Southmoreland Dual Meet Wrestling Tournament: Frazier’s Lawrence, EF’s Michaels make an impact

By JONATHAN GUTH

MVI Sports

Frazier’s Rune Lawrence and Elizabeth Forward’s Damon Michaels hope to follow in their brothers’ footsteps, and if Saturday’s performance at the Southmoreland Dual Meet Tournament is any indication, they could be well on their way to adding more hardware to the trophy cases of their respective families.

Michaels’ brother, Ryan, and Rune’s brother, Thayne, are now wrestling for Division I colleges. They both put their programs on the map as Thayne won two state titles and Ryan was the first state finalist in the history of the school. Ryan is currently wrestling for the University of Pittsburgh, while Thayne is starting for Lehigh University.

Rune Lawrence came into this season as a highly regarded freshman after winning back-to-back junior high state titles. Buck Watkins’ grappler hasn’t disappointed so far this year, as he improved to 7-0 following five triumphs on Saturday at the Mount Pleasant Sportzone. Of his seven victories, Lawrence has recorded five by pinfall, all in the first period, one tech fall and a forfeit.

“Rune has grown mentally and physically,” Watkins said. “He’s dominating who he is supposed to dominate.”

Lawrence bumped up to 189 to pin Southmoreland’s Brendan Moore in 1:36 before getting the fall over Pine-Richland’s Jacob Lukez in 1:15. He moved up to 189 against Greensburg Salem and planked Christian McChesney in 1:05 and recorded his final pin over the Rangers’ Anthony Salvini in 1:14 at 172. Lawrence picked up a forfeit against Derry Area.

Lawrence will find out how he stacks up with the best wrestlers in the country Friday and Saturday at the Powerade Tournament at the Monroeville Convention Center.

“Next weekend, he is going to get a little bit of a test,” Watkins said.

The Commodores didn’t record a dual-meet victory in the tournament, but Watkins was proud of the fight his team showed. He is also encouraged by the progression of his grapplers and how far the program has come.

“Tyler Clark and Austin Wilson have been scrapping really hard,” Watkins said. “We have three freshmen that have done really well for us. We only have two seniors, and then we’ve got some guys that are going to move up from the middle school next year to make us more competitive. We lost by 18 and 24 points, here and there, but we haven’t filled all the weights yet, but we are getting there. In 2017, when I took over as head coach, we only had five guys.”

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