NWI Times
2/22
Grappling with change
Merrillville's Larimore sad as end of competitive wrestling career nears
BY MARTIN ZABELL
Times Correspondent
This story ran on nwitimes.com on Thursday, February 16, 2006 12:21 AM CST
PREP WRESTLING | INDIVIDUAL STATE MEET PREVIEW
For an in-depth look at the state tourney, see C3.
Typically, people who are the second-best in the nation at something will not "retire" to do something else.
Dexter Larimore of Merrillville, though, is not typical.
This weekend, Larimore is favored to win the state heavyweight wrestling title. Ranked the second-best prep heavyweight in the USA by Amateur Wrestling News, the senior will play football at Ohio State.
A 6-3, 265-pound defensive tackle, Larimore is ranked as Indiana's sixth-best college football prospect by Scout.com. Given the greater professional opportunities in football, choosing the gridiron over grappling makes sense. But Larimore has had great problems even thinking about giving up competitive wrestling.
"No, I'm not going to wrestle at (Ohio State)," said Larimore. "What they will let me do is go in and practice with (the wrestling team). I want to stay in the sport. I've been doing it since the second grade. To give it up so abruptly is hard for me to accept."
Larimore has wrestled for clubs in Crown Point and Merrillville for 10 years and has been on the Pirates' varsity team for four. Last season, he finished second in the state tournament and is 37-0 this season.
Until his 11-2 win in the Merrillville Semistate championship last weekend, Larimore had not given up a takedown or reverse all season.
"He hasn't been tested all year," said Merrillville coach David Maldonado.
At Ohio State, Larimore will be watched by Ohio State wrestling coach Russ Hellickson, a silver medalist at the 1976 Olympics, an 11-time national champion, the captain of the 1980 Olympic wrestling team and the coach of 40 All-Americans.
Larimore said that he will not be sad this Friday and Saturday at the state championships in Indianapolis' Conseco Fieldhouse although the event could be his last individual competition (he will compete for Merrillville at the Feb. 25 team state championships). Why? "I will still be in the sport and will always be part of the sport," he said.
"I will leave it all on the mat. It will be a little hard for me because it's my senior year and because I will never be able to wrestle in Conseco again."
Larimore is aware that he's ranked second in the nation behind Kenny Lester of Oviedo, Fla. (the other three Indiana wrestlers who are ranked are Andrew Howe of Hanover Central, who is 12th at 140 and two Bloomington youngsters), but he said rankings don't concern him.
"Most of the pressure is pressure I put on myself," he said. "If I win by one point, I win the match and that's all that matters to me."
2/22
Grappling with change
Merrillville's Larimore sad as end of competitive wrestling career nears
BY MARTIN ZABELL
Times Correspondent
This story ran on nwitimes.com on Thursday, February 16, 2006 12:21 AM CST
PREP WRESTLING | INDIVIDUAL STATE MEET PREVIEW
For an in-depth look at the state tourney, see C3.
Typically, people who are the second-best in the nation at something will not "retire" to do something else.
Dexter Larimore of Merrillville, though, is not typical.
This weekend, Larimore is favored to win the state heavyweight wrestling title. Ranked the second-best prep heavyweight in the USA by Amateur Wrestling News, the senior will play football at Ohio State.
A 6-3, 265-pound defensive tackle, Larimore is ranked as Indiana's sixth-best college football prospect by Scout.com. Given the greater professional opportunities in football, choosing the gridiron over grappling makes sense. But Larimore has had great problems even thinking about giving up competitive wrestling.
"No, I'm not going to wrestle at (Ohio State)," said Larimore. "What they will let me do is go in and practice with (the wrestling team). I want to stay in the sport. I've been doing it since the second grade. To give it up so abruptly is hard for me to accept."
Larimore has wrestled for clubs in Crown Point and Merrillville for 10 years and has been on the Pirates' varsity team for four. Last season, he finished second in the state tournament and is 37-0 this season.
Until his 11-2 win in the Merrillville Semistate championship last weekend, Larimore had not given up a takedown or reverse all season.
"He hasn't been tested all year," said Merrillville coach David Maldonado.
At Ohio State, Larimore will be watched by Ohio State wrestling coach Russ Hellickson, a silver medalist at the 1976 Olympics, an 11-time national champion, the captain of the 1980 Olympic wrestling team and the coach of 40 All-Americans.
Larimore said that he will not be sad this Friday and Saturday at the state championships in Indianapolis' Conseco Fieldhouse although the event could be his last individual competition (he will compete for Merrillville at the Feb. 25 team state championships). Why? "I will still be in the sport and will always be part of the sport," he said.
"I will leave it all on the mat. It will be a little hard for me because it's my senior year and because I will never be able to wrestle in Conseco again."
Larimore is aware that he's ranked second in the nation behind Kenny Lester of Oviedo, Fla. (the other three Indiana wrestlers who are ranked are Andrew Howe of Hanover Central, who is 12th at 140 and two Bloomington youngsters), but he said rankings don't concern him.
"Most of the pressure is pressure I put on myself," he said. "If I win by one point, I win the match and that's all that matters to me."
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