Adarios Jones (L) and Christos Giatras (R) both earned All-America honors
this weekend at the NCAA Divsion III Championships in La Crosse,
Wisconsin. Jones finished third at 285 pounds and Giatras was seventh
at 184.
LA CROSSE, Wis. – Augustana sophomore
Adarios Jones (Moline HS, Moline, Ill.) and junior
Christos Giatras (Lemont HS, Lemont, Ill.) both had productive weekends at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Both were crown All-Americans, with Jones taking third place at 285 pounds and Giatras finishing seventh at 184. It marks the first time the Vikings have had multiple All-Americans since 2001 and Jones' finish was the best by an Augustana grappler since Darren Linton's third-place finish at 165 pounds in 1999.
Jones' path started on Friday with a 2-1 sudden victory over Donny Ralston of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, the nation's 10th-ranked 285-pounder. In the quarterfinals, he faced Augsburg's third-ranked Donny Longendyke. The former University of Nebraska athlete and 2015 Division III national champion handed Jones a second close loss this season, scoring a 4-2 decision.
On Saturday, Jones won four straight matches in dominant fashion to capture third place. He took just 47 seconds to pin Loras' Quin Gilliam, then scored a 20-8 major decision over Jacob Evans of Waynesburg, who came into the match with a 49-4 record. Jones scored a 9-3 decision over fourth-ranked and 42-3 James Bethel of Oneonta State to advance to the third-place match, where he recorded a 9-1 major decision over Wartburg's Lance Evans—ranked second in the nation.
Despite a late start to the season, Jones finished the year 39-4. His win total ranks 20th-best and his winning percentage (.907) 21st in school history for a single season.
Giatras fell 4-3 via tiebreaker in his opening match with Rhode Island College's Michael Gallagher on Friday. He bounced back with an 8-5 decision over 10th-ranked Jared Fekete of Wheaton and a 3-1 win over Messiah's Derek Beitz.
On Saturday, Giatras bested Alma's Trent Hullett 10-5 before falling 7-5 to Bryan Levsen of Wartburg, ranked sixth in the nation at 184. That moved him to the seventh-place match, where he was a winner by medical forfeit over third-ranked Christopher Chorezpa of Williams.
Giatras finished the season with a record of 30-8 and will enter his senior season with a career mark of 73-30 (.709).
The efforts of Jones and Giatras lifted the Vikings to 17th place in the team standings—the program's best finish since taking eighth in 1994-95.
