Chasing greatness

Wyatt Urkoski and Adi Fahrnbruch are both a bit quiet and reserved in the moments before that big match or jump. 
Inside, however, is anything but. The passion and desire to win oozing from both competitors is impossible to measure. The line between a desire to win and an unwillingness to lose is often blurred. 
It was a no-brainer to hand out this year’s Aurora News-Register’s athlete of the year awards to both HPC’s Urkoski and Aurora’s Fahrnbruch. It only takes watching each of them compete one time to notice the differences.
Wyatt, in the moments before his biggest events this year, whether it was the state playoffs in football, the state wrestling tournament or even the state track and field meet, just paces around, often with his headphones up. 
It looks a lot like a bull in a cage. He’s calm, but that’s only because he knows it’s not time yet. 
Once the chute opens, look out!
I don’t have a good number for how many wrestling matches this winter that Wyatt was purely having more fun making his opponent sweat and suffer. 
The number is a lot closer to 53 (his win total for his senior season) than zero. 
It’s not just himself, though. Wyatt is as invested in each of his teammates as his own merits. 
Winning himself wasn’t enough. Wyatt wanted his teammates to have that success, too, especially on the wrestling mat.
“I was just proud to be part of those boys and show them what it’s like to be a winning program,” Wyatt said. “I hope they continue to do the same thing next year. I hope they stay motivated and I hope I was a small part of that.”
HPC wrestling coach Martin Phillips tacked onto that statement, explaining that you won’t get many words out of Wyatt. 
You do as he does, not as he says. 
“Wyatt is definitely a ‘follow me’ type of guy,” Phillips said. “He just goes out there and does what he needs to and his teammates follow that example. He always knew what took to be great and he never asked anyone on our team to do something he wasn’t willing to do himself. He was always the guy at the scales helping his teammates get through. He was always the one to volunteer to help his teammates.”
On the football field, they don’t make very many of them like Wyatt. As old school as it gets. 
Wyatt led the Storm charge to get High Plains back into the playoffs after several years of struggling. 
Again, that was Wyatt’s goal. He made sure everyone knew that and his teammates followed suit. 
HPC’s playoff contest at Lourdes Catholic last fall was one many won’t soon forget for several reasons.
The Storm essentially spotted Lourdes a touchdown out of the gate and worked the rest of the night to get out of that hole. 
But, they didn’t quit. Wyatt wouldn’t let them.
“This year, we were just a different football team,” Wyatt said. “In the playoffs, we got scored on right away and we didn’t give up. We were just one score away. The teamwork we had made me so proud of those boys, getting to the playoffs.”
It was also the night I heard one of the loudest football hits in my lifetime. 
Wyatt, from his linebacker position, did his job on a read option play, blasting the running back in the hole. 
It was a sound that could be heard from Nebraska City all the way back to Wyatt’s home in Clarks.
Don’t take my word for it. Ask HPC coach Greg Wood.
“That was one of the top hits I’ve ever seen,” Wood said. “My gosh, it was hard. I was surprised the other kid got up.”
Wyatt was surrounded by great coaches in his time at High Plains and it certainly shows.
He’s going to do great things for Doane’s football program over the next several years getting to do what he likes best -- hitting people.
After that? He’s going to give back and he has a lot to give.
“I definitely want to coach some day,” Urkoski said. “I would really love to coach wrestling. I want to influence kids and be a role model like coach Phillips was for me. I’m not too worried about winning or losing, but creating better people.”
Adi is cut from the same cloth, even if she won’t take full credit for it. Give Adi the ball and let her cook.
She was at the top of the lineup on the softball team. The southpaw is lethal with the running slapper. 
“I love softball because hitting the ball is the most satisfying feeling in the world,” Fahrnbruch said. “I like the mental focus of softball. I enjoy my teammates, too.”
As she’s gotten older, the confidence has grown through the roof and Aurora softball coach Ashton Voss pointed out that’s evident in the batter’s box.
“Her confidence has grown so much over time,” Voss said. “She really is such a threat, especially offensively with her speed and everything she can do at the plate.”
There was also the shot heard round Ashland-Greenwood during the holiday tournament this past winter.
Aurora girls basketball coach Kelly Krueger drew up the final play for Adi to take the shot, something she admitted was a bit of a surprise.
But, gamers want the ball. Adi wanted the moment.
“That was so crazy. I didn’t even know what was happening,” Adi said. “I felt like there was so much noise around me. The coaches drew up the play for me and I was like, ‘you really want me to be the shooter?’”
Adi laughed re-telling the story, but she buried the shot in the moment, sending her teammates into a frenzy.
“I was kind of on and off during the season,” Adi admitted about her junior year’s shooting numbers. “After I made the shot, everyone started crowding me, but I just wanted to get back on defense. I didn’t know what was happening. It was such a fun moment for our team and those games were probably our best of the season.”
Krueger also mentioned confidence when talking about Adi, noting how much fun it is building that trust and seeing it all come together like it did that weekend in Ashland-Greenwood. 
“That was so much fun,” Krueger shared. “It was one of those moments where she was locked in and ready to go. She didn’t have time to think about it, which I think helped her a lot. She’s going to keep growing that confidence across three sports.”
Despite all of that, Adi’s home may well be on the track runway. She’s now garnered three state track medals, two in the triple jump and another in the long jump this spring.
She’s rocketed up the Husky all-time list in both events, sitting squarely in the top three for both.
She’s second in Aurora school history for the triple jump at 36-10, trailing just Tess Moyer’s mark of 38-2.5 set in 2010.
Adi is also No. 3 in the long jump after a season-best mark of 17-9.5, a quick improvement throughout the season. 
It’s something that almost came out of nowhere, she noted, but has had a lot of fun putting the work in. 
“I’m not really sure. As my body has grown, jumping has been something that I’ve found and has worked for me,” Adi said. “I worked on it a lot over the summer and finding ways to stay fresh.”
Adi mentioned she has an appreciation for both the long and triple jump events, but there’s just something about the triple that has her coming back for more.
I promised myself I would only mention this one time, because they’re two different people. Yet, they’re way more similar than either may want to admit. 
Adi has now matched her older sister, Eva, who won the News-Register athlete of the year award when she was also a junior in 2021-22.
Don’t mess with the Fahrnbruch’s, ya’ll. 
Aurora track coach Gordon Wilson put it simply when talking about Adi’s desire to be great. 
“Adi’s heart is in the right place with whatever she does,” Wilson said. “She is very unselfish. She wants to be successful, but also just wants to do the best she can. As long as she gave her best effort, to some degree she’s okay with that.”
RICHARD RHODEN can be reached at sports@hamilton.net.