By Mike Finn, W.I.N. Editor

It’s a good thing I’m a journalist when it comes to attending the NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championships, something I’ve done annually for the past 20 years.

As a journalist, I’m not supposed to care who wins or loses at the climax of an exciting season … and normally that is the case because every wrestler works just as hard as the other 329 combatants looking for individual pride and team glory. And everyone has a great story to tell and for me to cover.

But as a human, there is nothing as trying to me as the national tournament where only three percent of the wrestlers actually come out on top in ten different weight classes.

At every tournament, there are six sessions for fans to attend and they came out in near-record numbers this year. Oddly, one of the lowest attended sessions is the fifth session on Saturday morning when the other All-Americans vie for third, fifth and seventh place. My assumption is that many of those fans, after already spending three days at the national tournament site are sleeping in after a long night of celebrating and are looking forward to the Saturday-night finals.

The fans who were in the Scottrade Center this year — they made up 15,541 of the 94,190 who showed up for all six sessions — are the true wrestling fans watching the best wrestlers in Div. I competing more for pride than titles.

They also are on hand to witness some of the rawest emotions in sports.

I have covered nearly every championship when it comes to other college sports, whether it’s a Final Four in basketball or a BCS bowl game in football, which also has its share of athletes who come up short of their ultimate dreams. But their stories are nothing like what happens at a national wrestling tournament.

Losers in team sports have teammates to turn to when sadness replaces one shining moment in their post-season experience. Wrestlers do not. In fact, I believe it’s impossible to console a wrestler who comes up short. Most coaches probably have felt the same loss of opportunity during their competitive years and know it’s up to the individual wrestlers to find their own paths or resolution.

It’s only hard for many coaches and athletes to put into words how they feel when it comes to such moments.

I found that first hand when I asked coach Mark Cody what Josh Glenn has meant to the American University program. Cody had just seen his 197-pound champion of 2007 close out his career with a fifth-place finish in 2008 and Cody needed at least 15 seconds of internal solitude before he could respond.

“He’s been like family to me. He’s just meant so much to this program and he’s such a great kid,” said Cody, whose voice continued to crack as he thought about the wrestler who became the poster boy for the Eagles’ program, but had to overcome serious injuries this year. “He’s had a lot of ups and downs through the last year, particularly during this season which we’ve kept under wraps. He’s unbelievable. Even after Josh lost yesterday (in the Friday semifinals to Central Michigan’s Wynn Michalak), he pulled me off the mat and said, ‘Coach I’m going to be fine. I’ll come back and win some matches for you.’ ”

Glenn did win and lose on his final day as a collegiate and seemed to be OK with his fate when I spoke to him about his career. But when it came to Cody, the wrestler also needed time to answer with a cracking voice: “That’s something I’ll think about more that I’m done competing.”

Wrestlers are supposed to be tough, but sometimes the psychological scars that come with falling short of their dreams are as apparent as the many physical bumps and bruises that are common with this sport.

Every year I cover this sport, the scabs of such sad moments are torn off and show me more and more why I believe this sport is the best.

(Mike Finn, named Journalist of the Year in 2007 by that National Wrestling Media Association, welcomes comments at mikef@win-magazine.com.) n