MADISON - Aaron Hesgard and Trevor Gorr learned Thursday night what so many other first-time competitors at the WIAA individual wrestling tournament have: That at this level, anything less than a perfect match results in a loss.
The juniors both were making their Division 2 state tournament debuts and both bowed out in close matches at the Kohl Center - Hesgard falling 6-4 to Seymour's Dylan Drephal at 126 pounds and Gorr dropping a 4-1 decision to Luxemburg-Casco's Luke Destiche at 220 pounds.
Gorr (40-6) reached state by finishing second at sectionals and faced a sophomore in Destiche. The match was tied 1-1 in the final minute of the third period when Gorr drew a second stalling warning, resulting in a point for Destiche.
"Nobody took shots and nobody was getting after it," Monroe coach Jeriamy Jackson said. "They were pretty content to let it come down to the last period and when Trevor backed up a couple times, the ref dinged him for stalling. That made it a whole different match. Trevor had to press the issue, took a bad shot and got taken down off it and that's what happens when you get behind like that."
Indeed, Destiche (39-11) recorded a takedown off Gorr's failed shot
attempt with 20 seconds left to ice the match.
Gorr was disappointed in himself for not being more aggressive - as he was in the second half of his sectional championship match loss to Viroqua's Trent Vesbach.
"I didn't wrestle the match I wrestled against Vesbach at all, which really needed to happen," Gorr said. "It's just my own fault for not pushing it. I knew I had to come and take shots, but I've never really been good at that. I keep trying to get shots, but I needed more tempo in the match to make it faster for (Destiche)."
Gorr did push the issue in the first period, but missed on his first shot attempt and had to battle hard to avoid being taken down. He said that miss might have hurt his aggressiveness.
"That definitely put me on the back burner as far as shooting, because if I can't come with a shot, I don't really try anymore," Gorr said. "I definitely should have taken more (attempts) and pushed the issue."
Jackson said Gorr looked like a different wrestler than the one who didn't lose a match from the Bi-State Classic in late December until the sectional championship setback to Vesbach.
"I don't know if he had a little jitters or what, but he didn't come out like the normal guy I'm used to seeing come out and control the match. The kid has so much more," Jackson said. "He was pretty tentative. He didn't really want to commit to a shot. The kid's good that he wrestled, so you really have to set it up and do it well."
Gorr said he could have been better both physically and mentally.
"It was both, but mostly mental because I know I have to get over not taking shots," he said. "Mentally I'm not confident to do it, but I know I need to."
Hesgard (32-14) reached state with a third-place finish at sectionals and, like Gorr, faced a sophomore in Drephal (35-8). Both wrestlers stood on the mat for close to 20 minutes prior to the start of their match when there was a delay due to a timing clock issue.
When the match finally started, Drephal recorded a takedown just 13 seconds into the match for a 2-0 lead.
"The first period I wasn't ready and he shot right away," Hesgard said. "I wasn't ready and he got into my legs for an easy takedown. It made me more determined."
It looked that way late in the period, when Hesgard escaped and quickly took down Drephal to take a 3-2 lead. Drephal got a reversal early in the second period and Hesgard recorded an escape to make it 4-4.
But Drephal's takedown with 1:19 left in the second period ended the scoring.
Like Gorr, Jackson said that while there was nothing wrong with Hesgard's physical effort, he didn't wrestle his best.
"He gave up a couple of kind of easy takedowns," Jackson said. "It's easy in the beginning of the match to get lulled asleep right away."
Both Jackson and Hesgard said the long delay wasn't a factor in the match, but Drephal might've been better equipped to handle it. It was his fourth straight trip to Madison, and Hesgard's first.
"I wasn't as pumped and ready as I could be," Hesgard said of wrestling after the delay.
Drephal recorded the winning takedown after Hesgard failed on a shot attempt and cracked his head on his opponent's knee.
"That was kind of a fluke thing there," Jackson said. "I think it shocked (Hesgard). He shot in and hit the kid's knee, and I think it stunned him a bit and it was just long enough for (Drephal) to wrap around his legs and Aaron fell out of bounds, and that's a takedown."
Jackson lauded both Gorr and Hesgard for outstanding junior seasons and said he expects both to finish their careers wrestling at the Kohl Center next year.
Monroe junior Kevin Klopfenstein and Brodhead-Juda junior Hunter Colden both were to begin their tournaments this morning after receiving first-round byes for winning sectional titles.
Klopfenstein (37-10), ranked No. 5 at 132 pounds, was to face Luxemburg-Casco's Zach Skarda (43-8) while Colden (41-3), the No. 2 ranked 170-pounder in Division 2, was to open against Port Washington's Josh Meins (36-13).
The juniors both were making their Division 2 state tournament debuts and both bowed out in close matches at the Kohl Center - Hesgard falling 6-4 to Seymour's Dylan Drephal at 126 pounds and Gorr dropping a 4-1 decision to Luxemburg-Casco's Luke Destiche at 220 pounds.
Gorr (40-6) reached state by finishing second at sectionals and faced a sophomore in Destiche. The match was tied 1-1 in the final minute of the third period when Gorr drew a second stalling warning, resulting in a point for Destiche.
"Nobody took shots and nobody was getting after it," Monroe coach Jeriamy Jackson said. "They were pretty content to let it come down to the last period and when Trevor backed up a couple times, the ref dinged him for stalling. That made it a whole different match. Trevor had to press the issue, took a bad shot and got taken down off it and that's what happens when you get behind like that."
Indeed, Destiche (39-11) recorded a takedown off Gorr's failed shot
attempt with 20 seconds left to ice the match.
Gorr was disappointed in himself for not being more aggressive - as he was in the second half of his sectional championship match loss to Viroqua's Trent Vesbach.
"I didn't wrestle the match I wrestled against Vesbach at all, which really needed to happen," Gorr said. "It's just my own fault for not pushing it. I knew I had to come and take shots, but I've never really been good at that. I keep trying to get shots, but I needed more tempo in the match to make it faster for (Destiche)."
Gorr did push the issue in the first period, but missed on his first shot attempt and had to battle hard to avoid being taken down. He said that miss might have hurt his aggressiveness.
"That definitely put me on the back burner as far as shooting, because if I can't come with a shot, I don't really try anymore," Gorr said. "I definitely should have taken more (attempts) and pushed the issue."
Jackson said Gorr looked like a different wrestler than the one who didn't lose a match from the Bi-State Classic in late December until the sectional championship setback to Vesbach.
"I don't know if he had a little jitters or what, but he didn't come out like the normal guy I'm used to seeing come out and control the match. The kid has so much more," Jackson said. "He was pretty tentative. He didn't really want to commit to a shot. The kid's good that he wrestled, so you really have to set it up and do it well."
Gorr said he could have been better both physically and mentally.
"It was both, but mostly mental because I know I have to get over not taking shots," he said. "Mentally I'm not confident to do it, but I know I need to."
Hesgard (32-14) reached state with a third-place finish at sectionals and, like Gorr, faced a sophomore in Drephal (35-8). Both wrestlers stood on the mat for close to 20 minutes prior to the start of their match when there was a delay due to a timing clock issue.
When the match finally started, Drephal recorded a takedown just 13 seconds into the match for a 2-0 lead.
"The first period I wasn't ready and he shot right away," Hesgard said. "I wasn't ready and he got into my legs for an easy takedown. It made me more determined."
It looked that way late in the period, when Hesgard escaped and quickly took down Drephal to take a 3-2 lead. Drephal got a reversal early in the second period and Hesgard recorded an escape to make it 4-4.
But Drephal's takedown with 1:19 left in the second period ended the scoring.
Like Gorr, Jackson said that while there was nothing wrong with Hesgard's physical effort, he didn't wrestle his best.
"He gave up a couple of kind of easy takedowns," Jackson said. "It's easy in the beginning of the match to get lulled asleep right away."
Both Jackson and Hesgard said the long delay wasn't a factor in the match, but Drephal might've been better equipped to handle it. It was his fourth straight trip to Madison, and Hesgard's first.
"I wasn't as pumped and ready as I could be," Hesgard said of wrestling after the delay.
Drephal recorded the winning takedown after Hesgard failed on a shot attempt and cracked his head on his opponent's knee.
"That was kind of a fluke thing there," Jackson said. "I think it shocked (Hesgard). He shot in and hit the kid's knee, and I think it stunned him a bit and it was just long enough for (Drephal) to wrap around his legs and Aaron fell out of bounds, and that's a takedown."
Jackson lauded both Gorr and Hesgard for outstanding junior seasons and said he expects both to finish their careers wrestling at the Kohl Center next year.
Monroe junior Kevin Klopfenstein and Brodhead-Juda junior Hunter Colden both were to begin their tournaments this morning after receiving first-round byes for winning sectional titles.
Klopfenstein (37-10), ranked No. 5 at 132 pounds, was to face Luxemburg-Casco's Zach Skarda (43-8) while Colden (41-3), the No. 2 ranked 170-pounder in Division 2, was to open against Port Washington's Josh Meins (36-13).
