Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: St. Edmond's Matthew Crimmins gains the upper hand in his opening match at state on Wednesday in Des Moines. For more photos, please visit CU.messengernews.net

DES MOINES — Matthew Crimmins had a simple response to adversity for his St. Edmond wrestling coaches after walking off the mat at state here on Wednesday.

After recording a fall in his opening bout at 132 pounds, the 19th-seeded Crimmins came up short against returning Class 1A state runner-up Brock Morris of Cascade. He will now faces Owen Scott of Westwood in the consolation round inside Wells Fargo Arena Thursday.

“Matthew simply stated, ‘I’m coming back and getting third,'” SEHS head coach Kaden McClintock said. “That’s the perfect response. You always worry about where they’re at following a loss, but he has the best mentality.

“We’ll take it one match at a time, not underestimate anybody and go out and battle.”

Crimmins, a freshman who earned a district runner-up spot to qualify for state last Saturday, scored an opening round fall versus fellow ninth-grader and 14th-seeded Hudson Popham of Starmont. He picked up a first-period takedown before putting Popham away with another takedown into a fall at 3:04.

“He was just in a perfect mental spot,” McClintock said. “He was aggressive right away and had himself prepared for business. What a cool thing to get a pin in your first match at state.

“We did our best to get him ready to go by just setting it as a big stage that was like any other match he’s had.”

Crimmins matched up with Morris, a senior who came into state 37-6 overall, in the second round. Morris scored a takedown in the first and another in the second, with Crimmins earning a penalty point and an escape.

In the third, Morris got in on another takedown, then got dinged for a second penalty point. Crimmins recorded a second escape, but was taken down late in the period.

“We knew it was going to be a tough matchup, but Matthew was ready to go,” McClintock said. “We came up with a gameplan for him, and the match was a lot closer than the final score (Morris won 12-4) showed.

“I really think Matthew put his name on the radar as a freshman going toe-to-toe against a guy like that.”

Up next for Crimmins will be Scott, a junior with a record of 30-12 who lost in the opening round to Keyten Jacobsen of Jesup by a score of 16-2.

“My hat goes off to Matthew,” McClintock said. “He’s the kind of kid you love to coach, because he never gives up and is constantly fighting and working to improve and get better.”