STOUGHTON - Coming out flat against an average team is not a recipe for defeat.
Doing so at the home of one of the state's elite wrestling programs is another story.
The Cheesemakers, depleted by injuries, fell to Stoughton 61-9 Friday night.
"The team seemed a little down, even our better guys came out flat," head coach Jeriamy Jackson said. The Cheesemakers had four wrestlers out with injury and is missing nine members of their team.
"Some of our guys were wrestling the singlet, the tradition, and you can't do that," Jackson said. "I told the guys to battle hard for six minutes, even if you're outmanned."
Kyle Klopfenstein and Gavin Wels picked up Monroe's only victories, at 140 and 103 pounds, respectively.
Klopfenstein pinned Tyler Vike in 2 minutes, 51 seconds. He dominated the first period and garnered a 10-1 lead. Klopfenstein said he started the second period slow, but rebounded to get the pin roughly halfway through.
"Kyle learned from Gavin's match a little, and he took control of the match," Jackson said. "That's what I preach to the guys, is not give the other guy even a glimmer of hope that they can win."
Wels learned a hard lesson at the start of his match with Jack Williford. The Viking took Wells down about 25 seconds into the match for a 2-0 lead. Williford garnered two more points to take a 4-0 lead before Wels stepped up his game.
"He was a little better than I thought he was," Wels said. "That was my mistake, but I got my head out of my butt and wrestled strong."
Wels evened the match at four after one period, took the lead in the second and finished with a 9-5 victory.
"He was caught off guard, but he's got to be ready for that," Jackson said. "He has to realize he's one of the top wrestlers in the conference, and people are coming after him."
Stoughton head coach Dan Spilde knew Monroe was not at full strength, and he had to work extra hard to get the Vikings motivated.
"No matter how down a team is, every team has a couple studs, and we ran into them tonight," Spilde said. "We have to turn around and fight a little harder at conference so we don't run into them again."
For the Cheesemakers, the last week of the regular season includes a dual Tuesday and Oregon and then the conference tournament next weekend in Mt. Horeb.
Jackson said it's time for individuals to get healthy and concentrate on making it as far as they can in the postseason.
"The focus isn't on the team anymore," Jackson said. "It's to get these guys as far as they can go and build this team for next season."
The Cheesemakers will lose only one senior off this year's squad in Klopfenstein.
"Coach wants us to wrestle well against Oregon, but the conference meet is what we're shooting for," Klopfenstein said. "I plan to step up, keep practicing hard and make it to the next level."
Doing so at the home of one of the state's elite wrestling programs is another story.
The Cheesemakers, depleted by injuries, fell to Stoughton 61-9 Friday night.
"The team seemed a little down, even our better guys came out flat," head coach Jeriamy Jackson said. The Cheesemakers had four wrestlers out with injury and is missing nine members of their team.
"Some of our guys were wrestling the singlet, the tradition, and you can't do that," Jackson said. "I told the guys to battle hard for six minutes, even if you're outmanned."
Kyle Klopfenstein and Gavin Wels picked up Monroe's only victories, at 140 and 103 pounds, respectively.
Klopfenstein pinned Tyler Vike in 2 minutes, 51 seconds. He dominated the first period and garnered a 10-1 lead. Klopfenstein said he started the second period slow, but rebounded to get the pin roughly halfway through.
"Kyle learned from Gavin's match a little, and he took control of the match," Jackson said. "That's what I preach to the guys, is not give the other guy even a glimmer of hope that they can win."
Wels learned a hard lesson at the start of his match with Jack Williford. The Viking took Wells down about 25 seconds into the match for a 2-0 lead. Williford garnered two more points to take a 4-0 lead before Wels stepped up his game.
"He was a little better than I thought he was," Wels said. "That was my mistake, but I got my head out of my butt and wrestled strong."
Wels evened the match at four after one period, took the lead in the second and finished with a 9-5 victory.
"He was caught off guard, but he's got to be ready for that," Jackson said. "He has to realize he's one of the top wrestlers in the conference, and people are coming after him."
Stoughton head coach Dan Spilde knew Monroe was not at full strength, and he had to work extra hard to get the Vikings motivated.
"No matter how down a team is, every team has a couple studs, and we ran into them tonight," Spilde said. "We have to turn around and fight a little harder at conference so we don't run into them again."
For the Cheesemakers, the last week of the regular season includes a dual Tuesday and Oregon and then the conference tournament next weekend in Mt. Horeb.
Jackson said it's time for individuals to get healthy and concentrate on making it as far as they can in the postseason.
"The focus isn't on the team anymore," Jackson said. "It's to get these guys as far as they can go and build this team for next season."
The Cheesemakers will lose only one senior off this year's squad in Klopfenstein.
"Coach wants us to wrestle well against Oregon, but the conference meet is what we're shooting for," Klopfenstein said. "I plan to step up, keep practicing hard and make it to the next level."
