Takedown Report

9 added to WVU Sports Hall of Fame

TDR Editor’s Notes ; Two of the inductees are All-American wrestlers and are worthy of recognition.
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Nine outstanding contributors to Mountaineer athletics make up the 29th class of honorees in the West Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame, announced Saturday by WVU Director of Athletics Shane Lyons. The 2019 class includes Meg Bulger (women’s basketball), Steve Dunlap (football), Greg Jones (wrestling), Vertus Jones (wrestling), Darryl Prue (men’s basketball), Lisa Stoia (women’s soccer), John Thornton (football), Dr. Stefan Thynell (rifle) and Pete White (men’s basketball/track & field). Induction ceremonies will take place Saturday, Sept. 14, prior to the West Virginia-NC State football game. This class brings the total number of inductees to 197.
Here are capsules of the honorees.
Greg Jones is WVU’s all-time leader in wins and is the Mountaineers’ only three-time NCAA champion during his wrestling career from 2001-05. Posting a career record of 126-4, Jones won the NCAA championship as a freshman in 2002 at 174 pounds, as a junior in 2004 at 184 pounds and as a senior in 2005 at 184 pounds. With three NCAA individual championships, Jones became the 39h wrestler in NCAA history to win three national championships, the 20th wrestler to win titles at two different weight classes and the 10th wrestler to win a national title as a freshman. Jones is the only West Virginia wrestler to post an undefeated season, doing it in 2004 with a record of 26-0 and once again in 2005, posting a mark of 25-0. He ended his career on a 51-match win streak. Following his collegiate wrestling career, Jones served as an assistant coach and associate head coach at WVU for nine seasons. Since 2014, Jones has been one of the top wrestling coaches in MMA training. He and his brother, Vertus, become the second set of siblings to be inducted into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame, joining Marc, Kate and Meg Bulger.
Vertus Jones became the Mountaineers’ first three-time wrestling All-American and first four-time Eastern Wrestling League champion during his outstanding career from 1997-2000. A two-time NCAA runner-up, Jones posted a stellar 30-2 record as a senior in 2000 at 184 pounds, setting the all-time West Virginia consecutive wins mark at 24. He earned his final All-America honor with a second-place finish at the 2000 NCAA Championships in St. Louis. Rest of the story at https://www.wvgazettemail.com/sports/wvu/added-to-wvu-sports-hall-of-fame/article_1303f800-cb30-518b-bff9-831699f21028.html?mc_cid=76c05a6f3c&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

June 24, 2019 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized