Fulton head wrestling coach Eric Hudson made no attempt to mask his dismay.
Mind you, five Hornets had just advanced to today's quarterfinals and three others dodged elimination with victories in first-round wrestlebacks in Thursday's opening round of the Class 2 state championships at Mizzou Arena.
Regardless, Hudson wasn't happy - for the most part - with what he had just witnessed.
"Honestly, we didn't look very good at all," Hudson said. "Some of the kids wrestled nervous, I think, and at times they had to overcome officiating that is as poor as we've seen for most of the year.
"It really wasn't a very impressive display at all by us. ... I'm pretty disappointed in our performance. Individually, we had kids perform well at times. I think people got in our kids' heads and told them they were good - and we came here and thought it would be easy. It's not, and we know it's not."
Sophomores Josh McClure and Zach Benner marched into the quarterfinals with decisive first-round wins at 113 and 182 pounds, respectively, while senior John Kingsley (195) and sophomore Trenton Clines (138) moved on with tight but solid triumphs. Sophomore Clayton Bristol made it a Fulton quintet in the quarterfinals by rallying in the third period for his first-round victory at 285 pounds.