because he has great leadership skills and the whole team respects him.

He's always been a good wrestler, but I think he matured a lot more as a wrestler this year. A lot of times last year he tried to do fancy things and was on his back a lot more times last year. This year he was a lot more dominant and in better control.

Last year, I think he relied a little bit too much on strength. This year his technique was better. He's really smooth. I didn't see him get in too much trouble. His ability is about that of a junior in high school.

Desi never missed a practice or a game. And when players were held over in practice for extra drills, Desi stayed and did the drills with them.

He comes to practice with a big old lunch pail and sweats on.

The first practice is always exciting and we're all pumped and ready to get in the swing of things. We'll use the preseason practices to help us come together as a team and gain some team chemistry going into the first series of the year against San Diego.