As one of the captains this year, how do you think the recent No. 1 ranking affects the team's attitude?  It's still early in the season. The rankings are just opinions by other people. They help build our confidence, but we still know that we have to work on improving each week. What we really care about is being No. 1 at the end of the season.     Do you think that there is added pressure now?  I don't feel too much added pressure because it is still early in the season and I don't think we are a No. 1 team yet.     Did you do anything differently to prepare yourself for the Missouri Open final match against Johnny Thompson, or did you treat it like any other match?  I didn't do anything different before the tournament, but before his match I was definitely more pumped up for it. I have been looking forward to wrestling him since he beat me at nationals last year. I have been going over that match in my mind for quite some time. I've visualized wrestling him again and again and beating him, knowing that I was capable of doing that. I just came out expecting to win, I gave it all I've got, and I won. It was the first tournament of the season, and far from being a match at nationals. I have to keep working hard and doing what I do.      Although this is your third season starting for Illinois, do you still get nervous before matches?  I get a little nervous before my matches. Not as much as before, just a little anxious. I'm out there with more confidence now, so I use the nervousness as a positive and try to beat my opponent as much as possible.     You were named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week last week. Does that honor surprise you, or do you feel you earned it after your performance at the Missouri Open?  It was an honor receiving the award. I don't think it was a complete shock, I had a good tournament at the start of the year, beating some quality wrestlers. I'm hoping I can continue this and receive the honor again later in the season.     Coach Johnson calls you one of the funniest guys on the team. Is that something you work at or does it just happen?  It definitely just happens. You just have to be yourself, have fun with the sport and your teammates. It's an intense sport and you have to have times of fun and times of seriousness. We work hard and we play hard.     Which one of your teammates do you think you get along with or can relate to the most?  Brian Joseph Glynn, because he always looks to me for advice and we've gotten to know each other the last three or so years. We have a lot of the same thoughts and feelings on many subject matters, although mine are a little more superior.     If you had to choose one of your coaches to be stranded on an island with, who would it be and why?  I'd pick Carl Perry, because he's a goofy little guy. He likes to play many different kinds of games, which I feel would be important when you're stranded on an island - keeping yourself entertained. If any woman came ashore, I'd be the one they would definitely pick since I am much better looking. If I was looking for survival, I would pick Jim Heffernan because he's smarter.     Why not Mark Johnson on your island?  Probably because he would make me do all the work on the island.     What is your favorite thing to eat after weigh-ins?  A piece of bread or a bagel, put peanut butter on it, cut up a banana and smush it on the peanut butter, then add some honey or jelly, maybe a granola bar on top. That's what I eat right after weigh-ins, along with lots of fluids.