At the beginning of each wrestling season, almost every wrestler will tell you that their goal is to qualify for the State Wrestling tournament. A few of those wrestlers hope to win enough matches to place at the meet, and a smaller amount of the very elite wrestlers aspire to win a state championship. You know you are one of the elite wrestlers in the State Tournament when you finish fourth in your weight class and come home disappointed. Greenon's Kevin Christensen is one of those elite wrestlers as his quest to bring home a state championship fell short and he settled for a school record fourth place finish at the 69th Annual State Wrestliing Tournament in the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio last weekend. Christensen's conclusion of a very special era at Greenon ended when his bid for a state title disappeared when he lost a quarterfinal match 3-2 in two overtimes to eventual State runner up Chris Andrews of New Albany. In spite of the loss, Christensen was able to bounce back to go 4-2 for the tournament and those wins enabled him to grab a school record fourth place finish for the second consecutive season.

Greenon's Garrett Lay also qualified for the state wrestling tournament for the first time this season in the 112 lb weight class and lost both his matches to state placers. In his first match he went up against Dennis Roche (38-4) of Hunting Valley University School. Roche turned out to be the State champion for the 112 lb weight class and Lay lost to him by pin in the first period. Lay then wrestled Paul Rose (40-8) of Cambridge High School and lost by a score of 3-1. Rose ended up taking 8th place in the tournament. Lay ended the season with a record of 44-11.

While Christensen's goal was clearly a State Championship, his fourth place finish in a bracket that included six returning state placer's is a feat that may not be equaled for awhile in Greenon history. At the tournament, Christensen wrestled against six opponents who came into the tournament with a combined average record of 38-5. Christensen started the tournament with a win over Jordan Heflin (25-7) of Canal Fulton as he won by a score of 7-3. He was then matched up with Chris Andrew (46-5) of New Albany. Christensen knew it was going to be a tough match as Andrews was state runner up in the Division III 130 lb weight class last season. The match turned out to be a low scoring affair between two equally matched opponents. After a scoreless first period, the pace picked up in the second period as within a 20 second timeframe Andrew's got an escape to take a 1-0 lead, Christensen got a takedown to take a 2-1 lead, and then Andrews got another escape to tie the score at 2-2. It would be the last points of the match and as a result the match went into overtime with the score tied at 2-2. After neither opponent scored in the 1st overtime period, the match went to a 30 second sudden death tie-breaker procedure. In this procedure, one wrestler is in the "up" position and the other wrestler is in the "down" position. Christensen was in the "down position" and therefore needed to escape within 30 seconds to win the match. Unfortunately for Christensen, time ran out on him just as it looked like he might get an escape and the result was the referee awarded a point to his opponent for keeping control of him during the overtime period and Christensen lost the match 3-2. The loss put him in the consolation bracket where he could finish no higher then 3rd place.

Christensen bounced back from the loss by dominating his next three opponents. In his first match in the consolation bracket, Christensen defeated Mike Nettis (29-10) of Chardon Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin High school by a score of 5-3. The score made the match look closer then it really was as Christensen easily controlled the match and had a late 5-0 lead before allowing his opponent a harmless escape and takedown in the waning moments of the match. Christensen then won his next match against Brian Connelly (39-8) of Mentor Lake Catholic by a score of 8-1. Those wins ensured he would place no worse then 6th place and brought him to a consolation semi-final match against Zip Zimmer (45-2) of Warsaw River View High School. Christensen wrestled what may have been his best match of the tournament as he punished his opponent early on and took an 8-2 lead in the second period before finally pinning his opponent halfway through the second period. That win set up his final match against projected State Champion Ryan Cubberly (45-3) of Pemberville Eastwood High School. Christensen fell behind 2-0 in the first 15 seconds of the match and still trailed 2-1 after two periods. In the third period, Christensen dominated his opponent from the "up position" as there were several times where he almost turned his opponent on his back for "back points" but each time Cubberly was able to get out of bounds or get a stoppage in action. Finally with 30 seconds left in the match Christensen let him go to make the score 3-1. Christensen then needed a take down to tie the match, and the last 30 seconds of the match was vintage Christensen as he punished his retreating opponent multiple times in his quest for the takedown. In the end time ran out for Christensen as he lost the match by a score of 3-1, but it was still good enough to get him a fourth place finish. Christensen finished the season with a record of 42-5.

After Christensen's final match, Greenon's coach Justin Vondeberg had this to say about Christensen. "It was still a good finish to his year, and a good finish to his career - two fourth place finishes in the State tournament are nothing to be ashamed of. He lost to some good kids, he had chances to win both matches, it's just sad to see him go". Coach Luke Everhart added "Obviously working with Kevin was a wonderful experience, probably the best wrestler I've ever coached in my life or had the pleasure to work with. He'll continue to get better in college and had a great high school career. You have to put him in the upper echelon with all the kids across the state.

Christensen's place in school history is secure. As a four time state qualifier, he has a record that will never be broken, and for now he also holds the School record for wins and his fourth place finish ties him for the highest state placer in school history. While his goal was to become a state champion was not realized, his accomplishments at Greenon will be looked on years from now as a very special era for the wrestling program.

KNIGHTS NOTES

- Christensen ends his career as the all time record holder for wins with a final mark of 164-22. His fourth place finish at the state ties him with Dave Helton (1972) and Andy Folck (1982) for the highest finish in school history. He is also the only two time fourth place state placer, and his 12 wins at the State Tournament is a school record. Last but not least, he is also the only four time state qualifier for Greenon.

- Christensen's career record at the state tournament was 12-8. It could have been better with a little bit of luck in the draws. Consider this statistic - of the eight losses, five were to state champions, two were to projected state champions, and the other loss was to a state runner up. Even more telling, four of the losses were by 1 point and two were by 2 points.

- Christensen leaves Greenon as a two time state placer, two time district champion, two time sectional title winner, and one time CBC champion.

- Christensen will be able to remember his last win with some pride as he garnered a rare pin in the consolation semi final match over 6th place finisher Zip Zimmer (45-2).

MATCH RESULTS

GARRETT LAY - 112 lb weight class

Match 1 - Lose by pin (0:31) against Dennis Roche (38-4), Hunting Valley University School
Match 2 - Lose 3-1 against Paul Rose (40-8), Cambridge High School

KEVIN CHRISTENSEN - 135 lb weight class

Match 1 - Win 7-3 against Jordan Heflin (25-7) of Canal Fulton High School
Match 2 - Lose 3-2 (2 OT) against Chris Andrews (46-5) of New Albany High School
Match 3 - Win 5-3 against Mike Nettis (29-10) of Chardon High School
Match 4 - Win 8-1 against Brian Connelly (39-8) of Mentor High School
Match 5 - Win by pin (2:56) against Zip Zimmer (45-2) of Warsaw River View High School
Match 6 - Lose 3-1 against Ryan Cubberly (45-3) of Pemberville Eastwood High School

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