Unsung Hero: Wrestling Senior Danny Lawrence

The 2010-11 school year was not an easy athletic season to swallow for now-senior Spring-Ford student Danny Lawrence. Lawrence, a football player and wrestler, tour his ACL during the football season last year - sidelining him for the rest of the season and causing him to miss out on a key wrestling year.

With all of that in mind, Lawrence could have slacked off, used his newly-found free time to procrastinate - but he didn't. He still came around and worked hard in the weight room during wrestling season, according to head coach Tim Seislove, who awarded Lawrence with this week's Unsung Hero honors.

"Obviously, I don't have the most experience as a wrestler," Lawrence said. "I've been working really hard. I missed the season last year. It's great to have this honor while working myself back into the lineup."

Unfortunately for the 160-pounder, Lawrence was not certifier eligible for the 160-pound weight class. So, instead, he wrestles at 182, giving up almost 20 pounds to his opponents in every fight.

"He's done an awesome job," said Seislove. "He lost a couple of wrestle-offs with [171-pounder Tyler] McGuigan, so he's been helping the team out by filling in there."

The new weight class has not been easy for Lawrence, but he said his teammates push him as hard as he pushes them, and it helps in motivating him to do his best.

"You get thrown around a little bit, but you can figure out ways to beat these guys," Lawrence said. "You have to outwork them, sometimes outmaneuver them or whatever. A lot of hard work and lifting to make up for the weight you give up to them."

Off the mat, Lawrence is a model student. Earlier this year, we reported he received honors in the 2012 National Merit Scholarship Program at a school board meeting. The board agenda stated: "These individuals were among the 34,000 students out of more than 1.5 million students who scored in the commended academic achievement range on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT)."

Lawrence also achieved All-PAC-10 academic honors this year for football. He has already been accepted to attend Penn State University and Clemson University, to name a few, and is waiting to hear back from Gettysburg, Vanderbilt and Delaware. He said he may continue athletics if he decides on a smaller school.

Overall, he feels grateful toward the relationships he's made through Spring-Ford athletics.

"I've formed a lot of strong bonds with the guys I've been on teams with," he said. "I've definitely kept those bonds throughout the years. It definitely helps when you have a team with close guys that work together as a whole. I'm going to keep in touch with a lot of guys I played sports with through college and beyond."

Seislove confirmed his nomination for Lawrence to conclude.

"Just a tremendous student-athlete," Seislove said. "Great kid. Great personality. He's just a joy to have around. He's a class act. He's had some success and he deserves the recognition."