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Miller 4th at state; Merschman nabs 8th
Grabbing fourth among the top 16 grapplers in any weight category is still nothing to sneeze at.
Jefferson sophomore Stuart Miller accomplished that feat Saturday at 189 pounds when he lost to Jared Neff (Apple Creek Waynedale) 5-3 in overtime in the third/fourth-place matchup.
“I’m satisfied with fourth. I thought I could wrestle better but you have such good competition that it doesn’t always happen,” he began.
Head coach Jeff Rex was also pleased with Miller’s performance.
“I would have been ecstatic for him to just be on the podium. He may have had higher goals than I did; seventh, sixth and fifth are all his doing,” Rex began. “He becomes the first Jefferson wrestler to place at state in the seven years of the program. This was a learning experience for all of us. When Stuart asked me (this week) what it was like, I couldn’t tell him because I’d never been here. Now we know what the pacing is like, the atmosphere, all of that.”
It’s all about adjustments as well, as Miller found out after faltering to an opponent he had pinned in the championship quarterfinals Friday.
“I didn’t quite know what to expect or how he would adjust. He did a lot of sliding by and arm drags,” he explained. “I did expect him to be more aggressive than last time and he was.”
Assistant coach Randy McElroy noted something else.
“Last time, he attacked low. He wanted nothing to do with that this time; everything was high,” he said. “You see a lot of scrambling at this tournament, a lot of late flurries. Stuart had to get a late reversal in the third period to force overtime.”
It’s also a matter of staying mentally and physically sharp.
“There’s a wear and tear you have during this tournament. There’s a lot of high-caliber competition and it takes a toll; we’re all worn out,” he continued. “There were a couple of matches ahead of us that forfeited because of injuries.
“We spent a lot of time the last three weeks talking about confidence and the mental approach. We tried to keep all of the guys fresh and we hardly taught any technique because of the need to be healthy.”
Miller (52-3) had to show some resolve earlier in the day to beat Brock Kirian of Sycamore Mohawk 9-4.
He had lost a tough one the night before to Alex Hughes (Attica Seneca East), the only wrestler who had beaten the sophomore this season.
“He was strong. I came back today and didn’t want to feel that way again,” Miller acknowledged. “It’s tough to get used to this level of competition during the regular season. You just don’t see the different styles or makeups that you get here. Hopefully, I can take what I’ve learned and go from here.”
Rex took the blame for the Friday night loss.
“We got him into warmups a little too early yesterday. Stuart might have been a little flat for that match,” he said.
McElroy figured that was all part of the process.
“We’re all learning on the fly. They don’t just invite you down here; you have to earn it,” he said.
Rex summed up where it goes from here.
“We know Stuart has some areas to work on. It’s up to him where he goes from here,” he added. “He has to put in the time in the off-season. He generally goes to at least one camp during the summer. We’ll have some new personnel for him to work with and we have a good group of eight eighth-graders coming in. He’ll need to be a leader as a junior.”
St. John’s freshman Brian Merschman also was a willing pupil during the weekend as he finished eighth at 103 pounds after losing 10-3 to Zach Tinch of Mount Gilead in the seventh/eighth-place matchup.
“I found out I have to get stronger and become more aggressive. My opponents seemed to all be more physical than me at this point,” Merschman (34-14) noted. “I found out I need to protect my legs a lot better — I left them exposed too much — and become more aggressive shooting my opponent. I know what I need to do in the off-season.”
Merschman, the first St. John’s freshman wrestler to place at state, may also see a lot of these same faces next year because there were no seniors at the state tournament in the weight class.
“This was a valuable tournament for Brian. He discovered some things,” Blue Jay coach Devin Dempsey said. “We have to get him in the weight room. He’s been wrestling well all year and he wrestled well here; some of these guys were down here last year and just had more experience. Plus, you run into different styles that you don’t see a lot.
“He’s set the bar high for himself and we plan for him to get back here for the next three years. I am confident he will work hard to get there.”
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