Southwest's Jeremiah Jones "a class act" in finishing as state wrestling runner-up
Jeremiah Jones had a difficult time sleeping Friday night into Saturday morning.
The Southwest senior wrestler was already amped up after having advanced to the 160-pound championship bout in the NCHSAA 2-A tournament, but then Jones got another jolt that made it hard for him to relax for the night.
Around midnight, coach Maury Vanderpool informed him that he would have to re-wrestle his semifinal match against Bandys’ Ian Moore at 9 a.m. Saturday morning.
Jones had scored an 8-6 win over Moore on Friday evening, but due to what the NCHSAA described as “multiple clerical errors” in the scoring, the association decided the two wrestlers needed to meet again in the morning to determine who advanced to the state final.
“When I explained it to Jeremiah and to his mom, his mindset was that he was going to win again,” Vanderpool said. “I told him that he would experience things like this in life and would have to learn how to deal with them. He was resilient and he went after it again.”
Jones said the decision of having to redo his semifinal match was confusing, but instead of getting upset, he took it as a challenge to leave no doubt he would defeat Moore.
And that is what Jones did, defeating Moore 9-5.
“All night, all I could think about was that I have to beat this guy,” Jones said. “I had it in my mind that I was going to do it again and get into the final. I didn’t let anything get the best of me. I just knew I could do it again.”
Jones’ reaction when he won again was a proud moment for Vanderpool, not just because his wrestler officially advanced to the final, but because of how he behaved following the victory.
“After Jeremiah won, he kept his composure,” Vanderpool said. “He shook the guy’s hand, shook the other coach’s hand and just acted like he had been there before.”
Added Jones: It was just another match on another day.”
Jones then stepped onto the mat later Saturday for the state final against Surry Central junior Jacob Price, who won the state 145-pound title last year.
Jones held his own, but fell 12-7 to end 45-4. Price finished 19-1. Despite the loss, Vanderpool is proud of how Jones wrestled.
“Jeremiah had to block out every obstacle, but he kept his composure,” Vanderpool said. “He showed his passion, but he was a class act.”
Jones will finish his Southwest wrestling tenure as the state 2-A runner-up and a two-time consecutive East Regional champion. He appreciates those who have helped him achieve his accomplishments.
“I wrestled with determination and persistence to try to get to the next level and I will keep working hard to achieve my goals,” Jones said. “But I thank all of the people who have pushed me to do better. I have a lot of family, friends and coaches who have always been there for me.”
Chris Miller can be contacted via email at cmiller@jdnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @jdnsports.
This article originally appeared on The Daily News: Southwest's Jeremiah Jones wrestles 2 semifinal matches on way to final
