Harlem High School senior Luke Rhodes was just trying to get better at football when he heeded coach Kevin Waters’ proposal to take up wrestling as a freshman. Things have changed since then.
“It’s kind of ironic,” said Rhodes. “I dropped football to get better at wrestling in my senior year.”
Rhodes was a freshman when he first joined the wrestling team. Now he’s leading the varsity wrestling team in wins at 17 – 3, and 15 of those are pins. He ranks six on all-time victories for the wrestling team’s six-year history.
The demanding nature of the sport, Rhodes says, has helped him build character and develop a strong focus on goal-setting and achieving. He attributes his preference for wrestling to football to this growth.
“The competitiveness to it and the grind that it takes really helped me as a person to really grow,” said Rhodes. “And to learn how to actually work toward something.”
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Rhodes notes that the most challenging aspect of wrestling is how mentally, as well as physically, taxing it can be. But this opportunity to aim, persevere and defeat the internal hurdles as well as one’s opponent on the mat leads to what Rhodes says is his favorite aspect of the sport, which is a kind of indescribable rush from a victory.
“It’s just one of the greatest things you’ll ever feel,” said Rhodes.
While Rhodes was a freshman, Waters saw his athletic potential beyond football, and that’s the reason he encouraged Rhodes toward the sport. Waters attributes Rhodes’ athletic success to his character, noting academic accomplishment and work ethic.
“He’s just an all-around great kid,” said Waters. “He is a representation of Harlem wrestling. To have that kind of academic success, and success on the mat as well, just speaks volume to what kind of kid he is.”
Rhodes has already been accepted to, and plans to attend, Georgia Institute of Technology following graduation, where he intends to study aerospace engineering. This is in line with the purposefulness that has brought him his success in wrestling, which he says is needed to persist in the sport. He is inspired by a quote attributed to businessman and sports team owner Art Williams, “I’m not telling you it’s going to be easy. I’m telling you it’s going to be worth it.”
“Every time I think things are getting a little too tough for me, I just think back to that quote,” said Rhodes. “Nothing that’s easy is ever worthwhile. So, OK, that’s all right. Let’s keep going with it.”
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering Columbia County with The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
