Lincoln-Way East senior Sam Diehl knew a long time ago he had a future in football. A star offensive lineman for the Griffins, he'll continue his career next season at Colgate.

Diehl, though, has always valued being a diverse athlete. He started wrestling in eighth grade and has competed on East's track and field team in throwing events.

“To be an all-around athlete, you can't just play one sport,” he said. “You have to branch off. There's things I've learned from wrestling that have helped me with football that I never would have learned if I just played football.”

In the meantime, Diehl has developed into quite a wrestler. He's 19-1 and is ranked fourth in Class 3A at heavyweight by IllinoisMatmen.com.

“Wrestling started as just a conditioning workout for me, but now it's just about having an inner drive,” he said. “It's been a short wrestling career, but I want to finish it out well. I want to do well for myself.”

Diehl, a state qualifier last year, has become especially dangerous on the mat because his knowledge of the sport has grown to complement his supreme athleticism.

“I used to just rely on my strength and speed,” he said. “Now, I actually know what I'm doing. I've gotten a lot more technical. I've gotten a lot more offensive. I had virtually no neutral offense last year, but I've getting a lot of that going this year.”

For Lincoln-Way East coach Tyrone Byrd, Diehl has almost as much value to the team away from competitions as he does in them.

“Number one, he's a great example of how to be as a person, how to care about people and encourage them,” Byrd said. “He's a great leader. Then, he's having a ton of success and getting a lot of pins, so he's helping the team a lot in that aspect, too.”

Diehl is focused on having fun his last year wrestling. Of course, winning a state title would be the most fun.

“I want to be on top of the podium,” he said. “I'm going to have to beat some really good opponents and work really hard to get in the position I need to be in.”

Celtic pride: Providence coach Keith Healy has seen his young team's confidence grow more and more as the season goes on.

“The kids are starting to believe in each other in a team setting,” Healy said. “They pick each other up. If our lightweights or middles don't do so well one day, the heavyweights step up and vice versa. The kids don't like letting their teammates down.”

Despite having no seniors, the Celtics (15-4) are ranked fourth in 3A.

“We've had guys become leaders,” Healy said. “(Junior 138-pounder) Dominick Ambrose has kind of stepped into that role, and he's been awesome. (Junior) Cole Smith is a leader by example.”

Smith is ranked first at 152.

The Celtics have a tough road ahead. They'll compete in the Lockport Regional with the top-ranked Porters.

“Hopefully, we can wrestle better than we thought we were capable of,” Healy said. “Lockport's so good.”

Top heavy: Marian Catholic's Kordell Norfleet is a defending state champion and the top-ranked 182-pounder in the state.

With three teammates also ranked in the top five at their respective weight classes, he has plenty to motivate him in practice.

“We all push each other,” Norfleet said. “We all make each other better.”

Travis Ford-Melton (120), Carlos Champagne (126) and DJ Washington (132) are other standouts for Marian, which is still looking to build more depth.

Steve Millar is a freelance writer for the Daily Southtown.