Willie Lampkin goes in-depth on how wrestling background helps him
Willie Lampkin was very proud of his wrestling background to help him on the football field. The North Carolina transfer center always used it to his advantage in blocking.
Down at Lakeland High (Fla.), Lampkin was the 2020 Florida state champion at 285 pounds with a 47-0 record during his senior year. He took second place as a junior.
A lot of football coaches love players who were successful on the wrestling mat. Lampkin made sure to let everyone know about his background.
“It definitely helps me to keep my leverage, you know, keeps my feet going,” Lampkin said. “Because when you’re in a tie up, I don’t want to have my feet dead because if my feet are dead, I’m definitely going to get taken down. And I don’t want to get taken down. So I’m definitely going to keep my feet moving.”
Lampkin mentioned a few other players on the team wrestled before and wanted to get some matches going.
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“So, we’ve been talking and talking back and forth to each other, you know, but I have to get a match soon,” Lampkin said. “Few other guys on the team wrestled as well. So we definitely got to get a match soon.”
Lampkin also mentioned why coaches love offensive linemen who wrestled in the past.
“I feel like everybody likes them, especially offensive linemen,” Lampkin said. “I feel like wrestling, it helps with football. You know, it helps with the balancing leverage, helps your tactics. So I feel like every football player should wrestle, and there’s a mano a mano type thing too.”
Heck, if Lampkin wants sanctioned wrestling matches at North Carolina, he can go straight to the wrestling room. Austin O’Connor just capped off his final season with the program with his second national title. He also discussed his journey in an exclusive conversation with On3.
As a member of the Class of 2020, Lampkin was a three-star recruit out of Lakeland (Fla.) High when he committed to Coastal Carolina, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 282 overall prospect in the state, the No. 140 interior offensive lineman in the class and the No. 2082 overall prospect in the class.