2017-18 TELEGRAM ALL-AREA WRESTLING: Gryphons’ Lawrence completes strong career

Wrestling has opened up a large window of opportunity for Rocky Mount High’s Rahshun Lawrence.

It has taken him up and down the East coast to national tournaments and even to North Dakota, a state not many people from the Twin Counties envision visiting.

So after four years on the high school level of winning conference championships, regional titles and competing against the best wrestlers in the state, Lawrence is reflective and comfortable when talking about his career, which ends with the Gryphon being named the Telegram’s 2017-18 All-Area Wrestler of the Year.

It’s a sport that actually came to Lawrence by chance. He was in middle school and playing soccer when the wrestling coach recruited him because he needed someone to fill an open weight class.

His appreciation for the sport has grown every year, through the winning and losing. This past winter he won the Big East Conference championship in the 120 pound weight class. He placed third in the East region and fought his way to a fourth-place finish at the NCHSAA 3-A state championships in Greensboro.

“At one point, I was like that (worried about state championships),” Lawrence said. “I was the regional champion last year, and went to states with a high seed and got upset. Sometimes you just have to sit back and say someone was better than you. There’s no need to dwell on it. You just have to keep working hard.”

Lawrence certainly has challenged himself at different levels and styles of the sport. He has done Greco-Roman wrestling with his club team, and with the Gryphons, he has competed at the 106-, 113- and 120-pound divisions at part of the past four seasons.

He said he felt like he was at his best this season at 120 pounds after figuring out which class his body best operated.

The quick pin is always appreciated, but Lawrence said he also enjoyed matches that went a few rounds that tested both athletes.

“When you are exhausted and you pin them, it feels great,” Lawrence said. “If you don’t have heart, you won’t be a good wrestler. If one thing doesn’t go your way, it can change the whole match. One little lapse in an undefeated season, and you can be on your back. You never know.”

Lawrence can laugh at himself, too, calling himself the athlete on the Gryphons with perhaps the worst diet.

He remembers holidays that tested his will, knowing he couldn’t — or maybe he could — endulge in a full plate of homecooked food because there was an upcoming tournament.

The Pepsi he drinks prior to matches probably doesn’t help, either.

“I was always the person who was overweight,” Lawrence said.

There is a chance his career continues, either at Ferrum College or UNC-Pembroke. If decides to attend East Carolina, he’ll enjoy the club wrestling team. He plans to major in criminal justice and is looking forward to a career in law enforcement.

Hours in the sauna, working out at the YMCA and trying make weight for the next match were all worth it, Lawrence said.

“Going to practice was fun because you learned something new every day,” Lawrence said. “In the end it all paid off.”