Cam Jones, 4X Fargo Champ, I was with my friends, Zach Esposito to NC State, and more…

Hi 👋

Welcome to Week #23 of the Wrestling Snacks newsletter.

Happy Friday. We're less than a week away from the 2024 NCAA D1 National Championship tournament, and the stoke is HIGH!

By this time next week, I'll be sitting in the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, watching the greatest wrestling event on the planet take place. Let me know if you'll be attending the NCAA’s this year!

This week's interviewee, Cam Jones, holds a special place in my wrestling heart. He was someone I spent a lot of time with growing up. I use to spend the summer months living with him in Salt Lake City as we trained with a club to get ready for National and Regional tournaments. I grew up in a small farming town, and ever since I can remember as a little kid, we would take the hour pilgrimage and drive to practice at Brighton High School at the Sundance club. I’d go in tow with my older brothers, and eventually, as they graduated, the club shifted to T.A.C, and I would drive myself during the school months and stay with Cam during the summer months.

Cam was larger than life to me. You have two types of wrestling idols growing up. #1: Wrestlers you don’t personally know, but are the superstars of our sport. You grow up watching them win NCAA/Olympic/World Titles and wanting to be like them (Dan Gable, John Smith, Brands Bros, etc.). #2: Wrestlers you personally know; they might only be a few years older than you, but you rub shoulders with them and look up to them. This was Cam Jones to me. As far as I was concerned, he was a living legend and one of the best wrestler in the world. I distinctly remember going to bed every night in his room, looking up at his wall at all of his Fargo "Stop Signs" and many other USA Wrestling "Stop Signs" littered on his walls. It was like walking into a museum of wrestling awards where pretty much all of the top Regional and National accolades had been won. I often thought to myself if I stole one and took it home, would he notice? There were too many to count, and surely he wouldn't have noticed one of them going missing.

When I placed at Fargo and got my own “Mini” Stop Sign, I attribute that to Cam Jones. He showed me the way. He gave me the vision. He taught me what that looked like.

Let’s GO 💪

News Bites

• NCAA D1 Conference Championships Team Results:

  • Pac-12: Arizona State

  • Big 12: Iowa State

  • ACC: NC State

  • BIG 10: Penn State

  • SoCon: App State

  • MAC: Central Michigan

  • EIWA: Cornell

• Iowa Wrestling Clinches Women's Title During Final Match.

• Menlo Women Win 2024 NAIA Championships Before Transition To NCAA.

• McKendree's Cam Guerin Wins 4th College National Title

• NCAA announces at-large selections for 2024 DI wrestling championships.

• 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championship Brackets, Schedule, Rankings.

• How to Watch The NCAA Wrestling Tournament 2024.

• 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championship Qualifiers By State.

• Zack Esposito to Join NC State Coaching Staff.

• Legendary Coach Tom Borrelli to Retire After NCAA Championships.

• Cal Poly Humboldt names Lennie Zalesky as men's head wrestling coach to revive its Div. II program.

• USA Wrestling sets new total membership record and surpasses 300,000 members for the first time.

Snacks

This week's snacks come from Cam Jones: U.S. Open All-American, 2X Cadet World Team Member, 1X Junior World Team Member, 4X Fargo National Champion, 3X Utah High School State Champion, and wrestled at Boise State University.

Below are some excerpts from our conversation, along with key takeaways and tips that can be applied to improve yourself as a Coach, Athlete, or wrestling Parent.