Don Jones took up wrestling in middle school – and he’s been wrestling ever since.
The 1981 Waynesboro Area Senior High School graduate, who has been living in Cincinnati, Ohio for the past 25 years, is getting better with age.
Jones, 60, recently won the US Open Masters E championship in the 70-kilogram (154 pounds) weight class in Las Vegas this past week. The 2024 US Open Wrestling Championships spanned two days, April 25 and 26. It was his third year competing in the national tournament. It was his second national title. Two years ago, Jones placed second.
Last year, Jones (who competed I the freestyle competition) won the 70-kilogram weight class. Jones’ division included those born between 1957 and 1965 (58 to 64 years old).
“The tough thing was the competition was probably 100 percent tougher than it was last year,” said Jones. “It was an eight-man bracket, and just the caliber of the three wrestlers I wrestled was tough.”
Jones, wrestling for Mad Cow Wrestling Club (based in California), fell behind 2-0 after the first period in his quarterfinal match against Jerry Garcia. Garcia scored a point after pushing Jones out of the circle and another point when Jones failed to take Garcia down after 30 seconds. He put it all together in the second period to win 6-2.
“My first match was probably my toughest,” said Jones, who was seeded first in his weight class and division. “
Trailing 2-0, Jones came out strong, moving in for a double-leg takedown to tie the match at 2-2. With criteria in his favor, Jones left nothing to chance. He took some fake shots before snapping down Garcia’s head, grabbing his arm, and spinning around for another takedown.
“I was feeling pretty good, but if he would have taken me down, he would have had criteria,” Jones added.
The pressure of that first match was behind him. Jones had to wait a day before continuing the tournament. The pressure of waiting and maintaining his momentum when he returned to the mat the next day no doubt occupied his thoughts throughout the rest of the day and into the morning hours.
Day 2 arrived, and Jones was in top form. He defeated Boyd Fowler of Sunnyvale Wrestling Club 6-0. He scored on a takedown in the first period, and two more takedowns in the second period. Each period is two minutes.
“I got three takedowns and felt pretty good,” Jones said. “But it was tough. I worked pretty hard on my defense to not get taken down. My coaches helped me a lot. They encouraged me between periods and during the matches.”
Jones, who changed his affiliation from Team Jones to Mad Cow Wrestling, was coached by David Ye of Mad Cow Wresting, Carson Gainey, and Doug Howard.
To his surprise, Jones beat his final opponent, John Laurenzi of Rockland International Wrestling, by technical fall,10-0.
“The guy I beat in the finals won the Greco-Roman tournament,” Jones said. “We were about the same height. I saw a couple of his matches. I knew I had to keep my feet moving and work on getting takedowns. I was winning 6-0 with a minute to go and hit a double leg. I took him off his feet for a four-point takedown and ended it with 30 seconds left.”
This year, 507 wrestlers competed in the tournament, up from “350-plus” a year ago.
“It was pretty incredible,” Jones said. “This thing keeps growing. There were 14 different countries represented – none in my division. The organization invited anyone who wanted to wrestle.”
Jones, who also competed in the world championships in Greece in October 2023, will be back in Las Vegas this September to compete in the 2024 worlds.
Once again, Jones (who runs Team Jones Wrestling in Cincinnati, returned home to southwestern Ohio a national titlist.
He was greeted enthusiastically by his Team Jones wrestlers, a group of kids, ranging in age from four years to 12 years old. Jones has coached Team Jones for 15 years. Three years ago, Team Jones began a partnership with Team Prodigy, owned by Willie Weinberg. Weinberg wrestled at Purdue University and was the first high school wrestler in Ohio to win four consecutive state championships in Division I.
“All the kids congratulated me on Tuesday (April 30) at practice,” Jones said. “I’ve said it for the last two years that wrestling in these tournaments helps me be a better coach.
“I enjoy (wrestling). I enjoy the physical challenge. For me, it’s fun to do. I’m pretty good at it, and at my age I can beat most high school kids and hang with college kids. Over the years, I’ve been able to maintain my body.”
Jones, who has a full-time job and is a wrestling instructor and coach for beginning wrestlers, still carved out time in his days and evenings to train for the national tournament.
“Back in the summer I was coaching three days a week, and in the fall four days a week. I had a personal trainer and trained once a week. Early on I lifted weights to get stronger. You have to lift to have your muscles strong. Three weeks out, I focused on cardiovascular training, trying to be in the best shape I can be. Cardio plays such a big role. You can’t go to these events and not be in great shape. A match is only four minutes, but it’s exhausting.”
Jones’ wrestling story is quite intriguing. His first time on the wrestling mat was in Fairbanks, Alaska, where his father worked, and his family moved from Waynesboro when Jones was in fourth grade.
“I was a good tumbler,” Jones explained. “I was on the tumbling team. When winter hit, we had two choices, we could do cross-country skiing or stay in the gym and play basketball or wrestle. I started wrestling, and the first year I qualified for the state tournament.”
Jones lived in Alaska for three years before moving back to Waynesboro. But Waynesboro didn’t have a middle school wrestling team, and Jones didn’t know the Waynesboro YMCA offered wrestling. So, he didn’t wrestle again until he was in ninth grade.
Jones broke into the starting lineup with the Indians as a junior. He was 18-3 in his junior season and 26-2 as a senior. He wrestled for two years at Keystone Junior College and two more at East Stroudsburg University.
Five days after graduating from college, Jones started working in the hospitality industry in New York City. His work also took him to Princeton, New Jersey, Baltimore, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and the Grand Caymans.
Jones made his final stop in Ohio, where he involved himself in youth wrestling and as a participant.
“My niche is perfecting the basics, helping beginners in their first and second years in the sport,” Jones said. “Once they get experience, I send them to Prodigy Wrestling Academy. It’s been an awesome fit for me. We have 30 to 40 kids during the season.”
