|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
SJSU Wrestling Archives The Spartan Daily 2-23-84 |
||
|
|
||
|
The Two Identities Of Marvin Jones |
||
|
by Joe Roderick |
||
| Item: Marvin Jones had trained profusely during the off-season, building up his upper body with a daily regimen
of Greco-Roman wrestling. He went from an average wrestler to the fifth-ranked in the nation this year. Item: Marvin Jones sat on his rear during a three-week, non-wrestling period last month. He went from fifth-ranked in the nation to average. This is the story of one man, Marvin Jones, the Spartans' 177-pounder. But Marvin Jones has taken on the identity of two wrestlers, Marvin Jones I and Marvin Jones II. Marvin Jones II wrestled against Fresno State's Gene Allison last Friday. He was roughed up by Allison. After Allison won it, he pumped his right arm wildly. Jones just looked on helplessly. Marvin Jones II wrestled against Cal Poly's Roger Sayles 24 hours later. He was roughed up by Sayles. After Sayles won it, he flexed his arm in a tout aimed at Jones. The crowd came to Jones' rescue, booing Sayles, who simply flipped off everybody in the place. Marvin Jones II just looked on and shook his head. Marvin Jones I would have never lost to Allison or Sayles. Pity poor Marvin Jones I. He has been taken over by Marvin Jones II, who's sluggish, who doesn't put out the extra effort, who's content to settle for the ordinary. But Marvin Jones I is showing signs of coming back. He's going all-out in practice again. He's picking his body up even when the last ounce of energy has been depleted from it. Marvin Jones I is coming back in the nick of time. With the PCAA championships less than a day away, Jones is primed to win it all. "If i keep working hard, i have a good chance at winning the PCAAs and doing well at the nationals," said Jones, a junior. It's unfair to say Jones let himself get out of shape. He really had no choice. It started on Jan. 14 in a dual meet against the University of Oregon. Jones had his left arm around his opponent's body. But his opponent rolled off of Jones and landed on Jones' thumb. "At first i didn't think it was anything," Jones said. "But in the morning i looked down at it and i knew it was something." The diagnosis: dislocated thumb. Out for three weeks. At the same time, Jones was 23-4 and ranked fifth in the U.S. by Amateur Wrestling News. He was fitted with a regular cast. He would miss big events like the Cal Poly and the Bakersfield matches. While his teammates stayed psyched, Jones mellowed out. "After the injury, i let down mentally," Jones said, "I wasn't tough. I've got to get back mentally." Prior to a meet against Stanford earlier this month, Jones was fitted in a plastic, flexible cast, enabling him to wrestle. He passed the first test, beating Stanford's Jeff Wilson, 8-4. "I've got to get my leg conditioning back," Jones then said. Jones practiced hard for four days prior to the Fresno State dual. He thought he had fought back. But the cast seemed to be hinderance against Allison and Sayles. Jones tried not to think about the cast, yet it prevented him form doing the things he had done before. "If you keep talking about the injury," Spartan coach T.J. Kerr said, "keep worrying about it, pretty soon you talk your way out of winning." There's a pain in Jones' heart sometimes. "This year, nothing was going to stop me," he said. But then came the injury. "I feel cheated out of something," he said. This seems to be yet another setback for Jones, who came to San Jose a mere unknown. He went to Santa Ana Valley High School, failing to place in the state meet. "His high school coach called me one day and said, 'We've got a pretty good wrestler over here you might be interested in,' " Kerr said. Jones went just 8-11 his freshman year. This was Marvin Jones II. "Coach says i wasn't committed," Jones said. "He said i was skating by. Not working hard, just going with the flow." Following a 15-10 sophomore year, Jones shed his Marvin Jones II image. "Coach was telling other guys to wrestler one or two days over the summer. He came up to me and said, 'Marvin, you're going to wrestle four to five days a week.' " By wrestling greco-roman, Jones built up his upper body. Now he had the strength to go along with his cat-like reflexes. Jones zoomed to the top of the chart at 177. "Before the injury, i thought i had a good chance to finish maybe third at the nationals." Now that Marvin Jones I is taking over again, he may still take his place on the victory stand at the nationals. |
||
