Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Koy Davidson, a Fort Dodge Dodger freshman, took second at 126 pounds in Des Moines at the state wrestling tournament.

Nothing complicates emotions quite like a second-place performance.

Being a runner-up means an individual or a team was better than all but one. When you stop and think about the distance traveled and work it took to get to that point, there’s really no logical reason for a kid to feel anything other than at peace for a job well done.

In my nearly 22 years as Sports Editor and 27 in the business, I’ve learned there are rarely words that put minds at ease when the wound is still fresh, though. It’s often the loneliest and coldest place in athletics. Closure is hard to come by. You can taste it — knowing full well both what it took to get there, and will take to do it again.

Many of our area’s state championship-level wrestlers experienced this awkward juxtaposition at the 2022 tournament in Des Moines. Fort Dodge’s Dru Ayala and Koy Davidson. Webster City’s Cam Phetxoumphone. South Central Calhoun’s Blake McAlister. Garrett Seaba of Clarion-Goldfield/Dows. McKinley Robbins of Greene County.

All faced different circumstances, opponents and expectations in their respective careers. Most of the results were incredibly close; a break here or a move there, and we could’ve easily been writing an entirely different story.

They all shared the same view from the medal stand, though: one small — yet figuratively cavernous — step from the top.

I think back to the recent Fort Dodge wrestling teams that had to swallow their pride and accept silver. Or Dodger star Cayd Lara after a painfully-close loss in the finals to end his senior season four years ago. Same goes for Carson Taylor and Dreyzon Phillips. The St. Edmond basketball program, which dealt with it on four separate occasions from 2004-12. The Dodger baseball squad of 2012. Gael football in 2013. Dodger softball in 2020.

The people involved will tell you in retrospect that as time passes, the pain of being devastatingly close to gold subsides and the bigger picture comes into focus. Less frustration; more appreciation.

There’s always an internal “what if” factor, though, that’s nearly impossible to shake. The regret, so to speak, never really goes away.

With that being said, life is full of adversity and struggle. The agony elite competitors like Ayala or Phetxoumphone feel after such narrow defeats, for instance, will almost assuredly fuel the next surge in their respective careers.

And it will likely make them better people in the long run, as odd as that may sound.

It’s our responsibility, collectively, to remind these kids they have nothing to be ashamed of at the end of the day. They’ll spend enough time second-guessing themselves in the days and even weeks to come. Losing in the finals doesn’t make them lesser athletes or people. Truth be told, just reaching the finals makes them and their accomplishments all the more special.

As I always remind fans, be disappointed for them — not in them. Respect the difference.

Eric Pratt is Sports Editor at The Messenger. Contact him via email at sports@messengernews.net, or on Twitter @ByEricPratt