Hard work pays off for Olathe South senior wrestler

WICHITA | Entering the 125-pound championship match of the 6A state wrestling tournament Saturday, Olathe South senior Chaz Lawrence realized how far he had come.

After finishing fourth at state as a freshman and sophomore, Lawrence had failed to medal at last year’s 6A state tournament.

Then it dawned on him that he only had one more year to win a title.

“I was eating junk food, not lifting weights, not stretching, stuff like that,” Lawrence said. “But when you get to your last year, you start thinking about it and it makes you work that much harder.”

And all that hard work paid off on Saturday. Lawrence won his first state title and capped a terrific senior season with a 4-2 overtime victory over Wichita Heights sophomore Daniel Deshazer at the Kansas Coliseum.

Afterward, Lawrence admitted he couldn’t think of a better way to end his career than with a win over Deshazer, a defending state champion who entered the match with a 36-1 record and was the top-ranked wrestler in his weight class.

“It’s almost like something out of a book,” said Lawrence, who finishes the season 46-1. “You don’t expect it to happen, but if you work hard enough, (it can).”

Lawrence was just one Olathe South wrestler who turned in a solid performance. Freshman 103-pounder Zach Dremel and junior 145-pounder Trip Hiller each took third for the Falcons, whose eighth-place finish was the highest of all the Olathe schools.

•Olathe North junior Lucas Vincent certainly used his weight to his advantage in an 11-4 victory over Wichita Northwest junior Trey Page in the 285-pound championship match of the 6A state tournament.

Vincent, who weighs about 270 pounds, estimated that he outweighed Page by about 20 pounds. This, he said, helped him control the match.

“It made a difference,” Vincent said. “When he was trying to do the stuff he did all tournament, it wasn’t working for him.”

The match was a far cry from last season, when Vincent weighed 230 pounds and was pinned in the first period of the state championship match by Brock Heithaus of Wichita Northwest.

After the loss to Heithaus, who outweighed him by about 40 pounds, Vincent bulked up 40 pounds.

And now, having won a state title, Vincent said he’s done with high school wrestling. He wants to focus on football, a sport in which he’s already gained multiple scholarship offers from Division-I schools.

“I just want to get the best scholarship I can,” Vincent said.

•Gardner Edgerton finished in a tie for ninth in the 5A state tournament with a team score of 63 points. Junior Todd Curtis took second at 160 pounds while his brother, senior Greg Curtis, took third at 171. Junior Micah Flora-Swick took fourth at 135.

•Olathe East finished 22nd at 6A state with a team score of 19.5 points. Senior 152-pounder David Lalo took third, while senior 215-pounder Jake Woten took sixth.

submitted by TEREZ A. PAYLOR - 2009-03-03 14:02:01

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