Step into this with an open mind. Think of everything stereotypical about wrestling. Now forget it. Erase it.
Strip down the jock image and everything that goes with it: The girls, the partying, the attitude.
Now you have Luke Larwin.
A self-professed “choir boy,” Larwin — in his fourth year at Oregon, but eligibility-wise is only a junior — isn’t Oregon’s most accomplished wrestler. He isn’t wowing fans with his numbers this season, but his expectations are sky high.
“Luke is quietly having a good year,” head coach Chuck Kearney said.
“When I’m at my best, only a few people in the nation can beat me,” Larwin said. “I’ve been failing lately in that, but Pacific-10 Conference Champion and All-American honors is something I can do.”
What people need to know about Larwin is that there’s too much to know.
He’s 22 years old. And yes, he’s married.
Larwin is also a former choir boy, with a thirst for combat and the outdoors, and he thinks teammates see him as a “hard-ass.” Confusing? Maybe.
But Larwin’s vision for his own life never has been what others think.
“I can’t imagine life without wrestling,” Larwin said. “The alternative possibilities are to the imagination. If it wasn’t for the focus, or wasn’t for sports creating an outlet for me, I’d probably be a delinquent.”
Larwin’s parents, Penny and Dan, first instilled a work ethic and determination in him. It was his father’s attitude that shaped Larwin into the man, and the wrestler, he is today.
“A work ethic was highly, highly imposed on me growing up,” Larwin said. “I was told if you are going to do something, you are going to do it the best you can. And my dad always said, ‘I hate a quitter.’”
Now, that work ethic continues to show.
“Luke is an extremely hard worker, dedicated and committed,” Kearney said. “He is committed to everything he does, we were able to see that in him in high school. He is passionate, disciplined and hard-working.”
Larwin’s father made sure his three children grew up enjoying Bend and the limitless outdoor possibilities the small town offered.
“My family was really into doing things outdoors,” Larwin said. “Whatever season it was, we would find some way to find something to do every weekend. It could be hunting, fishing, boating, skiing, motorcycling, anything. He gave me a love for the outdoors and the freedom I have to be able to go out and experience nature.”
This is where Larwin breaks away from the average college student, as if wrestling wasn’t enough. He recently married Oregon women’s track pole vaulter Kirsten Larwin.
“I met her in the dorms when she was studying with my roommate (current Oregon wrestler Dustin Fisher),” Larwin said. “(Then) I was at a wrestling camp here at Oregon during one summer and she was working out and we talked. I was like, ‘Whoa, this girl is really hot’; I didn’t realize before. I think I need to pursue that. It takes more than that though. You have to be attracted, but if there is intelligence and the first thing matches the second, then you gotta say, ‘All right we gotta go after this.’”
The Larwin’s were married on July 5, 2003.
A hasty marriage?
“In today’s society, people really drag things out,” Larwin said. “If you know someone is the right person and the longer you wait, the more likely you are to fall into sin. We wanted to get married and do things right.”
His bachelor party wasn’t what many would expect.
“For his bachelor party we all went to Crescent Lake and went fishing,” teammate Chet McBee said. “Everything about him is workman-like.”
Religion wasn’t always as important in Larwin’s life as it is now. In fact, it didn’t play a crucial role until he stepped onto campus. Since then, he has been involved in Athletes in Action and attends church regularly.
“I’d like to stay involved in wrestling,” Larwin said of post-graduate plans. “I also like the challenge of teaching high school kids. Or I might go into a science-oriented job, like working for Army Corps of Engineers or trying to get a job in the Forest Service or the Oregon Department of Wildlife. Or maybe some graduate field study in the field of science.”