It's early in the morning, so early that the birds are still humbly resting in their nests far from sight. Patrick Williams and his wife Vanessa are awakened by the sound of their 2-year-old daughter Vanessa Maree.
In a typical household this is a typical occurrence. Maybe the toddler had a bad dream, maybe she wants a glass of water, or maybe she's still worried about daddy's match earlier in the day when he took two injury timeouts to stop the bleeding from a cut suffered during the Pac-10 Championships.
The fact is, for Williams, a 149-pound junior with a 27-12 record for the Sun Devils this season, there is no such thing as "typical."
Williams, 22, has quickly become one of the nation's top wrestlers in his weight class. Just one year ago, Williams was platooning throughout an ASU lineup that was chock-full of senior talent.
After transferring from Neosho Community College last year, Williams was unable to crack head coach Thom Ortiz's starting lineup consistently until this season.
"Last year he was mostly platooning because of (2003 National Champion) Eric Larkin," Ortiz said.
During the 2002-03 campaign, Williams collected a 9-13 overall record -- wrestling at three different weight classes including a 4-5 record at 149 pounds, 4-6 at 157, and 1-2 at 174. Injuries, as well as former Sun Devils Dana Holland, Larkin, and Curtis Owen each having career seasons, forced Williams to wait in their shadows, practicing every day for "next year."
"I was going to try to go 141, but I got hurt early on in the season," Williams said. "Last year was more of a feel to see what it is like in [Division I] wrestling."
One year after being initiated into Pac-10 wrestling, Williams came out of the gates firing, winning 11 of his first 16 matches. It seemed that he had simply stepped into a comfortable weight class that was vacated by just another graduated senior -- no heavy pressure to win immediately.
But Eric Larkin was no typical wrestler.
During Larkin's last year at ASU, he complied a 34-0 record, won 13 individual tournaments, and was named the 2003 Dan Hodge Award as the nation's top wrestler.
"He wrestled with some good guys last year," Larkin said of Williams. "Not only me (in practice), but Dana, Rocky (Smart), and Curtis. He picked up a lot on his own.
"He's gotten a lot better throughout the year. He dominates a lot more this year -- he's going out there and having fun now."
A student of his sport, Williams studied Larkin, finding similarities between the two Sun Devils.
"I look at what kept him dominating on the mat, and I try to find that in myself," Williams said.
Another similarity between the two wrestlers is family. While Larkin was preparing for the NCAA Championships March, he was also preparing for the birth of his second child. This year, Williams is doing the same, preparing for his second child, and the chance at national glory.
"I expect his family to be the priority," Ortiz said. "He has a lot of responsibility, so he has to worry about more time management than the average student has to."
Having a wife and a daughter while attending school full time is difficult enough. But doing that and being an elite athlete is another. For Williams, he looks at his time at ASU as make-or-break for his family's future.
"It's been very difficult," Williams said. "We have things outside of wrestling; just being a family, and being a father. I'm not working, which makes it hard, and then wrestling, school and training. Having [a family] has really given me the drive to excel in school and in wrestling, because this is all I have. One supports the other."
At every ASU home meet there is a little girl, usually dressed in pink, who has no idea what a takedown, reversal, cradle, or riding time is. She just knows that daddy is on the mat, and that daddy is going to win, all while cheering, "Go daddy!"
"It gives me an extra little 'umph' when I'm out there," Williams said. "But the funny thing is, after every match she asks me if I won. I don't know if she really understands the term, but just to make things simple, I want to win because I don't want to explain anything to her."
If all goes well for Williams next week at the NCAA Championships in St. Louis, he can answer that question again by saying, "Yes, daddy won."
Reach the reporter at damien.tippett@asu.edu.
