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»RELATED: Prep roundup for Feb. 10
»RELATED: Prep scoreboard for Feb. 10
Not exactly how he thought his final campaign would go after placing at the state tournament as a junior.
“It’s been hard to sit out,” Cochran said. “I have never had to sit out this long for anything.”
Cochran suffered a knee injury, which requires a brace, and has cost him parts of the season while he gives the injury time to heal.
The injury, or cumbersome brace, didn’t seem to slow him down much at the Greater Western Ohio Conference tournament at Trent Arena Saturday.
Cochran improved to 23-0 on the season with a fall in 3:08 of the title match against Beavercreek’s Bradley Smith. In his three wins at the tournament, Cochran spent a total of 5:41 on the mat.
“I am usually not that nervous before I wrestle, but I was really nervous, even in the first round,” Cochran said. “I was a lot more anxious. It just felt different.”
The conference tournament is the last truly team-based tournament before the individual postseason — sectional, district, state — begins.
While Cochran hated missing as much time as he did, he is more focused on getting to the Schottenstein Center in Columbus on March 8-10 for the state tournament.
“It feels weird being out so long,” Cochran said. “I hated missing the matches I did, but this is the part of the season that matters.”
After taking a while to get used to the new brace, Cochran looked smooth in recording a first-period takedown before securing the fall in the second period in the finals.
“It’s heavy and it took a couple of weeks to get used to it,” Cochran said. “I feel like I am back to normal and I feel in rhythm to make a run at the end of the season.”
Cochran was almost joined at the top of the podium by classmate Jacob Yost.
Yost, who entered as the second seed at 170, led Butler’s Ethan Cyrette 3-2 with less than a minute remaining in the match.
Cyrette, however, recorded a takedown with 20 seconds left for a 4-3 lead.
Yost got an escape as time expired to force overtime.
After a scoreless first overtime period, Cyrette got an escape in the waning seconds of the second overtime and hung on in the second OT for 5-4 win.
Yost had recorded a 3-1 win in sudden victory over Cyrette in the opening round of the state duals.
Springfield just missed having more than Cochran and Yost on the podium. Nathan Keaton (126), Hayden Cochran (160) and Dante Webster (182) all fell in their placement matches. The Wildcats placed 10th in the team standings.
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