By LEROY BRIDGES
H&R Staff Writer
MAHOMET – The sweat dripped from Lucas Volpe’s face as he stared Jay Lanning in the face. The Mount Zion junior had been here before.
Just a week prior, Volpe had to look up to Lanning who stood atop the podium at the Champaign Central Regional after beating Volpe 12-9 at 140 pounds.
Now, the senior from Pontiac stood between Volpe and the state tournament. With a determination seen from the first time he set foot on a mat when he was 7 years old, Volpe jumped out in front of Lanning and controlled the match on his way to a 9-6 win.
The entire time his grandfather Richard Goetz moved back and forth, and side to side as the match progressed. And when Volpe’s hand was raised signaling a trip to Champaign, Goetz let out a couple emphatic fist pumps.
It was a special moment for the two who have put in 10 years of work together to reach the top of high school wrestling.
“This means everything for me and for him,” said Volpe (26-8), who went straight to Goetz for a hug after the win. “He’s helped me get to where I am and to beat a kid who beat me last week, this feels great.”
Getting Volpe into wrestling when he moved to Decatur a decade ago was an obvious choice for Goetz, a two-time state runner-up in Iowa and collegiate grappler at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
The surprise was how quickly the 7-year-old Volpe picked up the sport. After about 10 days at the kids club wrestling program, Roy Johnson, father of Volpe’s current coach Justin, said Volpe needed to be moved up because of his ability.
“I saw a little bit of anger in the boy,” said Goetz, who helped raise Volpe after his parents divorced. “I heard about the kids club, got involved and he took the anger out on the mat.”
Practice three nights a week and weekend trips all across the Midwest followed.
Goetz would wake up at 3 a.m., wrap Volpe in a blanket, throw him in the backseat and the two would be at weigh-ins by 7 a.m. in Chicago.
Now, the two will be headed to Champaign for state, which begins Friday morning.
“I’m so pleased and so proud because he’s worked so hard and that’s what it takes in the sport of wrestling,” Goetz said. “We have established a great relationship and wrestling’s always been involved.”
Volpe ranks No. 12 in his class, and faces No. 4 Connor Bass from Yorkville in his first match at state. If he tops Bass, fifth-ranked Brandon Rice (Washington) is waiting. The final chapter could be written if Volpe makes an incredible run through his bracket toward a state title, but Goetz and Volpe both know that’s a lot to ask.
“It will be a very special moment for me if they can raise his hand as a champion,” Goetz said. “But we have another year, too. We had a rough beginning to this season, but we’re finishing very strong.
“Regardless of what he does, I will be a proud grandpa shooting my mouth that he’s my grandson.”
Joining Volpe at state are five of his teammates. Joe Butler and Grant Naylor are making their return to state after a disappointing experience a year ago, while three others are making their debuts at state.
In all, the H&R area is represented by 24 (16 in Class 1A and eight in Class 2A) wrestlers at state.
lbridges@herald-review.com|421-6970
Published in the Herald & Review in February 2011.
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