Wrestling: Jones Goes for 2nd Title
March 20, 2004 06:21 PM | General
March 20, 2004
ST. LOUIS – Winning an individual national championship was the goal of 330 competitors on Thursday morning at the 2004 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in St. Louis. That goal now belongs to just 20 wrestlers that have advanced to Saturday night’s championship final.
West Virginia’s Greg Jones is one of them by scoring an 8-3 decision over Iowa’s Paul Bradley in the semifinals last night. Jones is looking to become the first wrestler in school history to claim a second national championship; he won NCAAs as a freshman in 2002 at 174 pounds and will go up against No. 2 seed Ben Heizer of Northern Illinois.
“It is just one more match toward reaching my goal of winning a national title,” says Jones. “I approach each match the same every time out. I am familiar with him, having met twice this season. But it’s important for me to stick to my game plan and just go out and wrestle.”
The No. 1 and 2 ranked grapplers in the country will meet for a third time this season. Jones won both meetings earlier this season, posting 2-1 and 10-6 decisions.
“I’ve seen Jones twice at the Midlands and All-Star Classic this year,” says Heizer. “I think the more you wrestle kids, the better you can evaluate them and critique their game plan. Winning a championship has been the goal from day one and I am ready to take it all.”
Jones struggled in going 2-2 in last year’s national tournament as a sophomore. While he says this year’s approach is the same as last year, Jones appears more confident on the mat. He has gone 3-0 in the tournament against Big Ten powers Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois but perhaps most impressive is that nobody in the tournament has scored an offensive point on Jones.
The win Friday night was Jones’ 100th career victory, becoming only the seventh Mountaineer to reach the century mark in career wins. However, it is win number 101 that counts. Only two other Mountaineers have won titles: Scott Collins, 1991 (142-pounds) and Dean Morrison, 1994 (177-pounds).
Fan can catch Mountaineer Jones and all of the finals matches live on ESPN tonight, beginning at 5:05 p.m. (CST).
Jones’ Road To The Championship Final
184: No. 1 Greg Jones (WVU) Tech Frank Cornely (Duke) 22-7, 6:50
184: No. 1 Greg Jones (WVU) Dec Josh McLay (Minnesota) 3-1
184: No. 1 Greg Jones (WVU) Dec No. 9 Bryan Gylnn (Illinois) 3-2
184: No. 1 Greg Jones (WVU) Dec No. 12 Paul Bradley (Iowa) 8-3
