Easley’s Luke Arrowood
Jeff Holt | The Easley Progress
Pictured is Easley High School junior Luke Arrowood (left) battling recently against an opponent at Greenville.
Jeff Holt | The Easley Progress
EASLEY — Cross country and wrestling.
You don’t hear that combination too much.
But for junior Luke Arrowood, it’s a 1-2 punch that seems to work. He seems to be more of a wrestler who also runs cross country.
“Wrestling is my main sport,” said Arrowood, who wrestles at 144 pounds. “It does help me stay in condition going into the (wrestling) season. That way I can work on wrestling, and not worry about getting into shape. I just like getting out there and staying active outside of wrestling season.”
Continued the 16-year-old Arrowood, “Right now, I’m not focused on anything outside of wrestling season.”
Arrowood takes great pride in wrestling for the Green Wave program. At press time, he had an impressive 20-10 overall record on the season.
“Easley means a lot to me,” Arrowood said. “I grew up here. My dad (Larry who passed away in 2016) and my uncle (Ron) wrestled here. They came out here, wrestled and showed out about what Arrowood means. I’m here to do the same thing. I love the coaches we have to push each and every one of us.”
Arrowood, The Easley Progress Athlete of the Week, went on to say, “We’re the Green Wave. We haven’t been the best in past years. But each and every day in practice, we’re getting better and better. There will be a time here soon when we will be an outstanding team.”
Green Wave Coach Jordan Hawthorne, meanwhile, thinks Arrowood is on the verge of really making his mark.
“I think he’s a wrestler who runs cross country,” Hawthorne said. “He’s not just on the cross country team to be on the cross country team. He takes it serious. Not many kids would show up to wrestling practice and be like hey coach I have to leave to go do my splits. He probably won’t end up being ranked, but (we’re) seeing his name starting to get mixed in with those guys who are being ranked in the state. He’s probably one mistake from placing a little higher. It’s been fun.”
Arrowood is on the right path and is turning in a solid season. However, it should be interesting to see how he does at wrestling next year in his senior season at EHS.
Reach Jeff Holt at 864-855-0355.