09/23/2026
EVERY WRESTLER HAS A STORY: LARY LILIO
When Lary Lilio decided to wrestle for Weaver High School, he didn't even really like wrestling.
He just wanted to letter in a sport.
People told him wrestling would be the easiest way to do it.
They were wrong. 😂
There was nothing easy about wrestling, but somewhere along the way, Lary fell in love with the sport. The letter he originally wanted so badly eventually meant nothing compared to everything wrestling gave him.
Under Coach Gene Taylor, Lary learned what hard work really meant. Taylor was a no-BS coach who demanded everything his wrestlers had. His philosophy stuck with Lary:
You might only be at 80%, but you better give me 100% of that 80%.
Lary wasn't the most technical wrestler, but he was strong and aggressive. By his senior year, his skills had developed, and there was still one wrestler he could never quite beat—Tim Robinson from the Alabama School for the Blind.
People who had never wrestled would joke that Lary got beat by a blind wrestler.
Lary's response?
“I'd wrestle a man who could see before I'd wrestle a blind man if I had the choice.” 😂
Tim was that tough.
So Lary went to work. While everyone else was sleeping in on weekends, he was running miles, sprinting on the football field and getting extra conditioning in after practice.
Eventually, the two met in the sectional finals.
Tim built an early lead, but Lary found a switch that worked. He kept hitting it, closed the gap and forced overtime.
Lary kept telling himself:
“As soon as the whistle blows, SHOOT!”
The whistle blew.
He shot.
Takedown.
Lary won.
They met again in the state finals, where Tim won 8-5.
But those battles became part of the foundation that would shape Lary's life.
Years later, Lary discovered Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He started training in a one-car garage, then a church gym, before eventually joining Gracie Barra in Birmingham under Kaliffa Oliveira.
He fell in love with Jiu-Jitsu because it reminded him of wrestling. He competed many times and eventually earned his brown belt.
Two weeks after his daughter was born, his wife brought her to a tournament in Atlanta. Lary won double gold—and got to hold his daughter on the podium.
Years later, that same daughter saw her dad's picture on the wall at Weaver. He showed her his name in the trophy case.
She told him she wanted to wrestle.
That changed everything.
Lary started helping her and volunteering at practices. One year turned into four. Eventually, Weaver's head coach asked Lary to take over the program so he could be present for his own children's final years of wrestling.
Lary was hesitant because he understood exactly what wrestling meant to Weaver.
His senior year, 1993, Lary wrestled at 160 pounds and helped Weaver win its first state championship ever.
Today, Weaver has built a wrestling dynasty with 14 state championships.
Lary always wanted to work with kids, especially those who might be struggling or headed down the wrong path.
Maybe wrestling was the path that was chosen for him.
The sport he originally joined just to earn a letter became the sport that shaped his life—and eventually brought him back to Weaver as a coach.
And now Lary and his daughter share one more goal:
One day, they'd love to see their pictures hanging on the same wall at Weaver High School because she won a state championship.
Now THAT would be a full-circle wrestling story.
