Five Counties Wrestling : Lawson, Wright Are a Class Apart

Steve Lawson, a 194-pound wrestler from El Dorado High School, just can’t get Loara’s Chris Wright to move up to his weight class.

Likewise, Wright is unable to persuade Lawson he should move down to take a crack at his 178-pound class.

Orange County’s best high school wrestlers just refuse to meet. It’s not that they want to avoid each other--they are actually good friends--they just want to stay where they are, thank you.

Lawson is the two-time CIF Southern Section 4-A and Masters champion. This season he’s undefeated. Saturday night, he beat Harold Jones of Poway, 15-0, to win his division of the Five Counties Wrestling Tournament at Fountain Valley.

Fact was, Jones, who was constantly on the defensive, fared better than the rest of Lawson’s opponents in the two-day tournament. The match was stopped midway through the third two-minute period when Lawson scored his 15th point, a technical fall.

Lawson recorded three pins en route to the final. Jones kept him on the mat longer than any other wrestler.

Similarly, Wright, who doubles as a star running back, breezed through his competition, beating Covina’s Mike Buckley, 7-2, in the championship.

Afterward, Wright, on his knees, looked at his coach, Rick Martens and shrugged. Just another in a string of 24 consecutive victories this season.

There’s something missing, however. The two Empire League wrestlers haven’t met since they were sophomores in a summer league.

“I keep saying ‘Well, why don’t you come down and wrestle at my weight,’ ” Wright said. “And he says ‘Why don’t you come up to my weight.’ ”

It’s not a serious challenge, but an invitation nonetheless.

“I have asked him up,” said Lawson. “I’d love to wrestle him.”

This year Lawson hasn’t wrestled at any lower than 194. He has moved up to heavyweight on occasion.

Alas, Wright has picked the weight he’s going to wrestle at for the season, and he’s not budging.

“If someone wants to come and wrestle . . . well, they know what my weight class is,” Wright said.