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SPENCER — Raymond Lane thrusts his arms into the air celebrating his championship at State Fair Arena.

The Star Spencer wrestler points and smiles at his mother in the seats above the arena floor. Lane then looks skyward, in the direction of his late father, Henry. Even in victory, Lane sheds no tears.

In his eyes, men aren't supposed to cry. And Raymond has been a man for as long as he can remember.

Lane's journey to the 189-pound state title began in a 50-year-old building with a rusted tin roof on Star Spencer High School's campus. There is no running water. Old lockers are piled up outside. The roof leaks, and the only heat in the winter comes from the bodies of wrestlers inside.

"Our kids don't have what a lot of teams have. We finally got matching uniforms this year,” Bobcats coach Dana Johns said. "But these kids, I'm here for them. I want them to be successful.”

Lane is the team's unquestioned captain. As the Bobcats warm up before matches, they listen to his directions. While some of his teammates have the faces of boys, Raymond's face defies his age. He looks older than 18 and wiser to the ways of the world.

When it's time to wrestle, Lane has the confidence of someone who has won a championship. He might look serious, but there is a side to him that's a little like Apollo Creed from the Rocky films. Lane break-dances during introductions at home duals, and he vowed earlier this season to go undefeated.

"Raymond is really caring,” Johns said. "He'll bring a laugh out of you, but when he competes, there's something that clicks with him that you don't see from many kids.”

Lane lost to Weatherford's Tyson Yoder, the opponent he beat in the state finals last year, at a tournament in January. In another installment of the rivalry, Lane defeated the Oklahoma State-bound Yoder in the Class 3A regional finals Saturday night. Odds are that they will meet again this weekend during the state tournament at State Fair Arena.

Henry Lane died quickly of a heart attack just as Raymond was finishing the fifth grade. Henry Lane left a wife, three sons and a daughter.

As the oldest son, Raymond was the man of the house, even if he was too young to do much about it at the time. But eight years later, he stocks shelves at Wal-Mart to help support his family. In the summer, Raymond works at a local pool. He also does work for Coach Johns, building fences. Lane's family also gets income from his late father's Social Security benefits.

"I feel like I had to grow up pretty quick,” Raymond said. "I have a lot of responsibility. I work to keep food in the house and pay bills.”

His mother, Tarita, didn't have to push him into the role.

"When I can't get out and get something, he goes and gets it,” she said. "He keeps his brothers in line. He's very family oriented. Raymond is the man of our house.”

Along with his mother, and his 16- and 17-year old brothers, Eugene and Cleymoure, Lane lives with his older sister who has a daughter.

The holidays at the Lane house are bare bones.

"We were thankful for waking up and seeing another Christmas,” Raymond said. "We got my little niece some stuff, but other than that, it was just like any other day.”

Thing are looking up. The Lanes moved into a better home this year. Coach Johns said the family went without heat at times last winter.

But with Raymond assuming the role of father, the family is surviving. When his brothers step out of line — not that it comes up much — Raymond is the enforcer.

"Eugene will come out of the blue and do something you'd never expect, like a stupid dance or a freestyle,” Raymond said. "It always cracks me up. Sometimes I have to remind them to do their chores, or break them up if they get into it, but we all get along pretty good.”

Lane's life is a testament to why sports matter. It has become an outlet for him since fifth grade. His mother sometimes wonders what life would have been like without athletics.

"He started wrestling back at Jefferson (Middle School), and he's gone with it ever since,” Tarita said. "It gives him something to work for. A lot of kids don't get into sports, and they get into trouble.”

Wrestling might provide Raymond with a pathway to a good life after high school. He's being recruited by several junior colleges. But college means leaving his family. He knows his role in the home is important, and it weighs on him.

"It's hard because now that I'm moving on, I'm going to leave them behind,” Raymond said of his family. "People tell me I need to go so I can do for myself now.”

Lane's talent is without question. He is 32-1 this season, his only loss to the nationally ranked Yoder. Northwest Classen coach Bob Toma has followed Lane's career the last four years and watched him steadily grow beyond a kid who simply overpowered opponents with his strength.

"Raymond is crafty, and when you add to that the physical talent he has, and you've got something pretty special,” Toma said. "He's someone who believes in himself. He doesn't lack confidence.”

Even with confidence and talent, there is a limit to what someone like Lane can achieve. He doesn't wrestle in the summer like most wrestlers of his caliber. He has no money for expensive camps. Even Coach Johns is limited in his ability to mold Lane, who might become the school's first two-time state wrestling champion.

"He has the tools to wrestle in college and be successful, but we don't have the competition in the room to get him better,” Johns said.

While Lane's talent level might not be far behind some of the best, his ACT scores are. Oklahoma City University wrestling coach Archie Randall was interested in Lane, but the grades and test scores aren't good enough just yet. Lane vows to press on, probably at a junior college. He hopes to make a better life for his family.

"I'm going to go to college and finish, and when I graduate, my family is going to have anything they need in life,” Raymond said.