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Some couldn't stand. Others couldn't raise their arms or pump their fists.
There was Jake Verheyen, with a large bag of ice on his right shoulder -- his right arm hanging uselessly at his side -- staring wide-eyed at the mat.
Trevor Cogar sat at the end of the Rockets' bench, streaks of blood still visible on his face.
James Yohe, who limped off the mat earlier with a right knee injury, stared with a blank expression, his knee brace sagging around his ankle.
Trey Duncan, who writhed in pain earlier after landing awkwardly on an already sore shoulder, hung his head.
After Wisner finished off Wolfe and added four pride points to the final score, the Rockets trudged into an adjacent room, where their loss Tuesday night to the Braves in the first round of the PIAA Class AAA team tournament sunk in.
Rockets head coach Tony Miller spent nearly 10 minutes talking with them.
"It's always disappointing to lose that last match, but they've done great things," Miller said "They've done outstanding things. To go through the season unbeaten and put themselves in this situation, to put them in the PIAA state tournament, it says so much about this team. And the balance and the work they put in to get to this point says a lot for them."
Spring Grove won 20 duals in the regular season, but lost two
During that regular season, Spring Grove was a model of healthy consistency. But on Tuesday night, the physical toll a 22-dual season had taken on its lineup was apparent.
The Rockets got off to a quick start when Logen Wisner earned a 7-3 decision over the much taller Colby Slonaker at 160 pounds.
Two bouts later, Neal Grudi horsed his opponent Dominick Wolf around the mat. After two brutal slams -- the second one causing Wolf to call for an injury timeout -- Grudi pinned Wolf to give his team a 9-3 lead.
But the Braves won nine of the next 11 bouts -- six by decision, two by major decision and one by pin -- to put the dual out of reach.
Yohe battled the bigger Nick Bennick toe-to-toe until Yohe tweaked his right knee early in the second period. For the rest of the bout, Yohe was slow on his feet, limping to the center each time the referees called for a reset.
At heavyweight, Cogar's face took a beating by Shikellamy's Nolan Blackwell. The two titans stood up for the majority of the match with Blackwell landing multiple slaps that scratched Cogar and caused his nose to bleed. Blackwell won a 6-4 decision.
Spring Grove didn't get its third win until Verheyen majored Robert Easton at 119. Verheyen seemed to twist his right arm midway through the second. When the referee tried to raise his hand, Verheyen grimaced and could only manage to raise it halfway. The win was the 100th of Verheyen's career.
Verheyen described reaching the centennial mark as bittersweet because of the team loss, but wouldn't blame it on injuries.
"I don't know if we were worn out. We just weren't as pumped as we normally are," Verheyen said. "We weren't the team that went 20-0 tonight."
Miller admitted his lineup was battling injuries throughout the night, but said that was normal for a team that wrestled as much as the Rockets have this season.
"It's that time of year when you get a little beaten and banged up," Miller said. "If you look at the state tournament, there isn't nobody that doesn't have a big scratch across his face or something like that. It's part of the sport at this point."
While the Rockets will still enter wrestlers into individual postseason tournaments, Miller reflected on the careers of his seniors to this point.
Spring Grove will lose Verheyen, Yohe and Wisner to graduation at the end of the season. This year, the three Rockets were a combined 93-18.
"If you look at their win totals, you'll see how much they meant," Miller said. "They are all outstanding seniors who have really contributed to this program, at practice, in the matches or whatever. They've been leaders throughout."
Miller added: "We won't dwell on this long."
at Shikellamy
SHIKELLAMY 35, SPRING GROVE 17
160 -- Logen Wisner, SG, dec. Colby Slonaker, 7-3; 171 -- Taiten Valiquette, S, dec. Paul Smith, 4-3; 189 -- Neal Grudi, SG, pinned Dominick Wolfe, 3:05; 215 -- Nick Bennick, S, dec. James Yohe, 11-5; 285 -- Nolan Blackwell, S, dec. Trevor Cogar, 6-4; 103 -- Jake Witmer, S, maj. decision Derek Carlisle, 12-4; 112 -- Landry Badman, S, dec. Toby Shaffer, 8-6; 119 -- Jake Verheyen, SG, maj. decision Robert Easton, 8-0; 125 -- Joey Zoda, S, maj. decision John King, 17-6; 130 -- Jake Teisher, S, dec. Toby Allison, 7-3; 135 -- Matt Neff, S, dec. Trey Duncan, 8-4; 140 -- Matt Barnhart, S, pinned Jonathan Gross, 2:36; 145 -- Tony Waltz, S, dec. Austin Barley, 9-2; 152 -- Dylan Wisner, SG, maj. decision Miles Wolfe, 11-1.
