Jones preparing to defend his title at Wadas Tournament

DALLAS – Troy Jones quietly goes about his business.

A man of few words, the Dallas junior allows his speech to happen on the Resilite every time he jogs to the mat.

One thing that’s consistent is his record. He wins – quite often.

On Friday, Jones will step foot inside Tunkhannock High School where he’ll look to defend the first varsity title he’s ever won: the Frank Wadas Memorial Tournament.

Wrestling begins Friday morning, and will continue throughout the weekend where the championships are scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

“That was the first tournament I won in high school, so it gave me a little bit of confidence,” Jones said. “I don’t necessarily feel that I needed to win a tournament to build momentum, but rather, I always felt that a good placement at the tournament would help you boost your confidence going forward.”

Look throughout the win standings in the Wyoming Valley Conference, and it’s not surprising to see that Jones is one of the best.

He’s the model of consistency. Every time Dallas wrestles, Jones goes out and does his job.

He may not carry a state rank like others in the conference, but he’s just as good.

He wins, and as Indiana football head coach Curt Cignetti would say, Google it.

Jones was 15-14 as a freshman wrestling on varsity, and followed it up with a 27-8 record last year and a berth in regionals.

This year, he’s 9-2 with three tech falls and two pins. He started off the year by winning the Jarvis Tournament in Athens, and followed it up with a strong performance in the Penn Manor Tournament.

He’s currently sitting at No. 6 for most wins in the 152-pound class for all of District 2.

“The two matches I lost at Penn Manor, I was disappointed in myself because I shouldn’t have lost those matches. I feel like I am wrestling pretty good,” Jones said.

Yet, there’s a different feel around Jones’ junior year. A lot of things have changed in just one calendar year.

First, his weight. Last season, he spent a lot of time flipping between 127 and 139 before settling into 133 for the postseason.

This year, he’s at 152 where he’s noticing a big difference in terms of his size, stamina and strength.

“I feel a lot healthier now that I am heavier and stronger. I didn’t really focus on cutting weight too much. I’m only losing a couple pounds from where I started the season, and now, I’m doing a good job of maintaining it. I think that I just feel healthier.

“Recently, I’ve been lifting a lot and doing a lot of grip-strength stuff. I feel like that has really helped me out. I am a lot stronger this year. To be honest, I have felt that I’ve been stronger than all of my opponents this year. I’ve definitely got a lot better on my feet, and that has helped with the new three-point takedowns.”

Secondly, Lucas Tirpak has graduated. That was the one wrestler that Jones looked up to in the wrestling room, and the guy that he hoped to be like. Tirpak was a good one to follow as he won 97 matches, was a district champ and a state qualifier. And he would have won 100 matches but his freshman year was the COVID season where he only wrestled a total of nine matches.

Now, it’s Jones who is the experienced guy in the wrestling room.

And lastly, the competition is different. Dallas is now Class 2A for the postseason, and has dropped down to Division 2 in the conference. That means a different set of opponents and a new venue for the postseason.

Instead of battling with the likes of West Scranton’s Michael Turi, Valley West’s Caleb Hoffman and Abington’s Luke Evans, he’ll compete with Valley View’s Richard Leslie, Berwick’s Jacob Guerriero, Western Wayne’s Gavin Morcom and Trail’s Garet Fowler.

“I’m always trying to get better, and be better each day,” Jones said.

Dallas is the defending Wadas team champion, while Tunkhannock’s Taylor Daniels, Scranton’s Drew Leonori, Wilkes-Barre Area’s Liam Evanko and Lackawanna Trail’s Demitrius Douglas are returning individual champs.