(Photo courtesy of the Uhrig family)
Royce Uhrig didn’t like wrestling a whole lot a few years ago. He participated when his family lived in Brush, but it just wasn’t something he was ready to completely dive into as a kid.
Oh, how things have changed.
Shortly after his family moved to Gunnison, a switch flipped in his head and he quickly found out that the wrestling mat was where he wanted to spend as much time as possible. He came into the season ranked No. 4 in the Class 3A 113-pound rankings and has taken to winning like a fish happily takes to the Blue Mesa Reservoir.
“It’s something I really crave,” Uhrig said. “When I was a kid and lived in Brush, I didn’t go to many big tournaments. I wasn’t motivated too much. When I moved here to Gunnison I started to love the sport more and more. I’ve been trying to work as hard as I can for a couple of years now.”
His early results have made him one of the most notable freshmen throughout the entire state. He officially sports a 6-0 record, but has wrestled five matches (the sixth win came via forfeit).
Not once has he failed to pin the wrestler lining up across from him. The longest match he’s had is four minutes, 32 seconds, a win over Cedaredge’s Landon Martin. He followed that up by pinning Norwood’s Aiden Walton in just 15 seconds.
After initial fears that he wouldn’t get a wrestling season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he jumped right into mid-season form, taking in the excitement of competing while brushing off any nerves.
“Before (my first match) my coach/dad just told me to get after the guy and have fun,” Uhrig said. “That’s going to go down as one of the happiest moments of life.”
He’s hoping over the course of the next four years he can knock that feeling of winning his initial match down in the rankings of his favorite moments.
With the season officially getting played out, that means the opportunity to become a four-time state champion remains alive. By no means is he of the belief that standing on that podium with four fingers extended in the air is going to be a given.
He has to continue the work he’s been putting in since he came to the realization that wrestling is something he truly loves. And well before he thinks about winning a fourth championship, he knows the most important is his next one.
“You have to take take it one match at a time,” he said. “You have to keep working.”
And that’s exactly what he intends to do. A wrestler is only as good as his most recent match says he is, so he’ll do what he needs to do to be at his best when Gunnison heads to the James Irwin Quad in Colorado Springs this weekend. And after that, he’ll just get right back to work and keep getting better.
“I’ve always been told the harder you work, the luckier you get,” Uhrig said.
With five pins to his name already this season, it feels like he hasn’t needed much luck yet. Maybe he’s just saving it for a later day.
(Photo courtesy of the Uhrig family)