Careers to take note of
Jones, Seiders nothing short of impressive for Dunkirk
After a 20-year absence, Dunkirk wrestling has been in full swing for 10 seasons.
During that time, some fine wrestlers have graced the Dunkirk mats.
But maybe none more so than seniors Nick Jones and Billy Seiders
Jones has been a member of the varsity wrestling team for five years. And though he missed time due to two separate ACL injuries, Jones owns a record of 153-32.
“I think out of five years, we have only had him a year and a half healthy,” Dunkirk coach Joe McMurdy said. “So far, so good this year.”
Jones even wrestled last year’s postseason with a tear in his ACL. Doctors told Jones the damage would not get any worse, and the decision was his to compete. Jones did just that, advancing all the way to Albany, where he finished with a 1-2 record.
Making his record more impressive is the fact Jones has fought in the heavyweight division his whole career, and is usually undersized compared to his opponent.
“Even now, he is about 245 pounds,” Dunkirk coach Joe McMurdy said. “He gives up 45 pounds, but he is very smart and mentally tough.”
With his 2-1 overtime win in the finals Saturday, he is one of a very select few who have won the Patrick J. Morales tournament four times since its start back in 2001.
As impressive as that is, Jones has loftier goals set.
“It’s an impressive feat, but his goals are later on down the road,” McMurdy said. “He uses this time to get ready for the end of the year. He has his sights set on Albany.”
Jones, who missed the first half of the high school football season recovering from the ACL injury, has been active since October. With the Marauder football team making a deep playoff run, Jones stepped off the gridiron and onto the wrestling mats two days later. With fatigue being a factor McMurdy must be aware of, he noted Jones’ maturity to listen to his body.
“He is a tough kid,” McMurdy said. “He is smart enough to know that his body is telling him to back off. He knows what he needs to do for six hard minutes. I’m not worried about him wearing down. He said a couple weeks ago this is the best he has felt physically for three years. The matches he wrestled, he is much more aggressive. Everything has been full go from the beginning. Last year, it was not that way at all. He was very labored. When he tore his ACL mid-season, it was tough. He couldn’t do the running and conditioning on a bad knee.”
Meanwhile, Seiders, a senior at Silver Creek, has made the Dunkirk mats his home for six years now, as he joined the varsity team as a seventh grader and now holds a career mark of 162-67, including his 13-0 win in the finals on Saturday.
Seiders picked up his 150th career victory earlier this season.
“To have two wrestlers reach 150 (career) wins in a season, we are very proud of that,” McMurdy said. “Billy has done varsity for six years. It goes to show the dedication they have both put into wrestling. Without a doubt, they have been the backbone for last 4-5 years.”
With Seiders having a stellar career, he has yet to make a trip to the Times Union Center in Albany for the state tournament.
The Silver Creek senior is determined to end his career there this year.
“It’s tough to get the state tournament,” McMurdy emphasized. “Billy is such a great athlete. This is the year he really said, ‘That’s my goal.’ I heard him talk about going. He knows what he has to do. He is laying it on the line his senior year. A lot if times you get seniors and they aren’t as hard working as they are as juniors. That’s not the case with Billy. He is handling his business.”
As a seventh grader, Seiders had to get adjusted to practices at Dunkirk and not Silver Creek. After six years of wrestling for the Marauders, he has fit in quite nicely, and has made lifelong friendships.
“It’s not even a thought now,” McMurdy said. “They hang out all the time. They have built great friendships with Si0lver Creek kids. It’s been a great, great transition. We couldn’t pick a better school to merge with the way things have worked out. This is a merger that has benefited both schools. They were going to lose their program. They were down to two or three kids. We were up and starting and it made a big difference. Good quality kids have come out of Silver Creek.”
And while McMurdy still gets to coach Jones and Seiders for another month and a half, he knows exactly where their place is in Dunkirk wrestling history.
“They have been the backbone of our program for the last five-six year,” McMurdy proclaimed. “Between recruiting and getting kids to try it out, they go above and beyond anything we ever ask them to do. Both will shatter school records. It’s not even a question they are the two best wrestlers we have had who started and finished with us in the 10 years the program has been back. I think anyone who knows those two will tell you they are better kids than they are wrestlers.”