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Maybe the only thing worse than losing a state championship match is losing one in overtime.

But fortunately for Lakota High School's Karl Grove, there's nothing that eases the pain of losing a title in overtime like going home and looking at the state championship medal you won the year before.

"The loss still kind of stings, especially since I beat him (Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit's Clint Musser) earlier in the year pretty handily," Grove said. "But I'd have to say the win stands out in my mind more."

That win was the 1990 Division I 103-pound state title, which Grove won his junior year with an 8-5 triumph over Worthington's Jason Allen.

"The finals was actually one of the easiest matches. The kid I wrestled in the semis had placed the year before and was one of the favorites. We were tied 2-2 with 30 seconds left, and he asked for injury timeout. At that point, I went over to Stolly (coach Bob Stoll) and said, 'We got him. He just cracked. He's done.' Ten seconds later, I took him down and beat him."

Grove went 35-3 during his championship season in 1990, and he followed that with a 24-5-1, state runner-up campaign as a senior to finish with a career record of 81-11-1.

"I was fortunate enough to wrestle for two really great coaches," Grove said. "Bob Dalton was a really good coach before Bob Stoll came to Lakota, but Stolly was the one who taught us to expect more. He basically talked me into believing I could win state."

Grove lives in West Chester Twp. and works for a builder supply company.