Conversation with Pat Jauch

Milton coach Pat Jauch joins the show to talk about the Milton Girls' Team State Championship journey this past season!

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:07

Welcome to the Wisconsin Wrestler Podcast with your co-host Teak Fenwick and Steve Lurkwick.

SPEAKER_02 0:16

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to another edition of the Wisconsin Wrestler Podcast. I'm your host, Teak Fenwick, coming to you live. Not live, but you know, we're here coming to you from Holden. And joining me, as always, from Koshkinong, my co-host, Steve Lurquin. Steve, great to be here.

SPEAKER_03 0:37

Pumped to be here, Teague. It has been a little while, but excited for our guest. Excited. Talk some wrestling.

SPEAKER_02 0:44

I I know. I we got on, and I know it was only two weeks for me, but it's been a minute for you because Melissa was our last co-host. So yeah, she was.

SPEAKER_03 0:53

And by the way, when you said great to be here, did she say pumped to be here or did she have a different uh no?

SPEAKER_02 0:59

Because I said I accidentally said pumped to be here in your spirit. So gotcha. Gotcha. All right. I didn't want to put too much pressure on her right away. Yeah, that's good. Yeah. First podcast.

SPEAKER_03 1:09

You don't want to do that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_02 1:10

Speaking of pressure. Steve, I'm a little surprised that you didn't just invite this fella over and you guys could have podcast him from the same room because I'm guessing it's probably a 15-minute drive between you two. Less. Less.

SPEAKER_03 1:26

It is less of a drive. I'm going to go with I'm going to go with the uh under on 8.5 minutes.

SPEAKER_02 1:33

Because we are talking some Milton Girls Wrestling tonight. They won their second official uh WIA team state title this year. And uh I'm gonna talk about that. Now I'm a recurring guest, Mr. Pat Yauk. Pat, glad to have you on.

SPEAKER_00 1:51

It's great to be back. Thank you. It's awesome to be here.

SPEAKER_02 1:55

Pat, were you more excited to win a second Team State title or to become a recurring guest on the Wisconsin Wrestler Podcast?

SPEAKER_00 2:05

I love podcasts, especially this one. So I'm gonna have to be in a recurring guest. Gotta be doing something right. Yeah. Multiple times, you gotta be doing something right. So that's I'm honored. I'm just gonna say that.

SPEAKER_02 2:19

Well, I'm excited. I mean, we uh we were all on at like 6.05 and now it's 618. So I don't think we're gonna have any shortage of conversation here tonight. I think we are gonna do just fine in that avenue. I do want to apologize to you, Pat and the Milton wrestling community, and that we didn't have you on the show last year. And I'm gonna I don't know if it's because girls state was like the week of individual state, but I I just blinked on it, and that was because see, we were talking about it in March. We're like, okay, we got the three, like, oh, let's get Pat on this year. So apologies, Pat. I'm glad we got you on this year.

SPEAKER_00 2:56

Yeah, no offense taken. I appreciate the invite this year. No offense taken at all. It's not I I'll I'll come on anytime. I will never uh I'll never feel slighted by you guys. So thanks a lot.

SPEAKER_02 3:09

Well, Pat, we are gonna be talking a lot of girls wrestling tonight, but we have to start since this is your first time on the show in the offseason. You get to do the honor of uh telling the wrestling community your wrestling story. So however long we want that to be, we can rock it out. But the one rule is we start from day one and go from there. So the floor is yours.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 3:32

I I uh of all the I probably of all the people that that coach wrestling, I'm probably the the I probably have the the least amount of wrestling credentials in terms of like uh my my own um success. Uh but day one, I was pretty much wrestling for my life because I have an older brother. So um he's about 16 months older than me. He actually coached with me this year for the first time. He retired from the police force, and uh he was a super good athlete um and was kind of like uh we have very different personalities. So he is he was as a kid boundless energy and um needed somebody to take it out on, and and it was me. So um I learned from a young age how to fight for my life, to say the least. Um, my first wrestling matches were with him, and and I I uh um I there's one thing I can say is I can take a punch, I can I can take a kick, I can get choked out, and I come back fine. So like I know all of those things. Having an older brother really shaped me um into uh being able to like kind of roll with the punches in life, is what I would say. Um, but uh so that'd be my first wrestling experience was with him. Um, as I grew up, uh, other than wrestling in the in the home when I was really little, like, of course we didn't have the same type of like extensive um the kids' club, like all these clubs like like there used to be. Um, but my I have two two half brothers that wrestled at Dakota in Illinois, and we lived with them for a brief amount of time, and uh they were tough. I mean, they were good. And that that's when uh the like um uh the the Albers were wrestling. If you if you know anything about the they know the Dakota wrestling program in northwestern Illinois, um super tough wrestling program over the years, and uh the two guys that really built that place up into a tough, tough, tough wrestling um town in in the more modern era, um Pete and Tony Albert, they were friends with my half-brothers, and we were just little kids going to those meets in that Dakota gym. And I remember just thinking, um, I'd like to be a wrestler someday. Like I just remember we had we had a wrestling mat in the basement, and um and and my my older brothers were were super tough. So um my my my my brother, my my my my brother that coached me this year, and my brother is 16 months older than me. He would we would wrestle in that basement all the time. I mean, I can remember specifically being thrown into a dollhouse and coming up bloody and running up screaming and all that stuff. So that's the beginning of it. And I did a little little youth wrestling. We had a little youth club in Milton. I I ended up in Milton, I ended up in Milton. So um Dan Burnett ran a little youth club there, um, struggled a lot in in like as a little kid and in middle school, was like sub 500, then I'd get to be 500 and like as an eighth grader. Um struggled a lot as a freshman in high school, was like kind of like one of those little underdeveloped, um, kind of like as as wide as I was tall kids, you know, as a as a as a ninth grader. Um, but I loved wrestling. Like I just loved it. I like I loved being around it. Like uh I was one of those kids that like when when when I was a freshman on JV, I would I didn't want to leave, you know. I would just like I just asked if I could stay. Like, can I just stay and and keep going to practice and I'll be a manager for the rest of the year. And I just watched, you know, and I listened. And that those were like I didn't realize at the time, but I think as a coach, those types of things really for you form you because you're you're not really like needing to be in it. You just are listening and you're paying attention and you're trying, how am I gonna be able to be like these guys, you know? Um, and uh a little bit more success. I mean, I when I I may end up being a varsity wrestler from my my sophomore through my senior year, won more than I lost, was a sectional qualifier type of kid. Um, would have loved to wrestle in college, but I went to UW Madison and I just wasn't mentally tough enough at that point or physically tough enough to just get beat up all the time. I probably would have just got my head ripped off. And yeah, I was friends with guys that were on the team and I was kind of jealous of them, and I always had this like ache to wrestle. You know, I probably should have gone somewhere else and wrestled. Um, but then uh lo and behold, I ended up meeting Luc Francois when I had my first teaching job in Waterford, and he asked me to coach, and it was like a dream come true, and the kind of the rest is history. That was 1996. Um, sitting in a in a uh in a staff meeting, like the first staff meeting I was ever at. This guy comes up to me. I knew who he was because I had scoped it out. I was like praying he would ask me to help him out or like whatever. I never met him, but I was hoping he would talk to me. And he was like the first guy to sit down and be like, Hey, I heard you had a wrestling background, you want to coach with me? And I that's how that's basically how I got into it. And uh, and I think I told you guys before too. Like basically the short story is without the college wrestling experience that I that I really wanted as a coach, I just started working camps, and I just worked camps religiously, and and their camps were huge back then too. It wasn't the club wrestling as much where you hook up the club. I was traveling, I was going all over the place. Ken Shirto was a big influence too, because he hired me and I would travel, I'd be in Pennsylvania and Chicago and all these different places. I'd do weekend camps for him, and I met tons of guys, um, really, really good wrestlers, that would uh basically use me as a dummy and beat the crap out of me um in front of kids. And man, that's that's how I learned to really wrestle. And uh it was it was those that that that um experience was invaluable. So that's my that's my shoe.

SPEAKER_03 9:30

Not just wrestle, but how to coach like all those coaches that you interacted with picking their minds, that's that's huge.

SPEAKER_00 9:36

Yeah, it was a 2 a.m. meeting like um 2 a.m. Uh you're still on the mat at these wrestling camps, and guys are talking about technique and you're still wrestling, like you got to get up at seven, but you're up, you're up at midnight, one, two, and you were still on the mats. Um, and and guys are are just talking about different techniques. Um, and then you know, you you if you can get a if you could get coaches, some guys don't give you the time of day, but most wrestling people do. Most wrestling people, if they know you're passionate, that was one of the cool parts about it, too. Is they'd sit there and they'd say, Hey, come up to my room, I got some video. Let me show you this stuff that I've been working on with my team. I mean, all of these, these really high-level people, like former world team members and head coach college coaches, and all these guys um that were really willing to be um speak into the life of a young coach. That was that was huge for me. So um, you know, like it's a shout out to the wrestling community being so awesome because it really is an awesome community.

SPEAKER_02 10:38

Two things from your high school youth days. I just want everyone to know uh I have qualified for regionals more time than Pat Yauk. Everybody's nice, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:49

Congratulations. That's good.

SPEAKER_02 10:50

Write that down. Um you said Dan Purnat. Do you know if he's any relation to the Purnot B-Sticks Empire?

SPEAKER_00 10:59

I don't think so because it's Purnett.

SPEAKER_02 11:01

Purnett.

SPEAKER_00 11:02

So it's yep, yep. Dan Purnett was my first high school wrestling coach, um, head wrestling coach, and then Bob Johnson was my, he took over halfway through my my high school career. So two two like legendary coaches, too, which that obviously doesn't hurt either. You're part of a tough program. Um, you know, my first wrestling coach was a NCA runner-up, and and uh, and and of course, Bob Johnson is the is the is the team builder of all team builders, if I've ever known anybody who refuses to lose because winning is like the only thing. Those were two great mentors to have. And you didn't even realize at the time, you you know, but it but but the more you look back, you see all those influences, you know, including my middle school coach, Les D Lo, who just loved kids and was like a he was a army veteran, and he would he he was physically trained us so hard as a as a as as middle schoolers, and I was not strong, you know, I was not I was not physically capable of a lot of things, um, but he helped you believe you could do certain things because he made you do it, like you didn't have a choice, so so then all of a sudden you're like, I think I can do some of these hard things, and that's that's really important for a young man, but also obviously we're talking about girls wrestling for a young woman as well.

SPEAKER_02 12:25

Yeah, so Pat, you started coaching, you graduated in '96, you got coaching not long after that. But uh yeah, going into girls' wrestling too. How was that as a coach? Because you're the girls wrestling coach and the boys' wrestling coach. Yeah, how'd you find that balance while you uh while girls wrestling started to you know become a thing? And uh yeah, just how'd you get into that? Because there's plenty of coaches still that are they're they're fighting that battle on both fronts right now.

SPEAKER_00 12:55

Yeah, yeah. Um, and and uh I I we this this is the other thing that's kind of kind of cool. I always tell people, like, I've always had girls. There's always been girls around that that um that I've been able to coach. Maybe not at every single team I was uh I was with, but even at Waterford, those those first couple years, I coached her for two two seasons, 96 through 98. And um we had girls, we had a couple girls on the team. Like I always remember them too. Um, and really from the beginning, I didn't coach them any differently than anybody else. Um, two girls from Waterford, I specifically remember Nova Caso and Marie Seymours. I had really good relationships with those two girls, super tough kids. Um, Nova Caso one day. This and this was this is probably formative in terms of like coaching girls wrestling. Um, Nova Caso. We in Waterford we used to have this old wrestling room where we had an upper level and then this lower level where we where I'd take some JV kids down there to work on stuff, maybe at a little slower pace, or maybe we just needed to break up the room a little bit. So with our weight room, and she's wrestling around and she smashes her face right right on the on the floor, the weight room floor, knocks her two front teeth out and spits them out into her into her hand, hands them to me, and she's like, Can you hang on to these? And goes back, starts wrestling, just starts, just jumps right back in, starts wrestling. This kid. Oh my gosh. I'm sitting here holding this girl's teeth in my hand, and I was like, Well, I should probably put these in some milk, something. I mean, I got literally went to the lunchroom and and got some milk to put them in so she could maybe get them back, like maybe they could put them back. And I just heard it somewhere that that's what you should do. Uh didn't work. She showed up the next day with her team. Sorry, Nova. If you're oh no, maybe Nova, listen to this. Maybe she won't. She's one of the toughest kids I ever had. I mean we we she would she would save us team points. She'd jump in on varsity sometimes, just couldn't wouldn't almost impossible to pin, you know, she's super flexible, lightweight. Um by the end of the time, by the time end of the the year coaching her, I remember her. We were, I think we're at a tournament in Fort and she tech falled the kid. And I remember like being conflicted, watching her beat this kid down, like abuse this kid, and um just being like, I think I just ruined this kid's whole life, you know, because he just got mauled by this girl. Yeah, and back then, right now, yeah, like totally different era in the like mid to late 90s where it wasn't that wasn't just that was we that wasn't just cool, you know. Um you know, Marie Seamers was was another kid too too at Waterford. She was just super tough. I knew her brothers, they were awesome, and um like I just loved that kid. She was so she worked so hard. Um, and uh yeah, just it's so so I had her, I've had girls at Milton too before that. A girl named Tiffany Torno spent the whole year wrestling, she was super tough too. Um, and then we had uh, and let me know if I'm going off too much, like if I'm if you need to bring like cut me off if I'm going to to saying too much. Um, but uh I can't remember exactly what year it was. It might have been 2018-ish, somewhere around there, maybe 2016, probably more like 2018. These girls came to me, like 10, 12 girls, and they're like, we want to wrestle, but we don't want to wrestle in the wrestling room with the boys. And um and and and would you do something kind of separate for us? So I started staying two or three nights a week after practice to run a practice for these girls, and they'd come up and we'd just do a separate practice. And uh, I think it was the WWF had a state girls tournament that year, and we had girls wrestling in that tournament, and I just remember thinking, like, this is happening, like we're doing, like this is this is gonna, we just need to do it. We just need to have this this WIA needs to get on board and let's get this thing going. Um, Keely Babcock won that tournament. Um, Gia G De Janeiro did a nice job there. Uh, we had a bunch of girls that were wrestling. So really, um, we've had a bunch of girls that wanted to wrestle uh in in all the places that I've that I've been, and it was just a matter of time, and now we're here.

SPEAKER_02 17:04

The rest is history, yeah. The rest is history. De Janeiro, is that uh is that related? Is it uh Vince that you're gonna do?

SPEAKER_00 17:11

Yeah, Vince's sister. Yeah, she was tough too, man. Yeah, yeah. She was super tough. Yeah, there a lot of a lot of tough girls. And and again, that was that that doesn't seem like that long ago, but but um maybe it was maybe it was a little further back, but I don't think it was. Um but uh they just the idea that they didn't want to be in the room with the boys, like that's not even a thought anymore. But but that that you know it just it just was at that point, but man, has have things changed quickly with the way that this is practice dynamic now. For us, we just practice together. Like, um, and and obviously we we have such tough our girls were so tough that um they needed that too. They needed that, at least I felt like they needed it. And partially, I I just feel like wrestling um for for us, I like the idea of one the one wrestling community. Um, our kids want to be together, they want to support each other, they're all friends. It was uh actually kind of like almost like a mourning period when they had to be completely separated. Like our they the because the kids really enjoyed being together at at tournaments and stuff like that. Um so it it's it even even just having the the the two the two um groups separated completely competition-wise um was was was kind of rough. And they were so excited when the girls got to come back in um for for team sectionals with the boys this year. And obviously it won't be like that anymore, but it was cool to get that opportunity one last time for for some of our, especially our senior girls who had grown grown up kind of competing with with the boys. So it's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_02 18:59

So scheduling-wise, Pat, how easy is it now like to just figure out I guess it's not easy to like just make a schedule as a head coach, but from the girls' wrestling perspective, how different is it like going into this year per se than it was three or four years ago? Because I can like I even think of the when Steve and I, how Steve and I cover like we have to have two different podcasts now, yeah, because it used to be there was like three to five girls' tournaments and that would be it. And now it's oh, we have like an hour and a half worth of tournaments we can talk about. So has you have it has it has it noticeably gone easier for you as a coach to find good tournaments for your athletes?

SPEAKER_00 19:42

Yeah, maybe I have a sp maybe I have a kind of a special challenge because I am the head coach of both programs. Um and it's not that eventually we wouldn't have two, you know, two separate head coaches. Right now, it just seems to be, it's just I feel like it's better if we kind of move slowly into that. So when we when we do branch out into that at that place, that we we do it right. And it's not just we're not fighting for room time, we're not trying to figure out how we're gonna do you know coordination and stuff like that. We just work together, we have two separate schedules. I picked a couple of extra um assistant coaches. Um uh that was probably the biggest mistake. I mean, I'm gonna get to the scheduling too, but probably the biggest mistake I made was uh maybe not, it was a mistake for me, but like I'm running two programs now, but my pay has not increased. So I'm making the same amount of money. Um I'm running two programs. I can't chose to Yeah, it it's it's uh, and I guess maybe maybe I shouldn't even be complaining about it. But what I chose to do was have have them put ask for more money so I could have a couple more assistants. Okay. And that was that was that seemed to be the best route to go. But sometimes it is, it's a lot. And so, like you guys said, you got a bunch, you could have multiple podcasts to cover all of this, the the this wrestling, which is important. Um but that's probably the toughest part, is I'm I'm trying to coordinate two schedules um and uh and then trying to get coaches to that really that really meet the needs of my wrestlers at all the tournaments on any given weekend. That's tough because I want to get to everything too, and I can't be at everything. So that's that's a little bit tough. But in terms of finding dates, I think the amount of tournaments have um that there are tournaments out there that can really um kind of meet the needs of a diverse group of kids. Cause I just think in women's wrestling right now, there's such a a uh a diverse amount of skill level. And you we're trying to bring so many different types of kids into this. Um and you've got to meet the needs of of your elite kids. To the kids that have never wrestled before. And that those are that's probably the biggest challenge. But uh um, but I yeah, I think I think there's a lot of good opportunities now, especially if you're willing to travel that and and and be a little bit um I guess uh flexible with how you schedule things.

SPEAKER_02 22:19

You think we're gonna see more JV meets for girls going forward?

SPEAKER_00 22:24

I hope so. I I I do. I hope there's more uh and I think it's coming. I I I I just um it's hard to be patient. Uh and I know it's really there's there there are a lot of people that really like the separation, like getting these things completely separate. Um, I just think um wrestling's a stronger community if we kind of stay together and do this thing together. Let's like move this thing forward as a group because I want my boys to celebrate our girls, I want our girls to celebrate our boys, I want to compliment men and women in my in my mind, we're created to complement each other. And so if you can do that in this sport, I think you move forward in a really, really positive way. Because I think just from the idea of, I mean, men and women complement each other. They're we're very different, but but we need each other, regardless of what regardless of what the culture says, we need each other, and it's good for us to be together. So that's my that's just my philosophy. Um uh and I I do think I do hope though that we get more JV stuff um for girls and um and and um you know women have had to always fight that that hard fight anyway, I think, just in general. Like we just look throughout history, women have kind of had to kick and scratch and claw for for for gains and in all kinds of different societal areas. And I think you know, right now we've got some JV type girls that get thrown to the wolves a little too soon, probably. Sure, you know, and and we have boys that do that too, obviously, but I think it might be a little tougher on the girl side because um if you want to go to an elite tournament, like we go to the Dan Gable Donnie Brook, that's how we started the season last year, is we start with that tournament. And I got girls that have never wrestled before. And I was going back and forth about like, man, what do you do? Do you take them, uh, do you take everybody to that thing, or do you do you do you sit some kids, let them go to a different place or just don't bring them or just bring them to watch? And I end up making the decision to just we're wrestling, we're everybody's wrestling, we're all gonna go. We're just gonna, we're gonna be together, we're gonna build this team. And uh it was really good because I almost every girl won at least one match. And and that that was a turn, uh even that early was a turning point for them believing like, oh, I I can I can do this, um, and and I can I can compete even in these tough tournaments. So that was um that was good. But we everything from tournaments like that to to a tournament where you know some of your best wrestlers are gonna kind of mop up, but support the lower the lower level kids. So that's I I think we I I feel like we have a pretty good schedule and we put together a pretty good one. I do think you have to you have to do the really tough stuff and then pull back a little bit and then then have it be have it be real tough again. Um, but but uh I think it's I like what they did in Waussau with the with the JV side and then the RC side, the ghost and the silver or whatever. That was really nice. I thought that was a really good thing. So um, but yeah, sorry, long answer to uh to the question. I was gonna hope we have more hope we have more JV stuff. But I do think we we should we should make sure we do this stuff right and not go too not not go so fast that we're um that we that we we don't need to get ahead of ourselves. We should do I'd rather be really good at what we're doing than just try to just you know put the pedal down and and and try to make this into it's not gonna be just like the boys right away. It's not gonna, you know, it's moving fast, so I don't think it's gonna take that long. But I just want I'd like to see everything just let's do the best we can for as many of the kids as possible so that um we keep we keep this momentum going. Um that's what that's how I would like to see things go. Sure.

SPEAKER_02 26:15

Good stuff, Pat. Well, I skipped this uh this initial question for the squad this year. It's always funny asking this one uh with a team that won it the year prior, but when did you uh when did you first realize or have the thought that this year's team could be team state champions?

SPEAKER_00 26:35

Yeah, I it you know, um it was probably more when when uh when we because the the in 24-25, it was a nail biter with with freedom. You know, we were it was it was coming down to to that last night. Um and uh I I think the when we won it, knowing that the the the the probably the biggest disappointment or the biggest shock of that season was that my niece didn't make it to state. She'd placed fifth the the year before, she didn't make it back that year, and and I felt like with her, we're gonna get points, and and and that I thought it was kind of like a done deal almost if we wrestled pretty well um that first year. And then she didn't make it, and and it was a nail biter. So so um with her coming back and the and the the state qualifiers we had coming back, and then um just just knowing everybody was back except for really one kid who had graduated, um, I kind of almost felt like you had to win it again. That's where my mind goes right away. Like if you don't you don't win it again, like we got well, you gotta stay healthy, okay. So that's the one thing. If a bunch of people get hurt, that's the like the great equalizer is injuries or whatever, kids' lives falling apart, or you know, things weird happening. Um, but I kind of felt immediately like, well, we have to win it now. Like you gotta be able to come back and do it again. And um, but I definitely wanted it to be more dominant. I did not want it to be close if we could help it. Um, and uh and the girls like they just took care of business. It helps to have the best kids, right? Like, sure. I mean, that's that's the thing. Like, in terms of like people can you can talk about like building a program and all these things, but the the the the truth is in terms of winning, it really helps to have the best kids. And that makes sense, yeah. So um, you know, do it's you work hard as a coach. I think we were I work really hard to get to know know the my kids so that they so that they can have the most success they possibly can. But when it comes down to it winning and losing, it if you have the best kids, you look like a pretty good coach. And when you when you don't when you don't have the best kids, um you don't look like you're as good, like you're as good at what you do. And sometimes those years where where it's really thin, those are the years where you're you're doing the best coaching you've ever done, and nobody knows it.

SPEAKER_03 29:13

Well, you know, nobody I'm gonna enter. I was I was sitting there and I'm writing this down. I'm like, maybe we should do a separate part because here's here's the thing I'm gonna throw in, both guys and girls' side. I've I've been watching you, and there's a couple times I pulled you aside, and you know this, because I pulled you aside and said, Pat, you're doing a great job, and here's why. And it's not because your kids are are kicking backside, which they which they do. It's it's the little things where I see you grab kids and you know, you pull them in and you're forehead to forehead. It's like all these amazing things you do. And that's kind of where before, you know, you you down, you're like Teak, you downplay and say, Well, I was a four-time, you know, Teague always talks about I'm a four-time regional qualifier, but yet he's the absolute best at doing this industry, right? And you talk about, well, it was only this, but I think it's the relationship or the the relatability you have because I I've seen coaches um not make it who they were super great wrestlers because they're like, Man, why can't you figure out this double egg takedown? Where you're able to go, well, yeah, but here's you know, we got to break it down to this, and because it was harder for you, right? I I watch every single year, and even in your down years, it's like, holy cows! I I can't remember the year, and you probably will be able to tell you, but it's like you didn't have the best year, but all of a sudden, oh, Milton has a kid in the finals. Who the heck is that kid, right? I mean, it was probably six or seven years ago or eight years or whatever, and but um I I've I remember I was um coaching for a different team at that time, and we were at Oconomawak. And uh I it Teague, you would have loved this, and I wish I could get up and show be on the video and watch you see this. But you coached a kid, and you probably remember this, and he he won in a wrestle back and he qualified for state. And Teague, Pat stood up from his chair, and there's O'Connor has a big gym, and he literally just put his hand up in the air like this. And Pat, you ran a huge circle around the gym. Do you remember that? Do you remember which kid that was? And all this is how I took it. I took, you know, some people might look and well, what's that coach doing? Why is he? I looked at it as you just brought a kid up from probably not, he probably wasn't very good, and you just qualified for that kid, what was a state championship, getting him to state. And it's like, I see you do that year after year, and you and you just you just told me this. I'm like, what's the secret? You just told me the secret is you get to know the kids and you get to know them on the first level. So the kids want to perform for you. And and as an outsider looking looking into your program, that's exactly what I see you do, Pat. And that's why you're an awesome coach, and that's what your kids perform for you every single year.

SPEAKER_00 31:43

I appreciate that. Sometimes with tough kids, I think that was Cade DeSarmo, that O'Connor walkier. He had kind of a tough wrestle back, and uh he coaches with with us now. He he's he does a really nice job. Um, I remember I do remember that because what happens to me sometimes is I black out, like at the time when the the good, like you know, they won this match. Kind of happened to me this year with um with Brody Lewis winning that that that title. All of a sudden I look up and I'm like 30 feet away from the mat. And I have no idea how why I'm why am I so far away? Like that O'Connor walk. When I was on like I think I was I was nowhere near the the mat at the time they kind of come to.

SPEAKER_03 32:27

It's a really weird feeling, but oh it was a lot, it was probably I'm gonna say it was a uh 50-foot radius circle, and you just started running.

SPEAKER_00 32:38

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:39

Oh, yeah, it was great.

SPEAKER_00 32:40

Yeah, those are great moments. I mean, they're great moments. They they yeah, and kind of like to your point before, um uh nobody knows the backstories. They don't know what you've been through with with with kids. They don't know that you were chasing somebody down as they threw their wrestling shoes in the garbage, you know, at a December tournament. You know, they don't know, they don't know that you chase them down, dug their shoes out of the garbage, chase like found them in the snow, brought them back into this, you know, stairwell, disgusting stairwell where you have to rehash, you know, your whole life and whether you want to continue to do this or not. When that kid wins a state title, it's kind of hard not to um feel really good about being a part of that. You know, it's it's and um if you can, I think as a coach, if you can just kind of keep it about keep it about the kid too. Like it's it's uh you just want them to succeed. You're trying to take them to a place that they want to go. I think I heard Nate Carr say something like that recently, um, about how you're you're basically a job as a coach is to take a kid from a place that from where they are to this place they want to go, and they aren't sure how to get there. And sometimes the best wrestlers are the hardest ones because they they're the ones that have all the all the the the problems going on, the demons in their mind, because they're supposed to be great. You know, they're they're supposed to win. And so um those are there's a lot, there's a lot there. Again, probably a whole nother podcast, but it's there's a lot there. But I appreciate that though. Yeah, I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_03 34:30

I was uh I was I wrote it down. I'm like, man, maybe we should do another podcast and just maybe we could and talk about what you know you do in that aspect. Because I think I think it's a it's a special, uh, I don't even want to call it sometimes. I Pat for you, I think it's an unconscious competence. I think you just do it automatically. Where I think other coaches need to learn that. Like sometimes I think we just think, oh, yeah, I just teach them wrestling and they're good. No, it's there's more to it than that, and uh, and you're one of the best at it. So I know we got to get on to the next things and girls, but I I just you had you you said something, I saw that opportunity, I just felt uh compelled to shake it. So appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 35:02

I had a great mom, so that's where I that's why I attribute it to.

SPEAKER_02 35:05

Yeah, here you go.

SPEAKER_00 35:07

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 35:08

So Pat, why do hey same here on the great mom front? Pretty nice when you're winning in that avenue. The Donny Brook, heck of a choice for the first weekend. How do you come to that decision?

SPEAKER_00 35:23

I'm always looking for tournaments, like I'm constantly um uh we our schedule stays pretty similar because I think we have a really great schedule. Um, and uh I I uh it works for us. It is that it's that back and forth of like really tough. Then you kind of dial it back where you you make sure as many people can have success as possible. Then you go, then you go to something really, really tough again. Um you know, a lot of people want to hammer, they want to everything's gotta be tough, you know. And in a high school season, I think that's tough. That that's hard to do. You you need to dial it back. You need there needs to be some some push and pull. But um the the Donny Brook was one I really wanted to get into um mostly because we have such good, we have such good girls. We got Maddie Peach and the Albrechts and um, you know, um uh a couple other state qualifiers, you know, my my niece Clara, uh Jesse DeMarcy, like do you they need that? They need you you need to find them places where they're gonna get pushed. Of course, that that was impossible with Maddie this year. It was impossible to find somebody that you know. I was trying, I was looking. Um, but we just you know, for her, it had to be college opens and it, you know, it just it couldn't be high school stuff anymore. Um, but uh but for the but but for most kids, if you can get them into those positions where they're they're at least getting pushed or they're getting taken a couple losses, that's so awesome because that's where you find out, that's how you learn about people. You learn about people in affliction. You don't you don't learn a ton when it's growing great. You learn when they are the when they when they throw their shoes in the garbage. That's when you know that's when you really get to know somebody. Um, and so that's why we start with that. And plus, I guess we start with that because that's when it is.

SPEAKER_03 37:08

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 37:08

Would I choose that date? Maybe not. I might I might like that a couple weeks later, but uh it's a sweet tournament, it's a great setup. And um for the girls, it's for our girls, um, it's it's awesome. You know, and if in this year, maybe you work in something like heading over trying to get into to Carver Hawkeye to show them, you know, show them that, you know, if you can get somebody to let you in there. We've been down there in the old wrestling room before, um, because because I had some connections that you make over the years through wrestling camps. Um, one of the greatest youth coaches in the country, Pablo Ubasa. If you ever if you ever get a chance to talk to him, he's a great dude. Um, um, but so if you can get your kids, you know, maybe they should we get them in there and show them that facility or something like that. If you can do those cool things, um, I think it's just good overall. Great competition. You're in like a wrestling mecca in the country, just a really good thing if you want to have serious wrestlers or just give kids a great experience. They can say they always did that sometime.

SPEAKER_02 38:07

I think the the the deep cut result that I'm glad I found looking at these results. It looks like Gracelyn Dela. Oh, it doesn't show Dela O.

SPEAKER_00 38:19

Dala O, yep. Graceland. Yep, that's her name.

SPEAKER_02 38:24

Her her lone win of the weekend that came in her last consolation match, which is kind of epic.

SPEAKER_00 38:32

Yeah, Gracelyn Dela O is an awesome athlete. Um, and wrestled 235. She's not quite, she's not that big. She she she's she was wrestling up. Um but she was a cheerleader for us and wrestled. So she would cheerlead and then or she would wrestle and then throw her cheerleading uniform on and go out and cheer for the boys. Wow, crazy. Just an awesome kid, man. Great athlete. Uh, super uh, she's only sophomore this year. She uh just worked super hard. And and man, um, that was fun. That was her first win. You know, she had never wrestled before, so that was her first win. And man, you see a kid, her face when she came off the mat after winning that match was that was pretty priceless, pretty awesome.

SPEAKER_02 39:20

And also, even though you went to Iowa, we did get a Wisconsin-Wisconsin match with uh Dylan's loss to Cat Cook. Is that one of those matches win or lose? You're just like, all right, we'll probably see that matches two or three more times this year. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:35

And and then and then I don't know if they ever, I don't think I don't even know if they wrestled each other again.

SPEAKER_02 39:39

I don't know if they matched up. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:41

Yeah. Didn't match up. Which which would I yeah, I figured that would be one we'd see. Um I know Dylan, um, obviously, you know, I'm not making excuses for her, but she was not she was not a hundred percent healthy that day. She did not feel she was not feeling very good that day. Um and uh I knew that was gonna be a tough match for her, but you know what, um usually I liked I like to get out of state to not have those matches. I want to get different matches. Uh, but when it's that good of a match, it's like okay, that's that's cool. Like I'm gonna get it's to see this one there. And um, you know, it it it were it worked out. But that was a that that was a that was a good match that that day. And man, she's a great wrestler, Cook. I mean, obviously, I I'm gonna I'm gonna take Dylan every day. She's she's my she's my girl, but but that but but cook's tough, she's a tough kid, gamer.

SPEAKER_02 40:29

At the very least, it was a precursor to the madness that was gonna be that weight class. I don't know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:39

Yep, yep. Yeah, yeah. It's so weird how matchups happen too. Like, um, and uh yeah, sorry for taking this another route, but like my niece wrestled wrestled Kat uh at the Wasa tournament, and I think beat her up like 10-1. It's just weird how sometimes stylistic matchups are kind of weird, you know, like that. Or you know, Kat was probably coming down in weight, and maybe Claire had come down. I can't even remember what it was. Maybe Kat was up and Claire had come down or whatever, but it's just kind of weird how sometimes those stylistic matchups are are so it's just kind of strange, you know.

SPEAKER_02 41:12

I feel like the stylistic differences you see it, I've seen it matter more on the girl side, just in terms of like the percentage of matches that just get flipped. Like I know Zach, when he does girls' rankings, like the amount of matches that like, oh, they lost to this girl, then they lost to like a girl that like the transitive property just goes crazy on the girl side. Like everybody beats everybody, like you know, outside of like that like elite grouping, of course, but yeah. Right.

SPEAKER_00 41:40

Yeah, but it gets weird, especially when you get up with those really good kids, you know. Um, and and my niece is a whole different totally different animal. She's yeah, she's she's so strong, and and uh you know, she gets herself into some weird positions that she comes out of, and she's so fresh still. She only started wrestling as a sophomore, so she does some things that people normal people don't do, you know. She and and she's strong enough that it's hard. She's a she's a tough out. She's she's huge blessing coaching her. Awesome coaching her, getting to know her than awesome. That was a good pickup.

SPEAKER_02 42:16

That was nice, yeah. Nice pickup.

SPEAKER_00 42:19

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 42:20

The the next week, you guys go to uh West Sosha. I don't know if you were at that tournament or not. I don't know how you're split up with the guys and girls tournaments, but if you were, I don't know if you were aware of it. This was like one of the best team races of the of the year. It was uh you guys were third with 178 and a half, menasha was second with 183, and Westosha was first with 184. Now, Maddie was gone that weekend, but besides the point, that's a pretty fun team race.

SPEAKER_00 42:55

And I don't think I'm thinking I wasn't there that weekend. Um I probably oh yeah, because I think that was probably the same weekend as the Evansville duels with the boys. So I so I think I was there. I think my my my brother and a couple of the other coaches were there with the girls. Probably my my brother and my son and and Tristan Woods were there with the girls. But yeah, that was a really good tournament. Maddie had sat that one out because she had um she was taken advantage of a couple of of the the the college opens. So we we have the sitter uh uh you know twice um out of tournaments. Um so uh but yeah, that's a that's a really well well-run tournament. They do a good job with that over there, and there's a lot of a lot of different competition levels there, which is really nice too.

SPEAKER_02 43:39

Yeah, with Shah girls and guys, they're they're they're doing good stuff, but they're and I think it's reflecting in that tournament.

SPEAKER_00 43:46

So they're on the rise. I was talking to their coaches at the state tournament. I feel like they're they're they're they're on the way up, man. They yeah, they're they're looking pretty tough. When I was in high school, they they had a real real tough program, a bunch of really good wrestlers there. It was Salem Central, but. Back then, but um but same school and they're they're they're tough.

SPEAKER_02 44:06

And then we go to where you at Badger State.

SPEAKER_00 44:10

Yep, Badger State. That's always a fun one. Yep, that's always a fun one. Um bunch of champs there. Um but that that was that was a that was a really the really good day for us. We have fun there. That's kind of a fun, a fun tournament. That's one where I I always go because with the our boys we have the Dvorak down in Machesney Park, Illinois. And so I'll go up on I'll I'll go with the girls on Saturday and I'll come down on Sunday um to kind of finish up the boys' tournament down there. And uh so we get to have that's where I really get to know the girls pretty well the because they they get some tough competition, um, and we you go go out to eat afterwards, stuff like that, and it's pretty fun.

SPEAKER_02 44:50

Yeah, at Badger State, four firsts, one third, and you won the team title with 161 points.

SPEAKER_00 45:00

There you go. That was that was a good up, that was a good, good weekend, good, good Saturday.

SPEAKER_03 45:04

Oh, Maddie, Maddie wrestled up that day. 132.

SPEAKER_00 45:07

Yeah, yep, yep.

SPEAKER_03 45:10

We do that every once in a while. Wow. One hey, 132 pounds. Maddie Peach, Delia Collins, Kid Alsacker, Lydia Hutter, Evelyn Actal, Amari Richard.

SPEAKER_00 45:25

That's the thing too, is like Maddie. Um so I mean, those are good kids.

unknown 45:31

Right.

SPEAKER_00 45:32

And those are good wrestlers. And um, and so I really thought, you know, going up to going up to 32 that day, all right, we're gonna have some we're gonna have to have some dog fights, and just you know, I mean, and it's nothing against those other girls. Maddie's just stinking tough.

SPEAKER_02 45:52

She's just on that note, Pat, when did you teach her that arm bar?

SPEAKER_00 45:58

You know, I don't know if I said this, if I said this to you guys before, but when she came in as a freshman, um she was hitting that arm bar and killing boys with it. And I think it was probably like maybe mid-December. I was like, I I during practice, I looked there and I said, You gotta put this on me because I don't. I'm watching you turn these good boys, you're turning them and pinning them. Like, I got you gotta do it to me because I gotta feel it. Like it has to be. I'm like, it's gonna be horrible. So so she gets on, throws her legs in, you know, hits that that wrist roll, kind of snakes her arm through, puts me on my back. It was horrible. And I was like, okay, like I now I understand. It hurts so bad. She's her hips are like lead. It's it's it's it's um, you know, and she works her butt off. I mean, she lifts, she's strong, she's you know, um, and she's a girl. I mean, no, she is she is a like like makeup and dresses and all of that stuff outside of this, but man, as soon as she's in the wrestling room, or she's as soon as she's on a competition mat, it is a completely different game. It's yeah, I wish I taught her that. She taught she her her little like roll in the wrist and and kind of snaking her arm through the way she she she she gets to her arm bar. Um you know, it's something I I've had her show every year. Like she just you show that because it's it works so well for you, and a lot of our kids use it now. It's really nice.

SPEAKER_02 47:31

I was gonna say, is it a secret like sauce, or is it just because like she's so like strong that she can pull it off? But it's uh so technically she just does something a little different that I can't remember.

SPEAKER_00 47:43

She told me who taught who where she learned it from, but I don't think she was completely certain. It was just something she started doing that worked. Um, but it's pretty simple. It's a it's a pretty simple rolling, rolling a wrist, kind of pulling this arm up off their back, you know, under under hooking this instead of like an arm bar pull before the arm bar, pulling this elbow up and shooting that arm bar through and then just smothering them and turning them. It's it's brutal, and I love it. I don't love having it on me, but I I was great. It's so good.

SPEAKER_02 48:14

It's so after she showed you that one time, you're like, all right, we're done. That's it. Now it's your one shot if you wanted to hurt your coach.

SPEAKER_00 48:21

Yeah, not doing it again. So yeah, she's great, another great kid, obviously.

SPEAKER_02 48:27

So nothing going on uh during uh the the holiday break, but you don't do anything, uh you give the guys the holiday break too, right, Pat?

SPEAKER_00 48:36

Yeah, we practice a lot. I do like to um, you know, I I wouldn't I wouldn't mind getting into a tournament. We have a especially when you have a long break like that. Um, but uh I don't um mind giving them a couple days at Christmas, get the the boys and the girls where they where where they can just go and and not think about this. It's a risk. It's a risk because of the weight, the weight thing. Like there there were there have been times where kids come back from that and it is scary what they look like. And I mean, in three days, a kid can come back and look like a completely different person. And I have no idea how that happens. Um, I mean, I did it too. I mean, I I I one of the worst experiences of my life was coming back from a Christmas break one time um and and uh trying to get back down to weight. But if you can keep it to like three days where they can just relax and then they come back to practice, I kind of like being able to slow things down. I can split the room up, you can work with JV kids and you can you can get a good workout in with your with your varsity kids. If anybody's banged up, you can you can back it off a little bit. Um, and again, you spend time again getting to know people and and all of that. So we take a little bit more time uh and and spend a little bit more time in like the training and the technique part of that. And I don't think it's a bad little refresher. It's like having two seasons, it's like a pre-season, and then January is like the beginning of that real season. That's it's worked pretty well so far. Um at least when we've done it, it's worked pretty well. You just have to be a little. I have to, I have to sometimes I lose a little sleep over like what's this, what's this one kid gonna come back weighing? Like I'll wake up in the middle of the night and think, why did I do that? Why did I give him this day off? Why did I do that? I'm the stupidest person on earth.

SPEAKER_03 50:37

And then I you know, I I think I probably told Teague this five years ago. I I made a note. I'm like, you know what? Milton doesn't go to any uh Christmas tournaments, and then uh I I made the little side note. I said, which team always seems the most fresh at the end of the year? And it just happens to be Milton.

SPEAKER_00 50:58

Yep, I do think you need uh it's hard because like I don't even necessarily want to say you need a mental break, but it's not I don't think it's bad. I I I I I do get a little paranoid, but it's just me losing sleep. That's fine, you know. Like if I'm waking up at three in the morning and I'm up till four thinking about how am I gonna make sure we put all this together, then that's fine. Um, they get that little bit of a break, and they also gave gave like some of our girls the chance to go to some opens over that time too, where they could they could go and they could do that, and it didn't it, they they weren't missing a ton of stuff with the high school season either. So um they had time to kind of recover from that too. So that if you've got some elite kids that want to do those types of tournaments, it that's not a horrible time either for that. If you can find those tournaments for them, so yeah, it's not I definitely wouldn't say that I won't ever have a tournament in that that time frame, but I do think that some of that extra extra time for for just training and kind of resetting your mind and your body isn't terrible as long as they come to practice. That's that's the that's you gotta make sure your parent you gotta make sure parents know that this isn't like go to Florida and don't do anything else, you know. That's because that that's the only thing. And and if you're if if your families will cooperate with you and get kids to practice, it can be a nice little reset and a refresher.

SPEAKER_02 52:28

Well, going on to January, Pat. However, you want to talk about January, you can you can attack this whichever way you want. I got a couple different tournaments I'll be focusing on, but how do you like the the duel scene right now? With I know you usually have uh between six to eight that you're trotting out for your starting lineup. Uh I'd still say a girls dual atmosphere. Um almost nigh unbeatable.

SPEAKER_00 52:55

Yeah, it's it's a uh I I think uh I like I like the idea. I know this year we we wrestled duels and we walked forfeits out. I think you have to do that. Like I think you and I know a lot there are plenty of people who don't agree with me on this. Um, but I think if we want to build this into a team, a real team atmosphere, you have to what whenever whenever we have to forfeit a weight, it makes me obsess about finding somebody to wrestle that weight. I 100% agree. You know, that's our job, right? Is we gotta we need to fill these teams and to treat it like if we're just gonna match kids up and stuff like that because we don't have the numbers, well, get the numbers like we we have to do that, get the numbers, you know. So I liked the the walking walking forfeits out and and and making it just like uh uh the the boys' duels, and so we went down to Clinton, Iowa. That was January, I guess. We went down to Clinton, Iowa for uh it was like a five or six team duel. I know we had four duels that day. Um, and uh it was super fun. I mean, and it wasn't overly well attended, it wasn't like a packed gym or anything, but man, it was fun to see these girls from all these different schools all fired up about their their their teammates. And it was a tight, it's a small, pretty small gym, tight environment, just like you would, just like any other dual meet tournament where people are fired up about wrestling. And uh, you know, we it I I think I think the duels, especially because we're we're gonna be wrestling duels in the in the in the team state series now, um just gotta make them make them legit duels, just like every every other duel that you wrestle. And um, I'm I'm having fun with them. And it, I mean, I am constantly looking for for kids in the hallway. I always did this with the boys, but for for girls now, I mean, there's definitely girls that see me in the hallway and turn around and walk the other way because they know I'm coming to talk to them about wrestling again. Some of them just shake their head like you know, but but slowly but surely if you get to know them, they might try it. And yeah, usually wrestling is a sport that if you just get somebody on the mat that um if you see something in them and you just get them out there, it can change their life. They might leave in three days, but they might not. Like I'm I'm open to anyone. I I don't care who it is. If you want to come out here, give me give me three days, and then let's turn three days into a week, and then let's turn it into two weeks, and and it can change your whole life. And and how many guys do you know? How many boys and girls do you know that that's their story? Right. Yeah, I mean that that's their story, and and so um, yeah, again, I'm going, I'm I'm really derailing off to to back to the relationship thing again, but um, but yeah, I I think it's the state of the duels. Let's keep wrestling them, walk those forfeits out, force us as coaches to to find the people to fill those weight classes and then make those kids better. So I that that's what I think.

SPEAKER_02 56:07

I like it. Yeah. Well, the one tournament I really want to talk about is were you up in Wassau? Yeah, yeah, I was there, yeah, aka the the pre-state tournament, mini-state tournament, whatever you want to call it, but man, what a tournament. Technology-wise, I had a night and a day on it. We we made things work. And the wrestling, wow, that was I don't have the hyperbole for it, but uh I mean Steve and I agreed, like you know, there's every every tournament, like every straight line bracket turn or whatever style it is, there's always a little fluff in the first couple rounds, but even in like some of the round of 16 matchups, like once it got to the the quarterfinals, like it was like elite match after elite match.

SPEAKER_00 57:04

Yep. It was it was great, it was crazy. That was the the competition's awesome. I feel like they do a great job with the tournament too. Like, I feel like it's it's just a really, really well-run tournament. Um, and bringing in that that JV level side was awesome. I mean, that um it was it was great. And and we definitely caught some losses there that were that were important. And even if when we didn't lose, we were in some battles. You know, that was really, really fun. Again, other than other than Maddie, um, you know, we were we still had some battles, but I mean all breaks wrestled so well there. I think my niece took two losses um there at that tournament. Those are pivotal things to to have to have happen. We were able to get with that JV, that JV side, our our our less experienced girls were um were able to get some experience too. Um and uh yeah, I mean everybody, um Jesse DeMarcy, all our state qualifiers and all of our girls were able to get some really, really good matches in there. It's really good.

SPEAKER_02 58:08

If I had to give an MVP uh of the day, I know Maddie did her thing, but I constantly said throughout the day no one looks like they are wrestling better than Dylan Albrich right now. Like the day that she had, and like we all know how deep the 100-pound weight class is, but she almost made it look easy against some really good competition.

SPEAKER_00 58:34

Yeah, yeah. She, I mean, and she's awesome. I mean, she's she is she's so strong and and she she's so athletic, so skilled. Um, yeah, and there's I when she's when she's on, nobody can beat her. Like she's she's that tough. And um, yeah, I'm really looking forward to to seeing what she's able to do here the next the next couple years. She's already accomplished a ton. You know, I mean, she's she's an animal. She she's an animal, and a really great kid too. Super fun to be around, funny, like just um just a really, really, really, really, really funny kid to be around. Um, so my favorite little gremlin.

SPEAKER_03 59:20

Yeah, first kid that we ever gave a uh Jolly Rancher to that she asked for a different one. Can I get a different color? Yeah, and you know, Devlin, I think I thought you were gonna say Devlin. I was uh uh in and uh I was impressed. Obviously, Taylor Whiting is uh in a you know in a whole different league, and we were impressed of how Devlin came out after her. And well, you know, I won't say not intimidated, but obviously the respect was there. But wrestle, I mean nine to two or whatever it was, but that's uh it's wrestled really well.

SPEAKER_00 59:48

Thing about wrestling Devlin, what I what I've noticed, uh what I noticed over the years was even if somebody it first of all, it took an elite wrestler to get the better of her. To get to get the better of her to beat her, you got to be really good. Um, and I never saw anybody happy to go out there against her. Like nobody looked like they're like, I want to wrestle her, who leads with her head and it is not afraid to to to really be physical and stick her nose into a match and and uh um yeah, just nasty. And another awesome kid. Again, just nasty on the mat. And obviously with Dylan and Devlin, you you don't ever have to wonder what they're thinking. You're never gonna be like, you know, do you really mean what you say? Because they they they tell you exactly what they what they think. That you you never have to wonder, which I love because you don't you're not sitting there picking apart their brain. They tell you this this is I'm happy, I am sad, I'm angry, I don't like you right now. Like it's you know, you know, you know right away. Um, and they're they're awesome. It was great to this it was it's it they they're they're so fun. Um I'll miss Devlin a ton. Like her winning that third place match at state was one of the what I would say one of the highlights of of the season, maybe one probably one of the highlights of my career. And again, a lot of backstory there. She and I've been through, we've been through some some some good stuff together. And um, but yeah, I thought that day she looked awesome too. And I and I've never I've again I've never seen anybody come off the mat. Like, I don't think anybody comes off the mat thinking I would like to wrestle her again. It's just not fun, I don't think, for anybody who wrestles her.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:34

So I don't know what of it what what happened. I think we're just so used to you guys just getting your points and winning team tournaments, but I was convinced for like 10 to 15 minutes that your girls had won that tournament. And I forgot I forgot when we found out. Steve, were we on the road home when we eventually found out? Or I I can't I seriously can't remember. And I don't like I don't know how the trophy presentation worked or whatnot, Pat, but I literally went up to your girls and gave them all a Jolly Rancher for winning the team turn. They didn't even question it. They they've yeah, I don't know if they knew at the time if they won or not, but it was it was just so funny at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:20

They were confused too. I and it like they came up to me with the runner-up trophy, and I was like, Oh, we didn't win it, right? And and and they're and they're like, and they weren't, they of course were not happy, they were not happy about it. And I and I, you know, I kind of shrugged my shoulders and I was like, Well, you know, is this the one we're trying to is this is this the one we're trying to win, or you know, in my mind, that's kind of what I was thinking. Like, I don't I don't know what happened, I don't know. I it was something with I think during the day, like on USA bracketing, they were putting all of our points from the JV side and the varsity side.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:55

You guys you guys were winning with the combined points, that's what it was.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:59

Yep. And then when they when they pulled off those the JV girls, the got girls that were on the JV side, they then um Bayport beat us by like a little bit, maybe. I can't it probably wasn't fun, yeah. It wasn't a ton, but man, yeah, I our girls were not happy.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:16

Um they weren't just clicked in it and they didn't they didn't change it. It's still the same.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:20

The no, I pointed out it. I have it filtered with varsity, Bayport first, Milton second. Yeah. Well, all right. I should that darn filter.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:29

Yep, don't worry. Those things actually really good though for like somebody like me. Um, like to to have them to have them beat us, it it the the the blessing is like on the way home, and I'm trying I try to just I'm trying to stay in the moment usually, but on the way home, I'll admit I'm sitting there going, all right, we gotta make sure we gotta make sure we do this right. Like we I think we're gonna be okay at the state tournament, but I start then I start playing things back in my head, and then you like, okay, we gotta make sure we don't screw this thing up. Um, because there's there's another team out here that there, there's another contender right here, and there's more than one of these teams out there that could knock you off. And so I it's actually a a really, really good thing for have to have something like that happen when um and kind of shock you a little bit because it makes you dial stuff in a little bit more, you know. Again, again, granted, for me, it's probably slowly killing me because I get like three, four hours of sleep a night for four months, you know. But but but it it's luckily I don't need I don't need as much sleep, I don't think as much as as everybody else. But but it but you but at least it gets you in that mode of like we gotta this isn't this isn't a given. And so that's good. That's good.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:50

Going to a conference, another fun team. Well, yeah, you guys ended up winning by 17 and a half. I think with Steve Night every every tournament, it's uh you know, like gotta do something with the defending state champs, keep things juicy, and it's always all right, Milton's hammers versus this team's numbers. And it seemed like Reedsburg would be that team to compete. And they ended up second, but it was actually pretty close between Reedsburg DeForest and Wannkey. So I think even though you ended up winning by 17, I'm guessing you know, it still wasn't an easy championship day. No, it was dicey. Oh, wait, that was a loaded turn.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:29

I remember that. Yeah. It was good, it was real good. I mean, and it was weird because it was Friday night. Um, they got started, it felt like super late. Um, and I'm not knocking Varabu, they were the host, they they did, they did a good job. It was just, you know, you're trying to run a uh I think we have a lot of good girls in our conference. We're trying to run this Friday night tournament, and you know, in the back of my mind, you got you got boys the next day, and but there's a lot of stuff going on. On, you know, um, I'm worried about practice. I'm at the turn with the girls, but I'm concerned about practice. How's it going? What are we doing? How everything is everything going okay? Is everybody ready to go? Um, luckily, I have awesome coaches that they've been with me for so long, and they're the most loyal people in the world, and they love the kids and they take care of things. Um, but yeah, it was a crazy night, and I felt like it was back and forth. And um, again, the it's it's like you said, it's are are the numbers gonna get us this? Will will somebody with on the backside they're gonna pick up these extra points um and we're gonna be in trouble. Um but but you know, we we have these um our newer girls, like Grays Lindelay Lao again. She comes back and ends up um, I think she might have placed fifth. Um another girl that doesn't get a lot of press, but Adria Mergan Guadarama, she's she is a stud. She's a great kid. And and um uh again, a lot of our girls, they don't get any, they don't get that recognition because they don't they're not they're not at the top of the podium, but she comes back and I think she took third, um, third or fifth. She she played she she she ended up winning a bunch of good matches for us. Um but Adria. She was at I think she was at 120. Yeah, she was at 120. Adria Morgan Guadarama. I mean, she wrestled in middle school, but she's relatively new, I would say. But man, um quick learner loves wrestling. Um I'm I'm hoping uh for really good things there. She ended up like third at sectionals too. So she was like right, or third at regionals. She didn't make it third at regionals, so she didn't make it make it on to to sectionals, but she she's right there in the mix and she helped a lot. Um Gracelyn Elson uh at 152, she was a freshman. I coached her dad. That's how like you talk about feeling like a geezer, yeah. Like now I got kids of kids um that I coached, um, but she's awesome as well. So those kids did come come through and and and kind of solidify all that for us. So again, they learn through that how to win a tournament. That so that's huge for you know, um, that ended up uh making a huge difference actually in the regional the next week because Tegan Hilding, who was probably floating between 26 and and 32, that's more of her weight from 120 to 26 was really where she was at. But I it was the the day of the regionals. I was looking at like Whitewater had a bunch of kids, and we sorry I'm jumping ahead to regionals, but I this just made me think she didn't so Tegan didn't wrestle at at um at conference, she was kind of battling, I think, just some fears. Like she would be super angst anxious and had this anxiety, and she didn't end up wrestling. Um, she was gonna bump up to 138, and she just couldn't get the weight up. She couldn't get her weight up, and um and and and so she didn't end up wrestling. And I thought it might cost us that day because I thought we needed those points. Well, at regionals, I started looking at stuff and I was like, I gotta ask her if she'll do this again. Like, will she could she like put the weight on, you know, and and drink water and make the weight so that she can go out there and wrestle and make and get us some team points. So it didn't look like she was gonna do it, but the girls kind of rallied around her, helped her do it. She made weight, ends up taking fifth at regionals, and that was a huge, huge thing for us winning that tournament. And do you have to win regionals last year? No, but we wanted to, right? And so I like that. She had to make the sacrifice. She was scared, first of all, to bump up and wait. She wasn't sure she could she could drink the water and make the weight. Sometimes it's harder to bump up and make a weight than it is to lose the weight. And she was, you know, but they they helped her do it and she got it done. And we learned from conference, at least I learned from conference, that we're probably gonna need her. I wouldn't have forced her to do it, but yeah, it was a great opportunity for her as a freshman to be there with the team, and she really helped us win. So um, we learned that from the conference tournament that she was able to come in and help us with that. So it's got you know, there's learning. You just gotta pay attention. You've got to pay attention as a coach, and that's um, that's like maybe it's not half the battle, but it's it's a lot of the battle. It's paying attention to the choke of the pie. Yeah, it is.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:25

I know, I know you have the the girls mix in with the guys for practice, but has Adria ever run the three person gauntlet where it's her, Devlin, and Maddie in a group, or what?

SPEAKER_00 1:10:36

They they she she was not afraid to get in there with them. I'm I mean, and I know it didn't go well for her a lot of the time, but she wasn't afraid to get in there.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:44

Um but you're wrestling that talent in the room, it probably is a little easier once you hit the mat on Saturday or Friday.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:51

Yeah, yeah. That I mean that's that is a huge thing. Like our girls that are around those weights, um, if they ever get a chance to tangle with the with the really, really elite girls. That's the thing, like Jesse De Marcy's super tough. She doesn't get a lot of uh of of a two-time state qualifier. Um, you know, she'd be the best kid on most teams, most girls, most girls' teams, and no she doesn't get a lot of a lot of um recognition, but she's super strong. She played hockey and wrestled. Wow. She she was she's the goalie goalie on our yeah, goalie on our hockey team, and she wrestled. Um yeah, just uh you know, and again, we she she had a you know, they had a nice article in the paper about her, and so I'm trying to get this shining light and like the the holy sun's going down.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:38

It's golden hour over in the Kashkinon region.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:42

I see what that is. See if I can I don't know if we'll be able to do it.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:45

I think you can if you move if you center it and then move your head in front of it. I center it, it's me, right?

SPEAKER_03 1:11:52

What are you saying, T? Are you saying that's got a big head? I do actually. It's ridiculous.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:57

Oh, I'm saying it's big enough to block that.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:00

You know, yeah, I'm thinking the uh other one, it's it's weird, it's like mirrored there. M MVP Pat of the Yelkhouse is um based on your schedule, and you you uh are up at three o'clock in the morning. I'm thinking uh maybe we should have your wife on our podcast and talk about uh our sanity when we got married, she knew I loved wrestling.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:21

We talked about wrestling, she's from Iowa, so so we see we met um we we met in college um at a at an off off-campus bar, and um the like we talked about wrestling the first night we we met, but nobody could be prepared for being the the wife of a high school coach, like no nobody can be prepared for that.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:44

And well, you were probably in the gym at Reedsburg. Think about conference. You were in Reedsburg. Now, Keeg Reedsburg to Fort Atkinson is oh, that's a good two hours away by bust, yeah. And then uh got home at what two in the morning and oh back in Fort Atkinson the next day.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:01

Yeah, it's it's nuts. And I mean, somehow we we found time to have seven kids in there too. So yeah, she she would definitely be the MVP because my my youngest is in going into sixth grade, so like my kids go from 26 years old down to down to 12, and it it's it's it's insane that you know, like look when we when I you look for when I look back on this eventually, um, yeah, she would definitely be the the MVP of the household for sure. There's no no doubt about it.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:36

That's what the summer months are for.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:38

Yeah, yeah. You have to find ways to reconnect, you know. I mean, that's one of the things too, is like people talk about like you're you have uh I've had people ask me about coaching girls and and and and you know how do you make that transition from from coaching boys to girls and and and all of that. Um I always talk about authentic manhood when I'm coaching boys, and then um with the girls, it's about feminine strength. And some people go, What do you know about feminine strength? Like you're you're a man. What do you know about it? I've seen seven childbirths, and six of those were completely natural. Like I delivered basically the six, let my last six kids when as we figured it out. Like I was like the first person to touch these kids. I've been I so you want to know about the toughest coaching job natural childbirth, yeah. Wow, you don't know, and you don't know what you're talking about, like as a man, you have no idea what's going on. Um, and so uh I know about feminine strength, and again, I said I had a great mom, you know, who raised three kids on about 20 grand a year, so so even back then that wasn't much money, and I felt like I was rich as a kid. So there's there's um yeah, there's uh the the there's as there's as much to to teach about life for for women and having strong women uh uh and and being a part of helping them develop their strengths and their personality and their gifts that they can offer to the world is uh is a privileged place to be. It's a privileged place on the boy side, it's different, but it's it's a it's it's as a it's it's as privileged to be on the girl side and be a small part of that part of like building up a community. And um, I don't I don't think I'm being too I'm not overdoing it by stating it, I don't think either. So it's pretty cool. No, yeah, it's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:41

Oh, that's uh that that's our goal as coaches, right? I mean, like with with coaching track this year, like we had we had like good kids, but like the real journey is making them better people, and however, like convey the message. Like that's yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:56

And you know, you like you you guys know as coaches, because I know you guys, like there's a lot of people, like you can get on online and you're gonna see the cliches and hear everybody say all the good words and all that, but you guys know because I know you guys are all you guys are great coaches too. You know what it's like to be in the in the muck in the mud with somebody in in the worst parts of their life, and that that's again, that's where that's where the difference is. We we can talk about technique, and you know, these days you I'm not downplaying that, I'm not downplaying any of those things, um, you know, technique and program building and all that stuff, but um, but when when it comes down to it, you can get a lot of that stuff online now. You couldn't when we were kids, like when I was a kid, you couldn't get that stuff. And Steve, yeah, we we couldn't do that. Um, you know, maybe T could more. Um, but but uh but but you you can't replace the human connection and who's gonna walk through the worst parts of your life and the best parts of your life with you. Um and that's that I think that's the that's the that's that's the the the gift and the art of coaching, in my opinion. So man, I just I can't stop. Yeah, you start getting me going on this stuff. Yeah. I can't I can't I love it. I love it.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:17

Well, Pat, regional, you're right. You said you did it, you did end up needing the whole crew, and it ended up being a fairly close race. I think it was 111 to or 211 to 187 with Whitewater. I we should say congratulations on your first official girls regional title. I know that's true. Glad you got to break through that, boogeyman. Um it was it was it was a good deal.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:45

Um it was a that's funny. State title, no regional title the year before.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:52

Oh good stuff. That was important to me because of that. I I didn't like that. Did not like that, but it was it, it is what it is.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:03

I remember Steve and I were making our pit. We were either we were doing picks or I was doing some picks or something, and uh I was like, oh man, like I don't no one had any idea because it was the first like girls regionals. I'm like, how how much is it gonna matter that you have studs or numbers, and uh you try to think about it with guys, but like there's just totally different numbers in general on the girls' side, and I was like Milton versus Janesville, whichever Janesville won you might remember, but Janesville, yeah. Yeah, Milton versus Janesville is gonna be the ultimate because and don't give me like Janesville had a good team, like they also had a full team to compare it to you guys who were maybe losing one or two matches that day. And uh I remember seeing the results came on, like, oh, looks like numbers do matter more in the regional title sense right now. Yeah, I think you ended you did have three more starters this year than last year.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:02

So it made a huge difference. That Teagan Hilding, I'm telling you, and I mean it was it was Teagan Hilding, it was Gracie Elson, it was Grayson Delao, it was though it was those those kids, and um, you know, having the opportunity to explain that to them, like you are important here, like this is really significant. You are you are significant, and what you do matters, you know, and again, that's another thing you can translate to to life. Everything you do has a ripple effect, you know, and that's really true today, you know. Um, but uh, you know, that day. But Trainsville Craig's not going away either. They just that their their new head coach is McKenzie Usher, who was one of our one of our girls.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:42

She was the the one graduate from the year prior, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:19:45

Yeah, yeah, she was the only graduate, and she she was really banged up at the end of the year that her senior year. She had a foot surgery, like a couple, uh it was maybe a week and a half before the sectionals or the regional, but she her it was it was she was really banged up, but I she's a a a girl that I've known for for for years and years, and she's really um uh again, we had those good, we had those good girls come in, but she her technique, her her love of the sport, I mean she's she's gonna do great things there. It was weird. It's weird to see her with Craig Craig stuff on. Yeah, you know, yeah, because I've just known her for so long. Um, and it does it hurts a little bit, but it's good to see that I'm glad she's in, you know. You don't you don't like begrudge that. Obviously, you have kids move on, and you know, Matt Haldeman was coaching at Aquinas this year, and he got all kinds of kids. You want them to do that, you want to spread that that wealth and that love of the sport.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:42

Um Red Hawks out of the nest and let them fly.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:48

She's really she's gonna do a great job. She's gonna do a great job, even if I don't want to push the Red Hawks out of the nest.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:59

Yeah, you're wiping the wiping the tear out of your ear. I that was that was that nailed it. I love it.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:07

Uh yeah, I don't know. Yeah, I got nothing to say after that one. You know, sectionals, and I am I am not one to usually do this, but why is there no sectional champion right like this year? Why did they not have a team sectional crown for the individual scoring champ?

SPEAKER_00 1:21:27

I I didn't that was another thing that I thought um I thought Devlin Albrecht was gonna get in a fight with somebody over that. I did not realize that. Like, I guess I maybe I didn't read, but uh, but you know, we we were like, well, where's the the girls like where's the sectional plaque? Because we got one last year, but then they didn't have it. They they were like, Oh, there isn't one. And and uh I'm pretty sure it was Devlin. She was like, Well, there has to be one, like we won this.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:00

Oh my gosh, did you have to be like, hey Devlin, let's like let's wheel with it?

SPEAKER_00 1:22:04

Right, you gotta rest money, like let's not let's not get too too upset. But um, and and I I didn't, I guess I didn't even really know. I assume there would be, but again, again, the plaques, the plaques are going those. I mean, I always feel like a jerk when I say stuff like this, but like those are dust collectors. You know, the only people that care in the end are the kids on that team. Like it people forget that stuff so fast, and and so the plaque on the wall is it matters that day, but it in in the end, it's I've seen so many of those sectional plaques in storage rooms, you know, and and because I've been in Milton for so long, I can look back at those and see um, you know, I and you know, I'll remember other sports. Like I'll see, you know, all these different regional and sectional plaques, and they're like in some dust-filled storage room because you can't hang that stuff up everywhere, you know, all of them up everywhere. And I might remember some of the kids on those teams who but you don't remember, you don't remember that stuff. So the plaque's important that day, and we all like our awards and stuff, but like in the end, like again, it goes back to the people that you're doing it with. That's that's what you're gonna remember, you know. So, do I wish we had that one? Yeah, but but it's you know, in the end, whatever.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:26

You're more likely now to remember Devlin Albrecht fighting with the tournament director than you are the girls actually winning the tournament, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:33

And you don't want to fight her, you do not want to fight her. I don't care if it's over a special pack or a meatball on a plate, you don't want to fight her for anything. Do not fight her. She's not she does she actually just committed to life university in Georgia. So she I'm excited for her. She's gonna like the she wants the warm weather. She's gonna be it's gonna be like perfect for her. So I'm really excited for her.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:56

But so a few important sorry, uh oh my bad. Um important notes from oh congratulations, Devlin. Sorry, just registered in my head on your commitment. Let's go.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:07

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:11

What did you say it was down in Florida? Uh Georgia. Georgia, okay. Saying Wells' relieving Georgia Winters down there. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:21

Check that location.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:24

Couple of matches from uh sectionals that I want, or yeah, a few know. It's uh Clara. That's uh big match with the Lexa in the semifinals, and it ended up being bigger because of the rematch factor because of the seeding. I'm not complaining about the seeding. That was a really fun narrative going into the state tournament, but seven to six. I think a lot of people thought, like, wow, that's like a state quarterfinal level match in the sectional semis. Anything on that match, Pat.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:55

Yeah, I I mean, um, that was a match that uh I was actually in, I think I was with I might have been with Dylan or Dublin at that time. So I wasn't in the corner at the time, but I was I I I caught the end of the match. Um it was it was one of those the um that match and the match at state with her were just where we could not quite beat her defense, you know. She was just so good at at uh letting Clara into where Clara could could turn could could score, you know. But I mean that that was the the the sectional match was if if Claire has 30 more seconds though, it's going our way. Like and and a lot of people probably don't realize um Clara's just so strong and her gas tank, like she does she's not gonna get tired. Like there's just it's impossible to tire her out. Like she just Clara just did a what was it? It was an overnight, like 17 mile uh like adventure race. Just and and like you had to stay up all night. It was biking, uh canoeing, hiking, running. I mean, it was ridiculous. Her and her brother did did this, and that I mean she does that stuff for fun, like what her fun is, just for the thing. And so yeah, just just she just likes to do that stuff, and so um that that's where I always felt like if Clara could wrestle a 15-minute match, killing everybody, killing everybody, you know. Um, so yeah, but but but Alexa did a great job too. I mean, she knew what she had to do in both of those matches to win, and she she did it, you know. Um it was harder at the state tournament on Clara. That was like pretty crushing because I think Clara thought she could beat her. Yeah, and she really wanted to win a state title. I mean, Clara's beat a bunch of state champs. I mean, she's beat, she's beaten um the I'm trying to think of who she um because she beat she beat Kat Cook, she beat um oh man, why is the name escaping me now?

SPEAKER_02 1:27:02

What what town? What school?

SPEAKER_00 1:27:05

Uh it was the girl who won it last year at 10 at 107.

SPEAKER_02 1:27:10

Was it the Hudson girl?

SPEAKER_00 1:27:12

Uh she beat the Hudson girl later this year. She beat her in the spring. She beat so the girl that won it this year, Clara beat her at a tournament in the spring. Um and uh man, I I can't believe I can't remember this girl's name. Um the girl that won state the girl that won the state title, not this past year, but the year before.

SPEAKER_02 1:27:30

Oh, the year before at 107.

SPEAKER_03 1:27:32

Oh, now I'm oh yeah. Well let me get uh crack statistician on that one. That would be two tough.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:39

This is where my brain. Normally I'm normally I'm really good at this stuff.

SPEAKER_03 1:27:42

That's track, right? 2025. Yep. In what weight class? 107?

SPEAKER_00 1:27:48

It was only seven.

SPEAKER_03 1:27:50

Was it uh Gardner? Ava?

SPEAKER_00 1:27:53

Ava Gardner, Ava Gardner, yep, yeah. Claire beat her at Banch.

SPEAKER_02 1:27:58

Okay, now, anyways, yeah. So she beat Ava. Gardner. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:01

Yep. And then the the Hudson girl um that won it this year. Um uh she beat her in the spring. Um, she beat Kat Cook. I mean, there's she's she's beaten some some really good kids. Um she just who knows? We'll see if Claire, if Clara ends up wrestling in college, I think she's gonna keep getting better, but we'll see what she does.

SPEAKER_02 1:28:21

Almost wasn't gonna talk about this, but uh it I just didn't notice it because it was a dominating result. But Elliot Malloy is a great wrestler, and Devlin just really showed that she was on a mission that weekend. And I'm gonna skip to Jesse. Jesse probably had the most dramatic day because Pat, you've you've been in D1 wrestling long enough, and you know the bracket setup. There's a hammer on the other side of that sectional bracket. You you want to have optimism in your kid, but you know that hammer's probably winning it. And what is basically the qualifying match is taking place in the semifinal, and that's kind of what it looks like with uh DeMarcy and Weeble House here.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:04

Yeah, yeah, yep, and that was a crazy match too. And she did it, uh Jesse's just so strong. And again, that that um she has a great wrestling mentality, and a lot of that comes from her hockey mentality, and uh, you know, that was a match that the crowd was getting into too. But I just felt like Jesse just kind of broker, like over time, just kind of just kind of took the wind out of this kid's sails, and and in the end, she just you know, in the end it ended up looking pretty dominant. But that was that was a scary match, you know. But it's but it but and and you could kind of tell that that was whoever lost that match was probably gonna take third. And and and then and then you're you're you're on the outside looking in. But yeah, she did a nice job with that, just a super tough kid.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:51

Uh how about could you have predicted Ramsey Brandenburg being the one to make it to a second period against Maddie Pete?

SPEAKER_00 1:30:00

Well, I guess she's in your area, so maybe you could have predicted that, but yeah, just seeing seeing her possible, she's so strong. Like, um, and of course that made Maddie angry, you know, like that's how she was looking for. But um, but you know, I thought I thought Ramsay, uh, those couple weeks in a row, I thought she had a she had a good game plan and just a very physically strong, competitive kid. Like, how can you not like watching her wrestle? Like, just she beat some kids that I mean coming in as a freshman, I don't care how strong you are, how good you are, she beat some kids that were really, really good. Um, and uh, so I I will I'll admit she was a scare, I thought she was a scary kid because she could throw. She's because she liked she like she wasn't afraid to go big. Um, and uh, you know, maybe I didn't I didn't really think she was she was gonna um I I could I wouldn't say that I thought she was gonna beat Maddie, but if anybody was gonna have a chance, I thought it was her because she could go big, and you never know. You'd you just you I don't again, I don't care how good you are, you bang heads, you get you get a little blacked out for a little bit, and somebody goes big. You you never know what what could happen. So um, but but uh yeah, she's that that that kid's the real deal. She's she's she's the real deal for sure.

SPEAKER_02 1:31:23

And that brings us to uh the state tournament. Nice. And we got we got five wrestlers, so that's basically what we got the show. Oh, and actually, it not like we still got time here. I did want to ask you, Pat, because you you brought it up uh after the Watson tournament. You gotta be feeling pretty confident that you're gonna repeat the weekend into the state tournament, but was there like a chaos scenario that you had played out, or is like, all right, this is what needs to happen for other teams for us to get second? Or like, was there even a chaos scenario there, or was it basically like it'd be like an injury or a really like an upset that you couldn't see coming?

SPEAKER_00 1:32:05

I I have a really catastrophic personality.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:10

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 1:32:10

Like, I think it's horrible. I I and this has been the way I've been since I was a little kid. Like, I will play out, I will game out in my mind. I probably shouldn't be saying this, but I can I'll game out in my mind the worst possible things that could happen that are never gonna happen. And just it's it's like a defense mechanism, so I so that I deal with it beforehand, right? Um if it happens, and and so that so that I'm prepared if it if it happens. And and so um, but but one thing I this going into this tournament, I was like, I'm not gonna do that. Uh, I'm just all I'm gonna do is we're just gonna go wrestle. I'm not, I'm not gonna sit here, I'm not gonna go through every single team's entries. I'm not gonna look for everybody who's got five kids or four kids who could possibly beat us. Uh I I'm not doing that this time. And uh it was hard. It was hard not to go through it and look at it like that, but I didn't I didn't do it. I just was I I I forced myself to let it go and let the kids and just focus on the kids. Because to me, it was like, what do I want from this? I want five state titles. You know, the first thing is I want I want five kids on the podium, but I want five state titles for these kids. Um, and and then nobody can beat you. You know, then nobody can beat you, so you don't have to worry about it. Um, but no, I'm I'm very catastrophic in that. I I would normally do that, but I didn't this time. You did?

SPEAKER_03 1:33:42

Nice job. I tried. That you and I, uh at least when I coach, you and I have a lot of same personality traits, so that's uh it's nice to know there's another fellow crazy guy out there. Yeah, yeah. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 1:33:55

Well, hey, we'll start we'll start with Jesse and then we'll go uh we'll go back up to 100 and we'll close off with uh Maddie on the individual side. Uh Jesse did make it to the constellation round of two. She got a nice win over uh Juliana Johnson from St. Croix Falls in her first Conci match. But man, what what's the pep talk going into the 132-pound bracket, Pat? Just leave it all on the mat or what?

SPEAKER_00 1:34:22

Yeah, just be yourself. Yeah again. Especially with her, it's you're you just just go be yourself. And and from for her, like she was owned to last year. I wanted I wanted her to get a win to know there's part of it, you gotta know you belong there, you know. Um, and and so I think that that'll pay dividends going into the into the next year or two. And and you just want kids to feel good about the uh about their their effort, because her effort's never bad. It's always great, you know? Um, and it's sometimes sometimes you want her to take the foot off the gas a little bit because she'll put herself in a bad position by going so hard. Um, but uh, but more for her than than anything, I wanted her to feel like she contributed to the team title and we and and she she's one of the best kids in the state. And I wanted her to to to know that that she belonged at that tournament. And and I feel like we left there and and that that was that that was the case. Because that was a that was a tough turn. That was a tough bracket. There's some great kids in that bracket. And she was one of them. She was definitely one of them, for sure. So I thought I was proud of, I was proud of her of her effort. I think I think she did a really great job.

SPEAKER_02 1:35:40

Well, also you can't game plan for the I don't even know if I'd call it a big upset of Delia Collins. I think meeting Delia on the second round of a consolation, not something that it only happens at the state tournament.

SPEAKER_00 1:35:52

Yeah, yep, yep. And again, really tough, yeah. Super tough kid. And that's yeah, I that that was that that was the one where you have nothing to lose. Just go out there and get after it and make sure she knows she's in a match, and and you get you have as good a chance as anybody. So I thought she did a really good job with that too.

SPEAKER_02 1:36:14

Going up to Dylan at third place at 100 pounds, which no, that probably wasn't what she was shooting for, but to see her get a win in the third place match after the loss in the I think that speaks to a lot to who she is, because that's not easy. And another crazy weight class, 100 pounds.

SPEAKER_00 1:36:32

Yeah. Yep, yep. And and I I I still feel like um, you know, maybe maybe she she didn't have her greatest weekend. I still feel like um you can't convince me she wasn't the best kid in that weight class. You know, she had a rough match. Um, you know, there's a lot of uh, like I said, I think when you're really, really good, I think sometimes you there's so many, there's so many demons that get inside your head. Um you know, whereas like uh a person like me, like we were talking about before, like a person like me, if I'm in the if I'm in the the the state semis, I I'm like, I I already won. Like I if I if I like I would I'd I'd be free to just I'd be throwing the at the kitchen sink at somebody. But man, if you if you're expecting to win and the only the only the only thing you want is the state title and you get into a dog fight, you can you can you can find yourself kind of losing your way in a match, I feel like sometimes. And I really think that's really that's really all that happened. It was just kind of a maybe a rough, rough emotional um match for her. Uh and and uh but but like I said, I you can't can't convince me she wasn't the best kid in that weight class. I just feel like she was. It just wasn't her tournament. And and so now the goal is to make sure the next two are. But it can't be yeah, it can't be like life or death, though.

SPEAKER_02 1:38:06

In that perspective, the compet like the competition's too good to where like you still need to be at the top of your game.

SPEAKER_00 1:38:12

Yep, yep, yep. And it and you gotta know, I feel like you gotta know that it that it's not life or death. You you're putting you you just want to make sure that your effort makes them wish they wouldn't have come out there that day. And and and and if you can get them feeling like they don't, they wish they would, they they they I like to think of it as if you can put them in a place, especially those really good kids, where they start to question their own existence, like why am I even why am I even here at all? Like, why am I why am I what am I what am I doing here? I want to get off this mat. Um that's kind of the best way to approach those those matches, not in a like angry, evil way, but just like you're I'm I'm gonna make sure that you don't want to be here anymore because there the it your skill levels are so close together. There's gotta be some equalizer, and it's it's not even like you know, you gotta want it, or any of those cliches. It's like I'm gonna make sure every time you touch my legs, you're gonna wish you were never born. Like, like that, and and that sometimes I feel like that's that's the that's the difference. Um and and maybe that sounds super weird. It probably does sound super weird, but I I do think that's that's part of the deal. Yeah, and she and again, I'm gonna I'll just say it again. I I still feel like she's the best kid in that weight class, and nobody could convince me otherwise. And uh I'd go to war with her any day. I'd I'd be in a foxhole with her any any day of the week. Greed. Proud of her proud of who, proud of who she is to come back and and place third because you can tank so easy to tank there, and she didn't.

SPEAKER_02 1:39:46

So 107 pounds. Nice Miss Clara. Good battle back on the Concy side after that quarterfinals match.

SPEAKER_00 1:39:57

Yep, absolutely crushed um after she lost that the the um the semis there to wait that quarterfinal. Um yeah, quarterfinal. Um to to Alexa. Um it was a quarter final, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:40:13

Yeah, it was the quarters. Then she beat Sophia, Aliyah, and Kira.

SPEAKER_00 1:40:18

That's right. For all the yeah, because then she had to come back for fifth. She was I was shocked at how how disappointed she was, to be honest with you. I mean, it was uh that was quite the rehabilitation that that night, to be honest. Um, and uh it was it was very painful, but the way she came back, um uh it was uh super commendable, and I was so proud of her. Uh very excited to see her just kind of really beat kids up on the way back to fifth, too. Um, there were some kids coming out there to wrestle her, and then have to beat the kid that you beat before, having to beat a kid twice in one tournament, that's hard to do. Yeah, yeah. Um, but I did see the look on some girls' faces coming out, walking out, and I thought, wow, they don't want to beat, they do not want to do this right now. And then it Claire like slammed the door on them. So for her to start as a sophomore and place twice play plays twice at the state tournament, like a joy of my life to coach my my niece and get to know her the way that I got to know her through this. So she's she's still contemplating wrestling in college because I don't I think she's got a lot left in the tank, but we'll see. Um, I'll let you guys know if she makes a decision here. But we're still working through some options right now, and there's a lot of good options for her out there. So really proud of her. And again, one of the joys of my coaching career is to be a be a part of her her wrestling life and pulling her into the sport.

SPEAKER_02 1:41:44

Miss Devlin, a third at 114.

SPEAKER_00 1:41:48

14. Yeah, another person that another girl that like I just saw her as a state champ. You you get the you get all the right, the right. Um you know, you know, the ball bounces the right way for you, and you're she's she's sitting on top of that podium, I feel like. Like she's she's that good. I think she could beat anybody looking forward to her college career. Um again, I love the I loved her last match of her career of her high school career, uh, because she beat Ezie Son and Tag super tough. There's blood everywhere. It was perfect. It was like the perfect way for Donald Trump.

SPEAKER_02 1:42:23

The white final singlet.

SPEAKER_00 1:42:25

White singlet, blood all over it. I actually put that singlet in a shadow box for her. Did not wash so it's got her the blood, and then they caught a great picture of uh a guy from Coca Con actually picked caught a great picture of us hugging after that match, and uh um really just a special moment because um she she took a chance on um she was at Janesville Craig actually her freshman year, and took a chance coming to Milton um and and finishing out her career here. And um, yeah, we've just been through so many, so many great, um, great and terrible moments together that it's uh again just one of those privileges of coaching that to get to know a kid that well and to to get to have them be a part of your life is just a huge thing. So super proud of her too. She did an awesome job.

SPEAKER_02 1:43:15

And closing out with uh Maddie Peach. And I know you've been you've been in this game a long time, Pat. I know you've coached uh plenty of hammers on the guy's side, but how is how was the coaching experience of Maddie, who I think uh maybe maybe the she you could argue she's the best pound for pound wrestler on the girl side.

SPEAKER_00 1:43:39

Yeah, yeah. I mean she's she's definitely at the very least right there with all the best the best girls. And um uh I'm looking forward to her college career at Grand Valley. And I just think it's so funny that when when the Peaches moved into Milton, and I I probably I might have told you guys this story before, but I was with with with Tyson, he was the the kid I knew about. I didn't know about her at all. I didn't know um, and and I mean maybe I should have, I just didn't. But I'm when I met her as uh as when they when they got to town, I was just like, oh, it's just a really nice kid. And then it was just when once I saw her on the mat, it was just boom, boom, but just knocking up these tough guys, um, and just beating up the boys, and it took a good boy to beat her. I mean, it took a really solid boy to beat her, and uh um, and and and again, she's just a really, really awesome kid. She's she is an awesome baker, like she bakes multi-talented, I mean like super talented. Like, I can't, I I'm I'm not even doing it justice saying how good she is so good at baking. Um, she can make a living off of that. She's so good, so good at it. Um yeah, and um just super super hard worker. Just I mean, she's the catalyst, she was the catalyst and and the face of this whole thing because she's just so dominant. Um it's she it was kind of like she had like this cult following at school too. Um because she she it was kind of I almost felt like people didn't even couldn't understand her, like um, but but man, a lot of a lot of the girls would from at school would come up to me and be like, she's so awesome, like she's like scary and nice, and she's just it's just crazy to watch her just kill people out there and then talk to her at school about you know whatever.

SPEAKER_02 1:45:44

Maddie just has this like panache about that's just like she just I don't know, as the kids would say, there's just this aura that she has that yeah, it's like hey, I'm gonna be like great at everything and a great human.

SPEAKER_00 1:45:59

Yep, yep. Her freshman year, she got she had a little, I say like a little mental emotional little lapse in that semis against that Sun Prairie uh girl. I think they were doing the bopa quintana, I think it was her name super tough. She had a little bit like that little uh it was a pretty good match, but I thought she could have could have won it. But af but after that, there was I I just it's one of those those she's one of those rare people, like in Aiden Sinclair, where you're like, I don't think anybody can beat like I I like walking out, it didn't matter if I knew who her opponent was or not. I'd never had to look, it didn't matter, it could have been anybody, and it did not matter. You could just walk out there and you know, in especially her last two years and this year, her senior year, there was never a point where she ever I never saw her ever doubt herself, not once. And you know, I think she's gonna get to that point in college, and um, you know, I I think uh I just want her to enjoy it. I just hope she I just hope she she always enjoys the sport. She's gonna be a great coach if she wants to do that, she'll be a great business owner if she wants to open up a bakery, like she she'll do she'll do whatever and she's gonna do a great great at whatever she chooses to do.

SPEAKER_02 1:47:17

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 1:47:19

Yep, whatever she chooses to as to be passionate about, she's gonna be great at because her, you know, she learned how to work and she she's um she's a really great example. And um uh I'll miss those seniors, that's for sure. No, and not just because they're good, not just because they're really, really great. I'll miss them. They're they're uh all so unique and just wonderful, wonderful people to be around.

SPEAKER_03 1:47:42

Um, hey, I'm gonna jump in here. Uh Pat, you've uh rivaled some of our best, and it's been very entertaining. I'm telling you what, I'm like sitting here, and there's all kinds of we take little uh um Melissa does a great job of taking little snippets, and I imagine there's gonna be a lot from this that's gonna go on and uh so many words of wisdom. But I uh do have a hard stop time, so I figure this is my time to jump in. Steve has a hard stop time. We can keep going. I'm guessing we're we're not long after Steve here. But I'm gonna I'm gonna ask my trivia question. It's for Teague, Pat, but you can assist him in any way that he needs. I have a feeling he's gonna get it, right? But it is about Maddie. Um, Maddie's obviously uh as soon as I answer the question, you guys get it. I'm gonna do a real quick gone, and uh you guys can finish up. So, folks, um, so here's uh obviously Maddie Peach, three times state champ, and their three championship years, Teague. She's had at the state tournament now, she's had three wrestlers that she did not pin. Two were by tech fall, and one was a decision. Can you name those three wrestlers? Oh and you why don't you start with uh why don't you start with the two tech falls and then see if you can get the uh the non-pin or the phone?

SPEAKER_02 1:48:57

She she pinned her way through senior year, right? Uh she did not. Oh, wait. I just sorry, I'm cheating on this one.

SPEAKER_03 1:49:07

Oh, she can't Oh, that's right. I shouldn't have known this because it's you can't you can't look and then say you got it right. That's that's not that's a big X right there.

SPEAKER_02 1:49:16

All right, that'll that'll be a strike. The funny note about that one is that Matt texting us after saying, you know, she didn't score the first 15 points, we would have had a chance.

SPEAKER_03 1:49:27

So we got Chesapeake Bartoszek right sound. That was a tech fall in two minutes and 17 seconds. Junior year was also in the finals. Was that Delia? It was tech fall. Uh Tech fall Delia. Who was her sophomore year, the only wrestler to go the distance with her?

SPEAKER_02 1:49:46

Oh, it had to be one of the no, it wasn't Lily Banks because Lily has two tongue. Um it wouldn't have been Carly.

SPEAKER_03 1:49:58

Oh, was it was it Riley? It was not. It was a 7-1 decision, and Pat, who was it? Oh, he might not even know.

SPEAKER_02 1:50:07

What hang on, can we get one more hint?

SPEAKER_01 1:50:09

Um I'm usually really good at this.

SPEAKER_03 1:50:12

Do they have a state championship to their name? I don't know. I don't know that for sure, but I do know this. Uh Pat was uh talking about this school uh a lot before when he's thinking, I think uh uh Clara had a had a championship against this girl. Whatever, I'm sorry, be the state champ. Anyway, maybe she was, maybe she was. Oh, March. I'm kind of babbling right now. No, no, no. I don't know, Steve. We've had the coach, we've had this coach of this girl on the podcast several times.

SPEAKER_02 1:50:44

Okay, so not badger.

SPEAKER_00 1:50:50

I'm gonna feel bad since I don't know this.

SPEAKER_02 1:50:52

I'm usually coach of this girl. Um, we we okay, oh, and they're a recurring guest. Should remember that.

SPEAKER_03 1:51:00

Umise, I got it. Yeah, your answer is uh okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:51:08

Hang on. I'm just trying to run through the role of that. Not not for uh I don't know what is it, Steve. I'm gonna be so mad.

SPEAKER_03 1:51:15

It's the uh the the up north, the Raiders of Hudson. Oh Natalie. Natalie. Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:51:24

So it was in the finals. She she was a little mad about that one, too. That's she was there.

SPEAKER_03 1:51:29

You go. Little little trivia for you. Pat, you've been awesome. That's uh we'll catch up at a later time. T's gonna finish off, folks. Have a good night.

SPEAKER_02 1:51:37

See ya, Steve all.

SPEAKER_00 1:51:39

Thanks, Steve. Appreciate you.

SPEAKER_02 1:51:41

God, he is really good with this trivia.

SPEAKER_00 1:51:43

Um realize we're we're talking about some other people being long-winded. I I went off, man.

SPEAKER_02 1:51:50

It's not bad to be long-winded. I knew because I know we talked an hour and a half because I just thought with like less tournament stuff, but yeah, you know, that's when you like to talk wrestling, you like to talk wrestling, Pat. Um I guess the well, the following question I had, you talked about the seniors and this group of girls in general, but I mean, does winning a team state title ever get old? Like, how awesome is it'll getting that trophy handed to you guys at the end of the tournament?

SPEAKER_00 1:52:16

No, that I I think I think I I said, um I when when I there are two two two beautiful things in the world, like you know, God's creation, like mountains and the ocean and things like that, and these and an a state title trophy. You know, like there's like these and and again, I I and they those are still dust collectors too. Like in the in the in the in the in the grand scheme, those things are still they the trophy itself is is just it's just a thing, you know, but to but the but what goes into it is what is what the special thing is, is what what's so special. I I will say like give props to the WIA for the the the way they designed that trophy with a with a woman on it, you know, that was super cool. So um it doesn't get old. Um that's always the goal every year is to win win state titles, individual and and team. And so um I'm super blessed and grateful that that uh I was able to have the best kids two years in a row. So and we'll we'll continue to pursue that. So it's pretty awesome.

SPEAKER_02 1:53:29

Did you did you find a way uh afterwards or did the WIA do something? So it's you guys are in a weird spot because it's just based on individual teams on individual scoring, but I know you genuinely and wholeheartedly believe the girls that did not qualify for state were still a part of that process. How do you how do you get them in on the festivities for the the team state title?

SPEAKER_00 1:53:53

Um I I I've I just feel like you you recognize them as like obviously at our banquet, and um I feel like they uh we were able to get some of them down on the floor. Oh no. The ones that were at the tournament, we were able to get them down on the floor with the with the trophy and with the other girls. Um because because um I do think it matters. Like I do think that that that matters. They were a huge part of it. And um to be to be there for that and to know that again, every everybody matters. Everyone, everybody that's in that room at the end of the year matters in terms of all the success that you've been able to have. So um, yeah, to me, to me, they're all they're all part of a state championship team. Like they should all be able to look back on that and say, I was part of that team. Love it, and an important part of that team.

SPEAKER_02 1:54:50

And going into uh next year, I know uh you're I mean, probably the like some of the biggest graduation losses just in terms of peer firepower. Uh what's the outlook for next year? Gonna be a lot of time recruiting in the halls looking to because now that's a dual format. I'm sure like those numbers are gonna show even like that chase for 12 is gonna be big.

SPEAKER_00 1:55:12

Oh, yeah, yep. And um I'm always I'm always d talking to to to kids about wrestling, boys and girls. Um so you know, one one girl I didn't get to mention because she she had to be a JV wrestler this year was Evi Stein. She she transferred, uh, but because she was a junior, she had to wrestle only sub varsity competition. So we struggled to get her matches this year, but man, she she she was at practice, she was she she was helping other kids out, she was working kids working with kids. Um, she's a big part of next year. You know, we're really hoping that to help her have a great season next year. Um uh but yeah, I think um the goal has to stay the same. Like you have to come into it with like we are we are going not defending, and that was one thing I told the girls this year is we're not defending anything. This is a new year. Yeah, like we're going to get something, we're attacking a goal. We are we are working towards something. So it'll be the same thing next year, but the but the look is much different because we need we need to to increase the numbers. But I like the core we've got coming back. Dylan, Adrian Murgan, Guadarama, uh Jesse DeMarcy, uh uh Tegan Hilding, Grayson Elson, Grayson De La O, Abby Stein. And then we're you know, I've had other girls uh approach me about coming out for wrestling. So we're we're I think we're we're in a good place building what we're what we're what will become a really, really tough dual meet team. That's the definitely the goal for next year. And I'm I'm actually pretty fired up about it. I think it's gonna be pretty fun.

SPEAKER_02 1:56:51

I think you'll start to see uh probably like the long-term like Maddie and Devlin effect where it's like the girls are like, oh wow, like wrestling's really cool. Like, look at those girls do that stuff. And I think you'll see you'll see the fruits of that labor for a while.

SPEAKER_00 1:57:07

Yep. I hope so, and I hope they're doing I hope they I hope that uh I hope that there's always something of value beyond the wrestling that we can get from it too. I and I as long as we can keep doing that, I think we'll we'll continue to pull kids in. And then as long as they have great experiences, then we'll we'll continue to build on it. And that's what that's what we're hoping to do. And I'm I'm pretty excited about it.

SPEAKER_02 1:57:29

And the last question for you, Pat. It's just a just a Pat question, not uh not a Milton question. By the way, congratulations again on the team state title. Fun fun team. I mean, great group of wrestlers, but more importantly, it's as you talked, it's just a great, just a nice young group of girls. That's what you know. That's I'll I'll never forget Dylan Albrick being like just fiending for Jolly Ranchers at every tournament we're at. That's the stuff that's that really matters, and uh you if you have one piece of advice for a coach, or think about the perspective, you could go back to Pat Yauk, day one of coaching, what's one piece of advice you'd give yourself?

SPEAKER_00 1:58:18

I think the most important thing about coaching is kind of like I was saying before, um I think I think the most important thing is making sure it's not about you. Because we can say it is, we can say it's not about me, but but uh you better be honest with with yourself on that. You better be able to look in the mirror and be like, I'm I'm here to serve kids and and and I am here to help somebody achieve something that they want to achieve. And uh and and don't don't uh use kids as a means to achieve your goals. That's not what it's about. It's about you helping them achieve things, you know. Um four years after I leave Milton High School as a teacher, there won't be one kid in that school that knows who I remembers me. And that's the truth. There won't be one kid in that school unless they're family or something like that. You know, there there won't be anybody in that school that remembers me. So um you you got today, that's it. Like you got you got this day um to to work with kids and try to speak into their lives, and and don't don't be don't be seeking your own validation through working with kids. They're not a means to an end for you. Um, we we're there to serve them. And um, you know, I'm 52 years old, so if I live the average lifespan of a Midwestern male, I'm gonna be dead by 775.2 years old. So according to my calculations, I got about 8,088 days. And with sleep, it's about 6,500. So you gotta make them count, and you gotta make you gotta make sure that especially as a coach and a teacher, that your life is about other people and being a being a man built for others. That's the that's the the thing I would say right away. And if you can learn that fast, I think you can have a really huge impact for like more of an eternal impact, um, and rather than just winning and losing. So that's what I would say.

SPEAKER_02 2:00:34

Did you have that math ready or did you uh well I read a great question?

SPEAKER_00 2:00:41

I read a book a couple that yeah, that's a little weird again, too. Uh uh you're getting a lot of the weirdness of me. I uh I read a book a couple summers ago, and it said in there that the average Midwestern male lives 75.2 years. And I was like, oh crap, I better, I better figure this out. And so I have a planner um that uh you know that I'll jot down notes in every day, um, you know, related to the tasks of the day, goals that I have for the day, goals I have for my life, you know, spiritual things and things, stuff like that as I read and get ready for the day. But ever since I read that book, I I wrote down, I calculated the number of days I have left if I live that average life. I mean, my dad died when he was 54. So like you got to remember, you got today. You don't have you don't, you're not guaranteed anything. Yeah, average. So I calculated out, and like as of today, Monday, June 15th, 2026, I got 8,088 days left. Or if I met if I subtract the minimal amount of sleep I get, it's yeah, but 65, 65, 88 and a half. So um, as weird as that is, it it got big.

SPEAKER_02 2:01:49

That was just I'm like, was he doing that while answering the question? Or like, did he have his calculator off? Sorry, I I did not want to I didn't mean to take away from your answer because that was very profound and like wise, and yes.

SPEAKER_00 2:02:02

I should have explained it first. That was that was weird to throw it out like that. But that's no, that was epic. That's what I do, that's what I do. That's that's my we gotta keep things weird around here, right? Keep keep it exciting. Yep, it's a weird life. Wrestling coaching is a weird life, so it's a it's a good life, it's a great life, but it's a weird life, so we'll keep it weird. That's cool.

SPEAKER_02 2:02:22

Well, Pat, thank you for uh taking the time to come out. We definitely gotta have you on again just to talk coaching philosophy things, or maybe we'll we'll get the stone coaches out, like spilding empi, and then bring you on and like you can ribble and whatnot. That'd be fun.

SPEAKER_00 2:02:35

Uh fun. We're friends now, we're good now because we're not in the same, we're not going for the same thing, so we're okay.

SPEAKER_02 2:02:41

Oh, that's right. Yeah, fair. Yep. But yeah, thank you for taking the time to come on. Thank you for all the time you put into to coaching and the sport of wrestling. I know the wrestling community appreciates you for all you do, and I appreciate you for coming on the show. So yeah, thanks, man.

SPEAKER_00 2:02:58

I appreciate you having me. So thanks for letting me uh get some stuff out of me. I really appreciate that. It was good.

SPEAKER_02 2:03:05

It's always a good time. Well, folks, for those of you tuned in, oh we'll have this out tomorrow. So tomorrow on Wednesday, we're gonna have another Doug Forsyth on the show. We'll be talking the postseason assignments for the boys side because that's always a fun topic, to put it lightly. So tune in live for that, and we got plenty of other things planned as we go through the summer. But thank you everyone for tuning in. Thank you, Pat, and until next time, we'll catch you on the flu.