Infignos Media - Junior Jordan Simpson looks primed to claim third prep wrestling title as No. 5 Oxford heads to finals

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Junior Jordan Simpson looks primed to claim third prep wrestling title as No. 5 Oxford heads to finals

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Jordan Simpson received the highest compliment one top high school wrestler can pay another this past weekend.

The junior and two-time state champion from Oxford saw his top competition in sectionals, Buckhorn’s Ben Smith, suddenly upped in weight class to avoid him.

Who is Smith, one might ask?

Oh, just an undefeated Class 6A state champion a year ago and a guy who wrestled in Simpson’s weight division until losing to him in the Grissom Duels three weeks ago.

Yes, Simpson has that air of inevitability about him and will carry it into the state wrestling championships, which start with today’s 6A preliminaries and quarterfinals in Huntsville’s Von Braun Center.

Simpson, 6A’s top ranked wrestler in the 126-pound class, freshman Hunter Lee (No. 2 in 138) and senior Brady Heard (No. 5 in 195) lead a group of nine qualifiers for Oxford, which goes into the weekend ranked fifth in 6A.

“As a team, we had seven section finalists, and nine out of our 10 qualified, so I’m hoping we have a top-five finish this year,” Simpsons said. “That would be pretty good for us as a team, because we’re really young.

“Personally, I feel like anything less than a state championship is no good.”

Don’t blame Simpson for such high expectations and confidence. He’s only going on a record of success that includes a 237-9 record just in high school, and eight of those losses came against nationally ranked competition.

He’s 58-0 for his junior year, but Jordan’s successes stretches back well before high school.

It starts with his dad, Shane Simpson, who won a state championship with Wellborn. Shane instructs in a youth program in Riverside, and Jordan has schooled in fundamentals since age 6.

At 46 pounds, he finished second in his first state tournament … and that was before his coordination caught up with his instruction.

Jordan is a five-time youth state champion (ages 8-12), two-time middle school state champion and state high school runner-up as an eighth-grader.

“Around 9 or 10, his coordination started coming in,” Shane said. “Having been forced to learn to wrestle the technique, when his coordination came in, he really started to blossom.”

When Jordan started winning big against competition in Alabama, Shane started looking for competition in Georgia and Tennessee.

“We went and found somebody that could basically beat him,” Shane said. “Then we’d keep going back to wherever we found that, and if we got over that hurdle, well then we may go somewhere else.

“We just saw no use in going to the same tournaments and wrestling the same kids, because to me that just didn’t get him better.”

Jordan has wrestled in Illinois, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas … lots of places.

“It’s the only sport he does,” Shane said. “He puts a lot of time and effort into it.”

It paid off early in Jordan’s high school career, with state titles in his freshman and sophomore years. His first championship came in the 119-pound class, his second in 130.

He won his first high school state title by beating then-Oak Mountain senior Tanner Moon, who now wrestles for the University of Virginia.

“The thing is, we always bumped up and wrestled Tanner,” Shane said.

“When Jordan was a fifth-grader and Tanner was an eighth-grader, we always bumped up in age groups to get some tougher matches.”

This season, Jordan has beaten state champions from Kentucky, Georgia and Alabama. The list includes Scottsboro sophomore Brandon Womack, a three-time 5A champion who carried a 190-match winning streak into their much-anticipated showdown in Hoover.

Jordan won 9-0.

“Nine to nothing in wrestling is similar to what Alabama did to LSU in the BCS title game,” Shane said.

Jordan’s top competition this weekend depends on who shows in what weight class. Smith, a senior, lists as No. 2 in the 126-pound class in the latest state rankings, followed by Thompson junior Mario Haynes, Oak Mountain sophomore Jared Godfrey, Vestavia Hills freshman Morgan Paugh and Mountain Brook senior Tyler Cox.

Jordan is the clear favorite.

“He is a phenomenal talent in this sport,” Oxford coach Monterrious Adams said. “Going for his third state title just as a junior is an incredible feat for anybody.

“He has really elevated his game this year. He’s an exciting one to watch. He gets out there and takes care of business.”

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Keywords: wrestler, Oxford, title

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