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PA Profile of
Jordan Shields
By Todd Irwin,
Pennsylvania Wrestling Newsmagazine, February 2008
The setting was the PIAA Team Wrestling
Championships and the Class AA semifinal between Burrell and Reynolds was
nearing the end. Reynolds led 22-21 going into the last bout, but waiting
on the other side was Burrell's returning state champion Jordan Shields.
You would think Shields would be suffering a serious
case of nerves, but that wasn't the case.
"I knew I had to win, so I wasn't nervous," Shields said. "I just went out there
and wrestled."
Shields went out and beat Luke Taylor, 4-1, to clinch a 24-22 win. The
Buccaneers would go on to defeat Bermudian Springs, 37-29, to win the state
title.
It just so happened that Shields had the best
temperament for being a closer. His coach, Chris Como, describes Shields
as "very" laid-back and always relaxed even in the most pressure situations.
"The more the pressure, the funner the match," Shields said. "I love wrestling.
I don't get nervous. I feel at home on the wrestling mat. You work so hard at
it. It's like I have been studying for a test for 13 years, so I'm going in with
confidence. It's what I do."
A fun-loving senior, Shields likes to joke around play
practical jokes on teammates. A couple days after his team won the PIAA title,
he was helping to put rain coats around the tires of an unknowing teammate's car
and a fishing pole out the window of the car.
"I'm always looking for a good time," Shields said. "I
get my fair share of laughing done in practice. That team is a bunch of
characters. Those guys are like my brothers."
His actual brothers, Jared and Josh, were pretty good wrestlers too. Josh
dropped a 6-4 overtime loss to James Sciascia of Pius X in the 160-pound state
finals in 2006. Jared placed third at 140 in the 2003 state tournament.
"We always knew Jordan had a lot of talent," Como said.
"He's a mix of his brothers, and that's deadly combination if you ask me.
He's very athletic, but more importantly, he's a great scrambler. He never stops
in any situation. He's always moving to improving his situation. It's hard to
score on him."
"We all started when we were really young," Jordan
said. "I wasn't a prodigy or anything, but I placed twice at the Junior
Olympics. I started taking it more seriously in high school."
As a 103-pound freshman, Shields won his first WPIAL
title and went 33-15. The next year at 112, he added a Southwest Regional
Tournament title to his resume, outscoring his opponents 19-1 in the process to
qualify for the PIAA
Championships.
Last year, Shields made the jump to 130 and won his
second regional title, beating Chestnut Ridge's Gary Pfahler in the finals.
He went on to win a state title, earning three straight wins by two points or
less along the way. After beating Sharon's Jordan Moss, 1-0, in the semifinals,
he got by Penn Cambria's Nathan Link, 4-3, in the finals.
"Once you get to the state tournament, it's about preparation," Como said. "He
started off the tournament and got on a roll. When he won his quarterfinal match
against (Northern Lehigh's Adam) Hluschak (3-1), I thought he definitely could
be in the finals." Once he did win the title, though, he became a target
of every wrestler who wants to knock off a state champion. He's handled it
pretty well. After the PIAA Duals, he owned a 34-1 season record in addition to
his 151-26 career record.
As of Feb. 11, he had yet to earn his fourth District 7
title. "I think he really has reached the top of his game," Como said.
"Everything is coming together. He's a returning state champion, and he's
improved ever since he won.
"He's a very hard worker. There are two guys in the practice room who train like
college wrestlers, and that's Jordan and (Shane) Welsh. They're practice
partners and push each other hard." His only loss, by the way, came to
Central Dauphin's Marshall Peppelman, 6-3, in the finals of the Powerade
Tournament.
Shields, who will follow Josh to Mercyhurst College to
continue his wrestling career, was asked what the biggest thing to happen to him
in four years. Without hesitation, he said winning the PIAA Duals. "That
was awesome," he said. "Me, Shane and Bobby (Speer) have been friends since we
were 5. We all grew up together, and it's a great experience to share with all
of my friends. It's something I'll never forget." He is, of course, the
favorite to win a title at the individual state tournament in March.
"I expect him to go on and defend his title
successfully," Como said. "There is a right and wrong way for training. Jordan
has done everything the right way through the season and his career. He's
done it by the book in terms of controlling his weight and the extra workouts.
He's a great leader and a phenomenal kid. We're going to miss him next
year."
Once the season is over, he'll get into something
that's arguably just as physical. Shields and Speer head up the school's rugby
club. "It's the only other sport where you can get cauliflower ear,"
Shields said. "I think wrestling is more intense than rugby. Rugby is full-out
contact. They're both real tough, but I think wrestling is the toughest sport in
the world.
"It's one of the oldest sports in the world. It's a
legal fight. Wrestlers are unlike any other athletes. Wrestling prepares you for
life."
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