The disappointment ran deep.

At the latest after seven of the ten fights in the final rematch for the German championship in wrestling, it was clear that ASV Mainz 88 would miss the really big hit.

More than a draw was no longer possible, for that they would have had to win all three remaining duels early and twice with a shoulder win.

A utopian undertaking, as all around 600 spectators in the hall of SV Wacker Burghausen knew.

After the penultimate fight, in which Ibro Cakovic lost to U-23 World Champion Idris Ibaev, it was clear: Oberbayern had won the title for the fourth time in a row, Mainz was second in the championship after 11:18.

The home fight ended 12:12.

Second place in the Mainz camp did not cause much joy.

"The second winner is the first loser," grumbled an official who had traveled with them.

Co-trainer Harun Yildiz fought a fight back tears which he lost, his athletes hugging each other for comfort.

"I have to digest that first," said team captain Wladimir Remel.

"We always want to win, that's all that counts for us." Sure, reaching the final was already a success, especially given the risk of relegation after three defeats at the beginning of the season.

At the moment of defeat, that was cold consolation.

After all, once they had their medals hanging around their necks and held the silver trophy in their hands, the mood brightened.

"We would have loved to bring the championship pot to Meenz and set it up in our town on Shrove Monday," said club chairman Baris Baglan, "but Burghausen is the deserved winner, a silver cup is better than none, and a runner-up championship is also a title.

We fought our way out of the relegation battle with passion and went into the final battles with team spirit.”

Real connection with the club

Numerous athletes had emphasized the team unity as a pound of the outsider in advance.

And the fact that the Turkish World Cup runner-up Burhan Abdubak stood in front of the Mainz fan block after his technically superior victory in the 80-kilo class of the Greco-Roman style against Eduard Tatarinov to show them the club crest on his jersey was more than just a random gesture - she expressed a real bond with the club.

At a time when the final was basically decided.

The result in the home fight a week earlier had raised hopes, the door to the fourth title win in the club's history after 1973, 1977 and 2013 seemed wider open than all experts had thought possible.

But it wasn't enough to create a sensation.

"We've already dropped a point or two at home," said coach Davyd Bichinashvili.

"But little happened today."

Baris Baglan reacted slightly surly when asked whether his team had no chance that night given the occupation of both squads.

The club boss, nine years ago the coach of the champion team, apparently interpreted a criticism into the question that he considered inappropriate.

"We fought and the opponent was strong."

An initial analysis of the content caused fewer problems for his predecessor Tolga Sancaktaroglu.

It was undisputed that Mainz had to leave two classes empty in order to compete with four foreigners without exceeding the permitted 28 wrestling points.

In other words: They set up the predictably hopeless homegrown Fabian Pelzer and Marlon Vinson in the flyweight and featherweight divisions, which brought them a 0:8 deficit almost before the start of the fight.

Not much should have gone wrong to work off that mortgage.