Monday, March 8th, 2010

Dues glad to be part of MatDog history

Mercer Country trio wraps up stellar seasons, careers

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

Celina's Alex Dues, left, tries to slip out of an ankle lock by Toledo Central Catholic's Tony Martin on Saturday.

COLUMBUS - While getting a win in his final match was not to be, Alex Dues has plenty to be proud of.
Dues became the first Celina wrestler to place in the state wrestling tournament since 2003 as he took to the mats on Saturday in the Division II State Wrestling Championships at the Schottenstein Center on the campus of The Ohio State University.
Dues, who lost in the championship semifinals, becoming only the second MatDog to reach that match in school history, had a chance to place as high as third and no lower than sixth on Saturday as he took to the mats in the consolation semifinal against Tony Martin of Toledo Central Catholic. Martin got the early lead, but had to hold off Dues in the final period to take the 5-3 win, putting Dues in the fifth-place match.
To earn fifth place, Dues would have to face the wrestler he beat in the quarterfinals, Cody Ryba of Mantua Crestwood. Unlike the first meeting, where Dues rallied to get the 7-6 win to move to the semis, Ryba was on point, dominating to take at 13-4 major decision.
"Everyone wants to win that last match," said Dues, who ends the year at 30-7. "Going in, I wanted to win pretty bad, but, hey, I made it, I placed and we got two state placers for Celina (teammate Codey Welker placed eighth at 285 later in the day), so I'm pretty happy."
After coming to Columbus last season as an alternate, Dues was happy to get the chance to take to the mats at the Schottenstein Center.
"You never really know the intensity of state until you're actually down there and see what goes down," said Dues, who ends his career at Celina with a record of 142-36.
The crowd, with had over 12,000 during the first two days of action, awed Dues a bit.
"Everytime I walked out of the tunnel, I got goosebumps," said Dues. "Just going out, looking up and seeing thousands of people, It's amazing."
Additional online stories on this date
GREENVILLE - Sunny days and cold nights. That's the ideal weather for maple sugaring at the Shawnee Prairie Preserve Nature Center, part of the Darke County Parks. [More]
Mercer Country trio wraps up stellar seasons, careers
COLUMBUS - Codey Welker was in the perfect position for a storybook finish at the 2010 State Wrestling Championships.
The Celina grappler's opponen [More]
Mercer Country trio wraps up stellar seasons, careers
COLUMBUS - Talk about the perfect pre-match workout.
Before his seventh-place match on Saturday at the State Wrestling Championships, Trevor Kunk got the workout from his father. [More]
Subscriber and paid stories on this date
Longtime Chickasaw mayor and village councilman Virgil H. Puthoff died Sunday morning at The Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus, where he had been receiving treatment for heart problems.
A study will be conducted this spring on the most dangerous roadways in Mercer County, which includes an intersection where a 20-year-old Celina woman was killed 10 years ago today.
NEW KNOXVILLE - The president's wife visited this Auglaize County town over the weekend and entertained friends (circa mid-1800s) at the First Methodist Church.
So far, $161,100 has been raised toward the $500,000 needed to test sediment removal technology in Grand Lake, members of the nonprofit Lake Improvement Association (LIA) learned Saturday as they prepared to launch a "Save Grand Lake" marketing campaign.
Girls Basketball Division IV District Finals
LIMA - Two old tournament combatants renewed their postseason rivalry Saturday night at Lima Senior with a trip to the regional as the coveted prize.
Girls Basketball Division II District Finals
PAULDING - The Celina girls basketball team saw its season come to an end Saturday night, falling to the Wauseon Indians 57-47 in the Division II District final Saturday night at Paulding High School.
State Wrestling Notebook
COLUMBUS - After Codey Welker's last match on Saturday, the feeling didn't quite hit Celina wrestling coach Tim Doner.
It probably did Saturday night.
Weekend Roundup
Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry
The Coldwater girls bowling team finished seventh at the State Bowling Tournament held this past weekend at Shawnee Lanes in Chillicothe.