Pat Castillo is riding high.

The junior wrestler has steam-rolled through the competition this month, recording three technical falls in one day and earning a MAC Player of the Week award along the way.

Mr. February will take his momentum and his No. 1 MAC seed into the MAC Championships this weekend in Buffalo. Castillo recently talked to the Star about everything from competing against his brother to earning a better nickname.

Northern Star: Are you excited you earned a No. 1 seed heading into the MAC tournament this weekend?

Pat Castillo: Yeah, but I’m not sure if excitement is the word. It doesn’t matter what seed I am though. I would go in there with the same mind-set no matter what. I’d say I’m pretty pumped.

NS: What are your predictions for the tournament this weekend?

PC: Individually, of course I want to win the MAC. I came up short last year, so I just want to go in there and dominate my opponents. As a team, no one expects us to beat Central Michigan, but I think we’ll give them a run for their money.

NS: Would winning the MAC be your greatest accomplishment so far as an NIU wrestler?

PC: Yeah, it would be close. Last year, I was second in Midlands, and that was pretty good.

NS: How often do people pronounce your last name the Spanish-sounding way – you know, disregarding the “L’s”?

PC: Not too often. It only happens here and there. Most of the times it’s teachers, and I just correct them.

NS: How is it having your older brother Mike on the team as a coach, and your younger brother Vince as a teammate?

PC: It’s not too bad. It takes some getting used to. I’ve always been around them in a wrestling way, though.

NS: I understand your older brother Mike was a wrestler at Illinois. Do you think you could take him?

PC: Yeah, but he weighs a bit more than me. If he lost around 20 pounds, I could take him.

NS: Do you guys ever wrestle each other or talk trash during practice?

PC: We only do drills against each other. We talk trash during other sports, like bean bags.

NS: Do you beat him in that?

PC: Oh yeah.