He’s also a sumo wrestler.

Unick, a senior at Grand Valley State, flew to Long Beach, California to take part in the 2015 US Sumo Open on Aug. 8.

The US Sumo Open first started in 2001, and since then has become the largest annual sumo tournament in the world outside Japan.

Unick, who wrestled as a freshman at GVSU, was captured by the sport after watching a documentary on it and threw himself in the ring.

“I’m very drawn to high-intensity sports,” Unick said. “It’s hand-to-hand combat. I was really the same as most people when it came to sumo. You get that image of big guys just hitting each other. But the athleticism, the technique involved is amazing really.”

The U.S. Sumo Open is split between lightweight, middleweight and heavyweight, with an open tournament in which competitors of all events can enter.

Unick signed up for both the lightweight and the open competition.

The Farmington Hills, Michigan native battled in his first career competition. Unick split six matches, going 3-3 in lightweight pool play, but missed out on advancing beyond his pool due to a loss in his final match.

“I was happy with (how I did) coming in and having very little prior experience in sumo,” Unick said. “Everybody I had beat had attended the open at least once. I think most importantly I know in two of the matches I lost what I did wrong.

Despite falling in lightweight play, Unick had one more shot in the open tournament – a single elimination format pitting various weights against each other.

The 170-pound greenhorn drew 357-pound Byambajav Ulambayar – the eight-time defending heavyweight world champion – in the first round.

“I was excited,” Unick said on drawing Ulambayar. “I remember I was fist pumping and clapping my hands. Really just going on that excitement.”

David was not to trump Goliath in this story, however, and the Mongolian legend bested GVSU’s only hope to end Unick’s openweight dreams.

Despite his underdog status in nearly every facet, Unick felt like he could have made it a closer match.

“I’m a little disappointed in the match because I got a good hit on him,” Unick said. “I feel like I could have done better.”

Unick’s inexperience in competitive sumo is magnified by the lack of sumo enthusiasts in West Michigan – and the Midwest.

Unick estimates that he’s the only competitive sumo wrestler within roughly 400 miles of Grand Rapids – a problem that hindered his ability to train. Rather than practicing technique via matches, Unick was forced to train against a weight room and thin air.

Before the event, however, Unick was contacted by U.S. Sumo founder Andrew Freund, who brought Unick in a few days early to give him the opportunity to compete in practice matches against other U.S. Sumo competitors.

Freund started U.S. Sumo in the mid-1990s, and since then it has blossomed into a center for sumo wrestlers outside of Japan.

“We’ve had thousands of fans over the years,” Freund said. “The almost universal reaction is, ‘That’s not what I expected at all.’ They’re shocked by the speed, dynamism and how fast the matches are.”

Freund and Unick also note that a common misconception about sumo is the size of the wrestlers. The lightweight division at US Sumo tops out at roughly 187 pounds, the middleweight at 233 and the heavyweight above that.

Although the annual U.S. Sumo competition has drawn to a close, Unick doesn’t expect to let the sport slip away.

“I love it,” Unick said. “I love the physicality, I like the explosiveness and I look forward to competing in the future.”