Evan Ulinski didn't have to look very far for a role model when he was growing up.

“I looked up to my brother,” said Ulinski, a freshman wrestler at Woodmore, of his older brother, Jan. “When he had to go to practice when I was little, I went with him.”

Jan and Evan started out going to school in the Woodmore district, but the family moved to the Eastwood school district when Jan was in high school.

“We moved back to Woodmore when I was in the seventh grade,” Evan said.

Jan, a two-time state qualifier at Eastwood, placed seventh at 119 pounds at the 2006 Division II state tournament. He is now a junior at the University of Findlay and competes at 133 pounds for the Oilers' wrestling team.

When Evan, 15, who started wrestling at age 5, qualified to this week's D-III state tournament at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, he sought out his older brother for advice.

“He said state's a great place to wrestle,” Evan said. “He said it's exciting and really cool and it should be a good time. I'm a little nervous. Hopefully I'll do well and wrestle good and have fun. I feel if I do well this year, that's great.”

Ulinski qualified to the state tournament by winning the 103-pound title last Saturday at the district tournament at Owens Community College. He beat Jude Michel of Edison, 7-4, in the championship match to run his record to 39-1.

Ulinski, who is rated the seventh-best 103-pounder in the state by the Brakeman Report, enters the state tournament riding an 18-match winning streak. His only loss came against Jacob Spearman of Lancaster at the Tiffin Holiday Tournament. Spearman, a junior, takes a 37-1 record into the D-I state tournament.

“Evan is a nice, laid-back kid,” first-year Woodmore coach Dave Laurendeau said. “He likes to be around the guys and have fun. He's a good kid, a hard worker and he's fun to have on the team. He's a good leader for a freshman. He stepped right into it early in the year and did whatever he needed to do to help out.”

The majority – 25 to be exact – of Ulinski's victories have ended by pin. And that, Laurendeau said, is no accident.

“He does everything well,” the coach said. “He's good on his feet - on top is his strongest position - and he's a smart wrestler. He's been wrestling since he could walk. His attitude was to place at state this year. I don't think he expects to be a state champion this year, but he expects to be a state champion by the time he graduates.”

Ulinski said he's somewhat surprised at the success he's had as a first-year varsity wrestler. He also acknowledges that “I always expect myself to do good.”

“So far I only have one loss,” he said. “I expected to maybe get beat a little more.”

Ulinski's first-round opponent on Thursday is freshman Zach Alvarado (33-4) of Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy. Ulinski and Alvarado have never met on the mat.

“I have no clue who he is,” Ulinski said. “I don't want to focus on that too much and stress myself out. I just focus on me and do what I need to do to get better.”

Ulinski is the Wildcats' first state qualifier since 2007, when Ryan Buckner took third place in D-III at 215.

“I want to make sure I get that first win,” Ulinski said, “and whatever happens from there, getting on the podium would be really great.”

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