“I thought I was in good position,” Cochran said of his loss in the first round that ended with a pin late in the match. “I thought, I just need another takedown to seal this and I got to relaxed and he caught me.”
It was the last time Cochran was relaxed.
Cochran recorded pins on Thursday and Friday to get to the consolation semis before squaring off – again – with first-round opponent Josh Bever of Ashland.
“It really took a lot to come back,” Cochran said. “My goal was to win it and it took a lot out of me to decide to come back through.
“But I knew I could get that match back because he was not going to make the finals. It was the little thing that got me to push myself back through.”
Cochran got more than another chance at Bever, he got a chance to send a message.
Cochran recorded six takedowns in a 12-5 win over Bever to get revenge before finishing third with a 9-1 win over St. Ed’s Seamus O’Malley.
“I thought I was better than him and I made him look too good,” Cochran said of Bever. “It was really all payback. I had to come back and make it look as good as I could.”
And, he wanted to prove something to himself.
“I didn’t want to be the guy who gave up when something happens,” Cochran said. “I wanted to prove that I could get through it and that I had the character to come back.”
Graham increased its lead in Division II and pushed their team score to 215 heading into Saturday night’s finals with third-place finishes by JD Stickley and Johnny Shafer, a seventh-place finish by Andrew Shaffer and a eighth place finish by Isaiah Stickley.
Jesse Mitchell left a legacy for Southeastern wrestlers to follow after finishing fifth at 160 in D-III.
Mitchell, who was the first state qualifier, is the first state placer.
“I would have prepared to have been in for third, but I knew that I had to go out there and fight for it,” Mitchell said after finishing fifth. “This feels pretty great.”
Greeneview’s Devan Hendricks had a hard time bouncing back from a semis loss at 126 in D-III, finishing fifth after dropping his consolation semis match.
“It is definitely a lot harder to come back,” Hendricks said. “I thought I wrestled good all week, but I’ve just got to make sure I am scoring enough points.
“I think if I would have shot more, I would’ve won.”
Graham had eight in the finals Saturday night.
About the Author