Jones Wins 2nd National Title

March 20, 2004

ST. LOUIS – West Virginia University’s Greg Jones became the first Mountaineer to win multiple national titles with his 184-pound championship at the 2004 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in St. Louis.

Jones posted his third victory of the season over Ben Heizer of Northern Illinois in winning his second crown, 10-5, on Saturday evening in front of 15,081 fans at the Savvis Center.

“It feels good,” admitted Jones on winning title number two. “I had to endure a whole year without claiming a title and this championship is very rewarding. This is a little bit more relief than the first one. It’s been a long road back here.”

Jones opened the bout with a takedown just :12 seconds into the match. After a Heizer escape, Jones increased his lead to 4-1 with a single-leg takedown at the edge of the mat.

“Ben came out and was aggressive, unlike my previous matches,” said Jones. “I was able to get some things going and found a good rhythm quickly into the match.”

Starting in the defensive position to start the middle period, Jones quickly spun out and tallied a reversal to lead 6-2. The junior Mountaineer tallied his third and fourth takedowns of the match to push his lead to 10-4.

In the final period, Heizer escaped to cut the score to 10-5. Both wrestlers traded shot attempts to close the match with Jones victorious, 10-5.

“It’s a great feeling right now to see Greg Jones, who has worked so hard, be rewarded with his second national title,” said WVU head coach Craig Turnbull. “This is a great exclamation point to an unbelievable year.”

Jones, a Slickville, Pa., native did not give up an offensive point the entire tournament in going 5-0.

Jones became the first Mountaineer to finish a season with an unblemished record going a perfect 26-0 in 2003-04. Stanford’s Matt Gentry (157) joins Jones as only one of two Division I wrestlers to go undefeated this season.

West Virginia finished in a tie for 16th place with Virginia and Cal-Poly with 31.0 team points. Oklahoma State tallied 123.5 points in winning the team title for the second consecutive season.

Jones, the 2002 champion at 174 pounds, also scored his 101st career victory, tying Joe Carr for fifth on West Virginia’s list of all-time wins.


Individual Match-By-Match Results

125: No. 5 Sam Hazewinkel (Oklahoma) Fall Casey Brewster (WVU) 4:18
125: Peter Derstine (Clarion) Dec Casey Brewster (WVU) 13-6

141: Joe Clarke (WVU) Dec Michael Martin (Illinois) 7-6
141: Coyte Cooper (Indiana) Dec Joe Clarke (WVU) 8-4
141: Joe Clarke (WVU) Dec Anthony Coleman (Cleveland State) 4-3
141: Joe Clarke (WVU) Dec Steve Esparza (Cal Poly) 4-2
141: No. 2 Nate Gallick (Iowa State) Dec Joe Clarke (WVU) 6-1

149: Mike Torriero (WVU) Dec No. 5 Trent Paulson (Iowa State) 7-6
149: No. 12 Mike Maney (Lock Haven) Dec Mike Torriero (WVU) 8-6
149: Jake Giamoni (NC State) Dec Mike Torrierio (WVU) 5-3

157: No. 9 Matt Lebe (WVU) Dec Joe Johnston (Iowa) 10-7
157: No. 8 B.J. Wright (Nebraska) Fall No. 9 Matt Lebe (WVU) 2:44
157: No. 9 Matt Lebe (WVU) Dec Andrew Shuler (Wyoming) 3-2
157: No. 9 Matt Lebe (WVU) Dec Brian Cobb (Cal State-Bakersfield) 7-4
157: No. 7 Phillip Simpson (Army) Dec No. 9 Matt Lebe (WVU) 6-5 TB-2

165: No. 4 Jacob Volkmann (Minnesota) Fall Zac Fryling (WVU) 4:17
165: Zac Fryling (WVU) Dec Nick Hayes (Northwestern) 10-6
165: David Boylard (Central Michigan) Dec Zac Fryling (WVU) 7-5

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
184: No. 1 Greg Jones (WVU) Dec No. 2 Ben Heizer (Northern Illinois) 10-5

197: Matt Daddino (WVU) Dec Zach Garren (NC State) 8-3
197: No. 3 Sean Stender (Northern Iowa) Major Matt Daddino (WVU) 17-4
197: No. 9 Matt Greenberg (Cornell) Dec Matt Daddino (WVU) 11-6


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