The first Weekend War of the offseason in Camp Verde was a day for the young and the Uhlers.
Oldest of the quintuple wrestlers in the family is Camp Verde High School sophomore Hayden Uhler, a two-time defending state champion who has already put on 22 more pounds since his 113-pound Division IV title Feb. 13.
On March 21, “The Punisher,” as Uhler is known at the Sterrett Wrestling Complex, beat all comers in the 135-pound weight class, taking first place. Then there are his little brothers, Korben and Racer — runners-up March 21 at 115 and 50 pounds, respectively.
“It’s kind of weird: The older kids never wanted to do anything else,” said Denae Uhler, stay-at-home mother to the Uhler wrestlers and wife of Jeremy Uhler, head wrestling coach at Camp Verde Middle School. “This is all that they know. If they wanted to do something else, it would be encouraged, but we love wrestling at our house.”
Tessa Uhler, Denae’s only daughter, is already a three-time girls state wrestling champion in the fifth grade. Such sibling wrestling rivalry can lead to Saturday nights at the Uhler home that can be a little, as Denae put it, “smackdown-ish.”
“Then we have the baby that’s laying in her lap, Cade,” Denae Uhler added. “We’ll try to wrestle him.”
“Wrestling is our sport and I try to support them as much as I can. I’m always here when they’re practicing, so this is a big part of our life.”
The newest member of the family to wrestle for the Camp Verde club New Breed hasn’t even started kindergarten yet.
Weighing 35 pounds, Rhett Uhler pinned 40-pound Gary Smiley of Cottonwood Elementary School to win the kindergarten level of Weekend Wars on March 21.
For the full story, please see the Wednesday, April 1, issue of the Camp Verde Journal.
