Up From Series of Takedowns : Jackson Tries to Fulfill Expections After Career Took a Fall

When he was wrestling at Santa Monica High, it appeared that Laurence Jackson had success in a headlock.

He was 140-7 and undefeated in 122 matches from his sophomore through senior seasons to become the second wrestler to win three California Scholastic Federation State titles. He was named the nation’s high school wrestler of the year in 1986 and received a scholarship to wrestling powerhouse Oklahoma State.

“You see maybe five high school wrestlers with Laurence’s ability each year,” former Cal State Bakersfield and Oklahoma State wrestling coach Joe Seay said. “In California, there is one every three or four years. He was that special.”

But instead of wrestling for NCAA championships, Jackson had to grapple with personal problems, notably the 1989 death of his father, Fred.

Now he wants to show the world that he is the best. Jackson, 25, is attempting to earn a spot on the U.S. team that will compete in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

“I’ll never feel satisfied until I return to being No. 1,” he said.

Through wrestling Jackson has toured much of the world, but his interest in the sport developed on the family’s living room floor, where Laurence would square off against his brothers.

At 7, Jackson started wrestling competitively for a Malibu club team. In the eighth grade, he became one of the original members of Bob Anderson’s California JETS, another club team.

He did not join Santa Monica’s team until late in his freshman year. Coach Norm Lacy did not think much of the 5-foot-4, 96-pound freshman, but put him in the lineup because he had a vacancy. Jackson finished with an 18-7 record and placed at the state meet.

“He was a bit of a pipsqueak,” Lacy said. “He did not have much physical definition.”

For the next three years, Jackson was unbeatable. He won six national titles in freestyle and Greco-Roman events, including three Espoir National titles, an age-group competition.

“I don’t think we had a more dedicated athlete at Santa Monica,” Lacy said. “He didn’t do anything else but wrestle and try and cut weight.”

Oklahoma State offered a different challenge. The Cowboys had won a record 27 NCAA championships and Jackson joined what was selected the best recruiting class in the nation, according to Amateur Wrestling News.

Jackson separated a shoulder at the Espoir Games in 1987 and was forced to red-shirt as a freshman. The next season he won the Big Eight 142-pound title, the only freshman to do so that year, and placed sixth in nationals. He finished 30-6 with four falls and was named an All-American.

Entering his sophomore season, Jackson appeared ready to fulfill expectations. But Jackson, who said he had a 2.95 grade-point average at Santa Monica, had trouble maintaining a 2.0 average in college and was declared ineligible.

Jackson, who now resides in San Clemente, regained his eligibility before the Big Eight meet, but quit the squad after his father died in a car accident. He never returned to Stillwater, Okla.

“I wasn’t interested in wrestling anymore,” Jackson said. “It was pretty much a shock when my father died. I became angry and somewhat isolated.”

Said Rex Holt, a reporter for the Stillwater News Press: “He had all the talent in the world, but he never quite made it. We would hear great things about him, but he was always missing meets. The coaches would offer excuses: leg problems, shoulder problems, eligibility, he was homesick. But there was no way to confirm them. No one knew what the real problem was, and all of the sudden he was gone.”

Said Seay: “Part of the problem was his father’s death. Part of it was an adjustment factor. It is hard to take an 18-year-old kid out of a California atmosphere and put him in an area that is landlocked. It wasn’t that he couldn’t handle the program.”

Jackson acknowledged that he was homesick, and that feeling intensified when his father died.

After sitting out his junior season, Jackson transferred to Bakersfield and competed for a season. Jackson had a 19-6 record and was ninth at the NCAA meet.

During the summer of 1991, he trained with the Soviet National team for six months. Jackson arrived shortly before the aborted coup against then-president Mikhail Gorbachev.

“It was kind of scary,” he said. “We had just flown in. The sports federation picked us up at the airport and took us to a hotel. We were told to stay in our rooms and not leave the compound. All we did was watch (Cable News Network). After five days, we were given clearance and taken to the Black Sea where the training camp was held.”

Jackson practiced with Islam Dougoutchiev, who won a silver medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. The experience appears to be paying off. Jackson was first in his weight class in the freestyle division at the 1991 U.S. Olympic Festival and won the 1992 Western Olympic Regional trials championship, but was eliminated in a semifinal match and did not make the Olympic team.

In May, he won the freestyle Grand Prix title in Athens, which featured wrestlers from 25 countries. In June, he qualified for the U.S. National Greco-Roman team after placing third in the World Team trials and placed sixth in the freestyle World Team trials. He was one of two U.S. wrestlers to place in both competitions.

“I’m planning to put it all together mentally and physically,” he said. “I have the will to succeed at all costs.”