Timeout with ... Ryan Olliges, Lake Stevens wrestling

Q: How's life going?
A: It's pretty good. We got two weeks left of, well like 10 days left of wrestling practice. I'm looking forward to the state tournament.

Q: You sound a little out of breath, it looks like you're having a pretty intense practice.
A: Yeah it's pretty tough.

Q: School going well?
A: Yeah it's pretty good. I'm in some tough classes and the semester just ended so it's kind of a break in between which is nice because usually I'm just up late doing homework.

Q: What's the toughest class?
A: Probably U-Dub (University of Washington) English. It's like two English classes at the same time.

Q: I know wrestling's going well. Are you excited for regionals?
A: Yeah I'm gonna go there and try and win it so I can get a good seed for the state tournament.

Q: Do you think you'll make it to state?
A: Yeah. I'm pretty certain I'll make it to state.

Q: What are you ranked?
A: I think -- I don't know. I don't follow the rankings that close but last time I heard I think I was ranked third.

Q: Are you guys at all angry about Snohomish winning the district championship (for the first time in 13 years)?
A: They've got quite a bit of depth. They wrestle tough. We didn't have our (stuff) together. Two of our kids didn't wrestle in the tournament. We're hoping to come back to regionals and win regionals.

Q: Have you ever lost a fight?
A: A fight? Um…outside of wrestling I don't think I've ever been in a real fight. I've never been challenged to a fight.

Q: People are smart. Do you have WWE aspirations?
A: No. I have no desire to wrestle in the WWE.

Q: Did you watch the Super Bowl last weekend?
A: I caught the end of the game.

Q: Were you happy with the result?
A: Yeah. One of the kids on our team was betting money on the Patriots, and he lost.

Q: I hope it wasn't a lot of money.
A: It was just 10 bucks so it wasn't that big of a deal.

Q: Did you have a favorite commercial?
A: Um. I didn't really watch that much of the commercials, unfortunately. I'll probably have to go back and watch them on Youtube.

Q: So you didn't go out and buy M'n'Ms right away?
A: No.

Q: Have you seen the Clint Eastwood one, where he says it's "halftime in America?"
A: Yeah I did see that one. … It was funny because we were all sitting around the table and you didn't see who it was. I said, "Dad, this sounds like Clint Eastwood. It's gotta be Clint Eastwood." And then at the end of the commercial there was Clint Eastwood.

Q: What is your favorite sporting event of the year?
A: I'd have to say probably the X Games or the Winter Olympics. Outside of wrestling I'm really into snowboarding. It's kind of fun to watch Superpipe.

Q: Thinking about going pro when school's done?
A: No. That's just to pass time.

Q: What do you hope for after high school? Do you have any big plans?
A: I'm trying to go to college. I applied to USC, UCLA, Cal-Poly and U-Dub and WSU. I'm hoping to go into either engineering or business.

Q: What would you like to do when you're all grown up?
A: I'd really like to own my own company. But I have to figure out how to do that.

Q: What kind of company?
A: I don't know yet. It's just kind of a general goal.

Q: A wealthy one?
A: Yeah (laughs). A wealthy company.

Q: What are your goals for the rest of your senior year?
A: I'd really like to place at the state tournament, and I'd like to finish off with good grades. Hopefully I don't get senioritis or something and start slacking.