CHAT ROOM: MUHAMMED LAWAL, Wrestling champion from Plano
By Heidi Pederson
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Muhammed Lawal took up wrestling when he was a sophomore at Plano East High School as a way to stay in shape between football seasons. Nine years later, wrestling has become the main focus of his life.
Lawal, a 1999 UIL state champion, went on to win an NCAA Division II national title for Central Oklahoma and become a Division I All-American for Oklahoma State.
He wants to accomplish even more on the international freestyle scene. He placed third at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials and has his sights set on the 2008 Olympics. He is expected to contend for the 185-pound title at the U.S. freestyle wrestling championships in Las Vegas this week.
He trains at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado and at Oklahoma State. He’s also a featured athlete on RealPro Wrestling, which airs at 2 p.m. today on Fox Sports Southwest.
You continued to pursue your bachelor’s degree at Oklahoma State even after your NCAA eligibility was up in 2003. Was it difficult to train for international competition while taking a full load of classes? It was hard. I was gone a lot, competing and going to training camps. When I got there, the teachers didn’t know me and they figured I was a freshman, so they treated me like I was a punk. But I graduated last semester.
Many of your expenses are covered by USA Wrestling or your club sponsor. But how do you earn extra income? I’m a club coach, but I’m living paycheck to paycheck. And, of course, with help from my parents.
You’ve moved up the freestyle wrestling ladder fast. How do you feel about the rule changes that the sport’s international governing body made after the 2004 Olympics? The changes, especially the change to a one-day tournament, will help Americans. We’re more well-conditioned and a little bit tougher, in a way. A lot of the Europeans, by the third or fourth match that day, are tired.
What is your training schedule like now, with the U.S. championships and World Trials approaching [in June]? I train from five to seven hours a day.
On RealPro Wrestling, you seem to express yourself more than the other wrestlers do, and it has generated some controversy. A lot of the old-timers who watch wrestling think I’m too show-boaty. I’ve worked hard to get where I am, especially in wrestling. Why not express how you feel? I try to have fun with it.
You said you’ve thought about competing in Mixed Martial Arts or other combat sports? Next year, I might try it. Think about it: Beat somebody up and get paid for it! And MMA might actually help my conditioning. I might get choked out, but I’d make $50,000.
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