Q:  There should be an understanding of the difference between a DEFAULT and a FORFEIT especially during an individual tournament.

A: It was addressed pretty thoroughly in the 2013-14 Wiaa Pts. of Emphasis in the rules video. Here is a copy of the script:  

Defaults vs. Forfeits – There is much confusion state wide about the difference between a default and forfeit. A wrestler defaults a match once wrestling begins. That means he may default anytime after they check into the scorers table in the correct sequence. Because that is when wrestling officially begins. It requires that they take a loss. A forfeit means that the wrestler never reported to the scorers table. The wrestler that was scheduled to report, but did not, does not receive a loss. However, they will be ineligible to continue in a individually bracketed tournament if they did not discuss this with the meet manager and medical personnel prior to forfeiting. If the wrestler who took a forfeit wrestles again in an individually bracketed tournament he must take a loss for the forfeit. Rule 10-2 does a great job of further explaining this.