Lawson’s emergence and reintroduction to the world has given Penn State wrestling fans the excitement of seeing a long-lost cousin unexpectedly reappear in a Hollywood blockbuster.
He went from a football player who never made it to a wrestler who was comfortable living in the shadow of some of the sport’s stalwarts to a man about to inject electricity into the heavyweight division that hasn’t been there since Daniel Cormier retired.
There are definitely some heavyweights worth getting excited about, but, for the most part, seeing heavyweights on the court hasn’t raised anyone’s heartbeat in a while, and Hritsko thinks Lawson is the perfect guy to bring the excitement back to heavyweight wrestling in MMA.
MORE Dana White’s Contender Series: Fight-by-Fight Preview | Weighing results
“It’s no offense to him, but there were other Penn Staters at the time who kind of overshadowed him in their success,” Hritsko said. “I remember him, at the time, being a tough heavyweight and they were talking about NFL scouts coming to watch him because that was a path he was considering, so I vaguely remember that. Obviously he didn’t end up going to the NFL, he ended up fighting MMA, which was a better path for him.
