Our school doctor would not certify Vitaly at 119 until he received the two-pound weight allowance on Jan. 15. I told Vitaly he should move up to 125, but he wanted to stay at 119.
Dave is in a tough weight class. If he wrestles like he has in our last two tournaments, he has a good shot of qualifying.
I looked at our schedule and picked the opponents that would challenge Vitaly the most. I wanted to make sure he got the best possible competition, so I sat him out in matches where he would have received a forfeit or faced a weak opponent.
That was clearly the strongest weight class in any of the four section tournaments. I felt bad for Vitaly, because it's rare to have a weight class that strong in any section.
Vitaly is such an intense athlete. He pushes all the kids in the practice room every day. His younger brother, Dave, is almost as intense as Vitaly.
I have never had anybody who practices harder than him.
