Meschko heads to state with motivation

Some wrestlers go to state to create memories.

Sandpoint’s Kyle Meschko is going there to erase one.

Meschko won regionals and qualified for state a year ago at 140 pounds, but an apparent easy win in his opening bout turned quickly to miserable defeat.

“The very first match, I was wrestling the No. 4 seed, and I was completely dominating the match, and I wasn’t even ranked,” Meschko recalled. “I was just completely chewing him up and I was up by four with 20 seconds left – all I had to do was ride him and the match was mine.

“But riding is one of my weaknesses, and as I was riding off my knees, he stepped over me and I went right to my back – it is the most frustrating part of my entire career.”

Champions, though, learn from their mistakes and Meschko insisted such a circumstance won’t happen again.

“I’m hungry,” said Meschko, who again won the regional title, this year at 145. “That loss is one of my biggest motivations, right there – big.”

Meschko said his win at regionals, a 6-2 decision over Chris Katus of Lakeland, earned him more than just a gold medal.

“I guess it’s pretty big, because Katus is one of the kids that I wasn’t sure about,” said Meschko, who also went to state as a freshman. “I hadn’t wrestled him, and he’s ranked pretty high.

“It helps me in getting over that fear of going up against somebody you don’t know that much about, which is exactly what happens at state.”

When state competition begins today, Meschko will use something else from the Katus match – confidence in takedown moves other than those for which he’s known.

“The fireman is kind of the bread-and-butter move for me – I just started hitting it pretty good this year, and it’s been a five-point move for me,” said Meschko (18-7), the state’s No. 2 seed. “But Lakeland is so good at teaching their kids how to counter those moves, and (Katus) wasn’t giving me the arm, so it forced me to adjust my strategy and go for his legs.

“Having that ability to change on the fly can make the difference between placing and not placing at state.”