Dickhausen's return strengthened Ellsworth's line-up

• Ellsworth's Ryan Dickhausen

Ryan Dickhausen wrestling in the state individual tournament.

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It took a while but it was worth the wait. Ryan Dickhausen didn't wrestle varsity with the Ellsworth High School wrestling team until their dual meet against Osceola in mid-January but once he did the No. 2 ranked Panthers received a strength increase in tenfold amounts.

"It was middle school night and there were a lot of people there," Dickhausen said about his 2012 season debut. "That really got me going because it's big difference wrestling on front of so many people compared to say, 15, even at a big school like Woodbury. It just reminded me what wrestling means here."

Dickhausen compiled a 17-7 record at 152 pounds, finished second in the conference, regional and individual sectional meets and won pair of matches for the Purple in the Division 2 team sectional as well. He competed at last weekend's WIAA State Individual Tournament.

Dickhausen had wrestled at EHS for two seasons, then transferred to Woodbury during his junior year. He came back to Ellsworth as the current season got underway.

Paperwork issues had to be ironed out first between WIAA and MSHSL for Dickhausen to be declared eligible to wrestle for EHS.

"With you're dealing with two different high school associations we knew there was going to be a lot involved in getting Ryan eligible to wrestle for this season," EHS head coach Chad Steldt said. "But it was well worth going through all that given the experience he had, the fact he was a senior and the fact he filled in a part of line-up we needed filled."

Dickhausen compiled a 20-15 record while at Wooodbury and was eager to begin wrestling again for Ellsworth.

"For me the waiting was really frustrating because I would go to meets and see wrestlers I could beat and I wanted to get out there I prove I was better," Dickhausen said. "So it was hard to wait but it also kept me motivated in practice and kept me going knowing I could do well for myself and also for the team."

Being away for one season didn't break ties Dickhausen had to the close-knit Panther squad.

"We were together in youth wrestler and even when he went to Woodbury we remained in contact," Ellsworth team captain Roarke Langer said. "Some of us went to see his matches. We would see him at meets and call and talk. You could he kept improving the year he was gone so when he came back we were excited because we knew he was going to help us a lot."

Tags: prep, wrestling, ellsworth