Sean Barnhart Lakeland Year: Senior Sport: Wrestling Weight: 152

Sean Barnhart may be in the spotlight this week, but it’s an accomplishment that’s been a long time in the making.

Barnhart has wrestled four years at Lakeland, including trips to the state tournament in the last two. This year, he hopes to not only make it - he wants to win it.

“I hope to win state, but I can’t go in big-headed because everybody’s tough down there,” Barnhart said.

Those are words of wisdom from one of the many seniors on a Lakeland team that can clinch the Hawks’ third Intermountain League title in four years with a victory at St. Maries tonight.

Lakeland coach Mark Johnson has engineered this run of success and says senior leaders like Barnhart and defending state champion Nathan Pascoe have never been better.

“This senior group is special and they’re in the height of their glory,” Johnson said. “They’ve been through a lot and they hang together which makes them easy to coach.”

Barnhart, 22-6 this season, may be in the height of his glory because he doesn’t have to go through the agony of cutting weight as severely as in the past. At 152 pounds, Barnhart is more comfortable than the 140 he wrestled at last season.

“Cutting weight causes more mental pain than physical, but my parents worry about me a lot less now that I’ve moved up,” Barnhart said.

Barnhart’s strength is when he wrestles on top, which Johnson says leads to a lot of pins. Barnhart leads the team in pins with 14. He has improved his footwork and weight-room work.

Johnson said Barnhart has always been a good technical wrestler, but his physical maturation has helped immensely.

“When I first came here I got thrown around at practice all the time, but I’ve tried to work out a lot to get stronger,” Barnhart said.

Barnhart has been one of the cogs on a team that has lost just one IML dual match since the senior class has been at the school. The only team title that has eluded the Hawks is a state championship. That’s something that Barnhart would like to rectify.

“Sean has come a long way in four years,” Johnson said. “His strength is his perseverance and I hope the two times he had trouble at state will turn out to be for a purpose.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo