Climbing the podium: Details separate Lashbrook in 3rd-place run

DES MOINES – The wrestlers at Wells Fargo Arena for the Iowa High School State Tournament are there because they're survivors of a two-week filtering process, generally agreed to be the best of the best.
 
What do you do when you have to find the best of the best of the best?
 
That process is more fine-tuned. The win-loss records go out the window. Any match can come down to a single point, a single moment, a single technique. Every match matters and can mean the difference between a spot on the medal stand or going home on the first day of the tournament.
 
Trey Lashbrook is always working on those little details that lead to those pivotal flashpoints of a match, the kind of particulars that create separation on the steps that lead up to the top of the medal stand.
 
Though Lashbrook did not reach the apex this time around, his commitment to the subtleties was part of the AGWSR sophomore's ascent this year, capturing his second state medal on Saturday with a win in the third-place match at 120 pounds, improving on his 8th-place finish as a freshman at 113 pounds.
 
Lashbrook notched a 7-6 decision against Casey Baker of Interstate 35 in the third-place match. Baker led 6-4 heading to the third period but a Lashbrook escape eventually led to a takedown as both wrestlers fell out of bounds. Lashbrook rode out Baker's attempts to tie the match up and secured his best finish yet at "The Well."
 
"That was a very strong kid; he stayed in good position," Lashbrook said. "I focused on just trying to be in better position than he was and it worked out."
 
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