Monday, March 3rd, 2008

Uhlenhake happy to finish in sixth place

By Gary R. Rasberry
Photo by Gary R. Rasberry/The Daily Standard

Coldwater's Nick Uhlenhake, left, locks up with Ontario's Brock Rickert in the 215-pound Division III consolation semifinals. Uhlenhake completd a fine season with a sixth-place showing.

COLUMBUS - Nick Uhlenhake remembers coming to the State Wrestling tournament as a freshman to watch his brother Brian compete for Coldwater.
Four years later, Uhlenhake got his chance, and made the most of it.
Uhlenhake, who broke the school record for wins in a season - a mark that brother Brian shared with Aaron Alig - in the district tournament, concluded his high school career with a sixth-place showing in the Division III 215-pound tournament.
Uhlenhake had a chance for third place as he faced Jake Ewing of West Salem Northwestern in the consolation semifinals. Ewing held off Uhlenhake's attacks to take a 3-2 win sending Uhlenhake to the fifth-place match.
Awaiting Uhlenhake was the guy who handed him his first loss of the state tournament, Ontario's Brock Rickert, who shut out Uhlenhake 6-0 in the championship quarterfinals.
Uhlenhake got the early lead and was up 6-3 going into the final minute, Rickert came back and got a takedown and tried to get back points on Uhlenhake. Despite a strong effort, Rickert got three points for the near fall to take an 8-6 win for fifth place.
"I wanted fifth, but I guess it's okay to be sixth," said Uhlenhake. "The first bout (with Rickert) was 6-0, I knew it was going to take a lot to win that match. I thought I did decently well until the third period."
Holding on to prevent getting pinned did allow Uhlenhake to reach one of his goals: None of his five losses this season came via pin.
"That's one thing I really didn't want," said Uhlenhake. "I haven't been pinned all year and I didn't want to start now in my last match."
Uhlenhake did some pinning of his own during the tournament as all three of his wins came via pinfall.
"All three guys that I pinned came from the same district," said Uhlenhake. "I can't believe I pinned three guys at state. I didn't think that would be possible."  
The 215-pound weight class has been solid at state. Four years ago, Kyle Oswalt became the first Cav to place at state in taking fifth, winning a number of his matches in overtime, earning the title "The King of Overtime" for his effort.
"I remember watching him place fifth and thinking I wish I could do that somehow," said Uhlenhake. "It's unreal."
Uhlenhake ends the season at 49-5, breaking the season mark of 45 wins held by brother Brian and Alig, and ends his career with a mark of 110-27.
"That was one of my goals this season," said Uhlenhake of breaking the season record. "I just wanted to beat that. It's a good feeling."
Additional online stories on this date
Celina daycare offers a chance to get out and socialize, bounce around
Betty Smith's little one just loves to go to daycare.
Playing with friends gets the 8-month-old so excited, he sometimes jumps around the room licking everyone and everything in sight. And that's perfectly OK at Doggie Daycare. [More]
COLUMBUS - There's no questioning the guts of Tyler Kunk.
The Coldwater senior went through the wrestling season with a shoulder injury suffered during football. [More]
COLUMBUS - For Mike Treon, just getting to state was a goal.
Getting a win at state was another.
Earning a spot on the podium was the icing on the cake. [More]
Subscriber and paid stories on this date
PIQUA - Farmers are both excited and fearful this year as they anticipate both record crop prices and unprecedented risk as costs keep skyrocketing for fertilizer and other inputs.
A Celina man, who attempted to break into Celina High School, was sentenced to community control sanctions including jail time during a Feb. 20 appearance in Mercer County Common Pleas Court.
VANDALIA - The Versailles Tigers earned a repeat trip to the Schottenstein Center with a hard-fought 47-37 victory over the Miami East Vikings in the Division III regional finals Saturday afternoon.
ELIDA - The third time was the charm for the Ottawa-Glandorf boys basketball team.
St. Henry beat Ottawa-Glandorf in back-to-back district title contests, but the Titans returned the favor on Saturday at the Elida Fieldhouse with a 61-51 win over the Redskins.
Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry
The Coldwater girls bowling team completed its season with an appearance in the second-ever state girls bowling tournament at Tiki Lanes in Lancaster.