EAST LANSING – Growing up, Warren Stanfield III knew that his talent in athletics was going to be a big part of where he chose to go to college.

It could also be his means of returning to the place he once called home – Highland Park – to help bring about change to a community riddled with poverty.

His talent happened to be on a wrestling mat, though it cropped up in other places too.

"Wrestling was just one of those things that I did," said Stanfield. "It was the first thing I was good at."

Now a student at Michigan State, Stanfield is pursuing a new competition – running for one of the three East Lansing City Council seats up for grabs in the November election.

Stanfield believes he can help "bridge the gap" between East Lansing and the MSU community.

And he supports the city's recent development boom.

"Development is a part of a city's life, to be against that would be ludicrous," he said.

For the people who know the pre-law and political science double major and the challenges he's met up to this point, his candidacy makes sense.

“I don’t think anyone was surprised when he said he was running," said Stanfield's cousin Sam Woods.

On a mission to make a change

Stanfield moved in and out of Highland Park, the desperately poor three-square-mile city surrounded by Detroit, but it was always "home" to him.

He attended North Farmington High School before switching to Walled Lake his junior year.

Stanfield only lost two of 53 wrestling matches his senior year, becoming an all-state wrestler in the 130-pound weight class.

He was good enough to get on the team at Michigan State University, where he hoped to begin pursuing a degree in political science.

The profile posted on the MSU Athletics website when he came into the program reads, "I am majoring in Political Science at MSU so that I can change the city of Highland Park, where I am originally from."

But after his sophomore year at MSU, Stanfield stepped away from the mat for good.

"Even in high school, I kind of realized this was something I might not do for four years," Stanfield said. "That's a big reason why I attended MSU, with the Capitol right down the street."

Now he dreams of changing the place that got him here.

"One day I do plan to come back home," Stanfield said. "First I am just trying to establish my time as a staffer in Lansing ... I need to get some legislative experience."

Which is a big reason why Stanfield now works as a constituent services assistant under Democratic state Senator Adam Hollier, who represents Highland Park.

The world of politics is tough, just like wrestling.

"When you spend your early adult life and childhood starving yourself, going without meals to reach a goal, politics is not easy, but it’s definitely a world you're accustomed to," said Stanfield.

'Man, we can do anything'

Stanfield's family owned a barbecue restaurant in Highland Park. It closed during the recession. His grandmother ran an embroidery shop out of her basement, making letterman's jackets for free.

It felt only right that he dreams of going back. He is, after all, part of the third generation of his family to call Highland Park home.

"The people of Highland Park have embraced us … they’ve been kind to my family," Stanfield said. "When a piece of land or community takes you in and does right by you, it’s only right that you give back."

Nearly 49% of the residents in Highland Park live below the poverty line.

"It’s rough, but it breeds resilient people," he said.

He saw that toughness watching Highland Park athletic club wrestling practices growing up.

"These Highland Park practices were ridiculous … damn near barbaric … my dad one day explains to me, 'that’s child care for a lot of those kids,'" Stanfield said. "It was daycare for a lot of people. It was just a positive experience, those practices were brutal, but I know after speaking with some of my coaches about them, you can't be broken after making it out of those."

But athletics was never all he had going for him.

"I remember him coming over at a young age, just how smart he was," said Woods. "I remember him talking to all the adults about issues and doing research at the local library. He always has been an overachiever in life, whether it was academics, wrestling or anything."

Even from a young age.

"I remember when Barack (Obama) got elected president ... me and my friend Jeremiah Allen, he said, 'Man, we can do anything ... you can do anything in life,' – I was always surrounded by people who had aspirations," Stanfield said.

Athlete turned candidate

Rayvon Foley, an NCAA All-American with the MSU wrestling program, said it's unfortunate that Stanfield stepped away.

"It's inspiring (his candidacy) ... he came up to me and my friends and showed us posters. It was like, 'Whoa, he is really doing it.'"

Foley and Stanfield met during middle school and became close friends after they both committed to wrestle at MSU.

"We're kind of two ducks in the same pond," Foley sai. "I could relate to his passion in politics, because that's the passion I have for wrestling."

Now, after transitioning to a political career, Stanfield knows it was the right call.

"We were just talking about it," he said, "and I was like, 'What was I gonna do? Do some regular stuff?"

Contact Joe Dandron at jdandron@lsj.com or (517) 377-1065. Follow him on Twitter @JosephDandronMI.