Matt Grippi was enjoying a summer afternoon at a friend's pool when he received a text from one of his childhood heroes, former NCAA All-American wrestler Steven Rodrigues.

"He said, 'Next year, it's me and you,'" Grippi recalled. "I was so excited. I tweeted it right away, and the first thing that came to mind was practice. Every practice, I get to wrestle with, to me, the best training partner anyone can have throughout the entire country for high school athletes."

After graduating from the University of Illinois in 2016 and working as an assistant coach at Stanford last season, Rodrigues decided he was returning home to Mount Kisco. There, he would not only have the opportunity to coach Grippi for his senior season, but also to coach alongside his father Anthony at his alma mater, Fox Lane.

It was the perfect fit.