THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 12, 1995 TAG: 9502100192
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 32 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE MICHAUX, SUN SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
Jonathan Thompson remembers all too well where he was the first weekend in March last year.
That was the weekend of the state wrestling tournament, and the Lakeland 160-pounder was at home.
``I got kicked out of the regionals for unsportsmanlike conduct,'' Thompson said.
Thompson had already qualified for the state tournament when the incident happened.
``I said some things to a ref,'' Thompson said. ``Sometimes you lose your head. I learned my lesson.
``It was hard to stay home, but I've tried to learn from it.''
Thompson isn't the type to draw attention to himself unless he has good reason, and he felt some of the calls by the official and the conduct of his opponent were questionable.
His 21-1 record and 13 pins this season speak loud and clear about the athletic ability he possesses.
Flashy is not his style, even when wrestling somebody he greatly outclasses.
``Some guys like to play around with a guy that is a lot worse,'' Thompson said. ``You know, pick them up and throw them around some. I don't try to show off and pick 'em up and stuff. I just try to go in there and pin them and get off the mat.''
``He's not going to do anything that is going to wow the audience,'' Lakeland coach Steve Wood said. ``He's tough. He does the smart things and he doesn't ever back down.''
Several colleges are looking at Thompson, but the only decision he has made is that he wants to go to college.
Liberty was said to be at the top of Thompson's list, but the Flames wrestling program has been on-again, off-again with budget cuts.
``I really don't have a first choice,'' Thompson said. ``I want to go to a college that has a wrestling team, and I'd like to try to get a scholarship.''
At 19, Thompson is the second oldest in a family of nine kids - the oldest is 20, the youngest four weeks - which would appear to have given him a lot of wrestling opponents growing up.
Instead, Thompson has spent his life trying to get a word in edgewise at the dinner table with six sisters and two brothers.
``That's for sure,'' Thompson said. ``We try to sit down and eat supper together. It gets loud.
``There are two sisters in between me and my other brother, so I didn't wrestle with him that much.''
Thompson plays football and baseball as well but ``wrestling comes naturally to me'' and he gets a lot of influence from his father, John, who is the junior varsity coach at Lakeland.
His father, who teaches at VOTEC, also got him into carpentry at a young age.
``I used to work with him when I was younger, and I took a class in the 10th and 11th grade,'' Thompson said. ``I enjoy it, but it is a lot of work, I'll tell you that.''
For now, Thompson will stick with the easier task of pinning his opponents. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER
Jonathan Thompson's 21-1 record and 13 pins this season speak loud
and clear about the athletic ability he possesses.
by CNB