Michaels, Lawrence claim regional gold

By Dan Palm

For the MV Independent

Elizabeth Forward’s Ryan Michaels and Thayne Lawrence of Frazier continued their dominating seasons by winning gold at the Pennsylvania AA Southwest Regional held at IUP over the weekend. 

They, along with Bentworth’s Jonathan Vargo, will compete in the AA state championships at Hershey in two weeks.

Both juniors, Michaels (41-1) won the 113-pound title, while Lawrence (27-3) took home the 160-pound championship. Michaels finished fourth in the region last year at 106 pounds. Lawrence, the defending state champion at 152 pounds, had two runner-up trophies on his resume.

In the 113-pound final, Michaels used two takedowns and a reversal in his 6-1 win over Jackson Arrington (37-4) of Forest Hills. That followed a pin, a 9-1 major decision and a 3-1 win in the semifinals.

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