Title was no slap in the face for EF grad Evans
Tri-State Sports & News Service
In the moments leading up to his semifinal match at the NCAA Division III wrestling championships, Waynesburg junior Jake Evans implored coach Ron Headlee to slap him across the face.
Again. And Again. And Again.
“I kept telling him to hit me harder,” said Evans, an Elizabeth Forward High grad. “His hands were hurting from hitting me so much.”
This was not exactly peaceful meditation, but it did the trick for Evans against the top-seeded wrestler in the 285-pound division.
He confidently went out and defeated Wartburg’s Lance Evans, a transfer from Division I Iowa. A year earlier, Lance Evans pinned the Waynesburg star in the national quarterfinals.
“I knew I could beat him if I pushed myself,” said Evans, who was seeded fifth. “I was ready.” He also wasn’t finished. In a breathtaking championship match, Evans overcame a 5-4 deficit in the final minute to defeat No. 2 seed James Bethel of Oneonta State. The gold medal was his. “It was like a dream,” said Evans, Waynesburg’s first NCAA Division III national champion. “It still hasn’t sunk in for me.”
The dramatic final 60 seconds of the gold-medal match captivated the crowd March 10 at the Cleveland Auditorium. It began with Evans dishing out multiple slaps to Bethel’s head.
“I was hitting him pretty good, too,” Evans said.
Evans quickly went from slapping to tackling, as he drove Bethel to the mat. The latter was unable to escape for the remainder of the match.
“I think he was done after I got him down,” said Evans, who picked up six points for the maneuver. “But I was still nervous because 45 seconds is a long time to hold someone down.”
Through it all, Headlee was coaching from flat on his stomach — screaming, yelling and clapping.
“Like a seal,” Evans said. “That’s what he looked like down there; like a seal. He was yelling so much that he lost his voice.”
It was well worth it for the 10-year Waynesburg coach.
“Jake is a tremendously hard worker,” said Headlee, a Waynesburg High grad and member of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Wrestling Hall of Fame. “He puts so much time and work into this, it was well-deserved.”
Despite being only a junior, Evans said he briefly considered retiring from the sport after winning the title. That might sound a bit unconventional, but then again, so is Evans.
He is 28 years old, 11 years removed from high school graduation. He didn’t enroll at Waynesburg until he was 26, an age when most young folks are part of the workforce or completing postgraduate work.
“I just thought that it might be over,” Evans said.
Fortunately for Waynesburg, the thought was fleeting. That became evident a day later when Headlee spotted Evans training feverishly at the Waynesburg campus.
“He was right back at it,” Headlee said. “He told me he had more he wanted to accomplish here.”
Specifically, Evans wants to pin all of his opponents next season. He ranked second nationally in that category in 2017 and 2018. He would also like to be known as the greatest wrestler in Waynesburg history.
Given what he has done the past two seasons, he is well on his way. His marks of 49-5 as a sophomore and 49-3 as a junior are believed to be the top two single-season records in school annals.
It should also be noted that he avenged two of the three losses this season, including one against Moon grad Nate Barcaskey of Ohio Northern.
“About three hours after I thought about retiring, I started getting hungry again,” said Evans, an accomplished juggler who uses the discipline to help with concentration. “I knew I could do more, could dominate more. I had those three losses, and I really feel like I can dominate everyone. I think it’s possible to achieve all of my goals if I continue to work hard and put the effort in. I want to go undefeated and I want to pin everyone I face. I just love wrestling, I love this sport. It’s fun to be out there competing, dominating.”
And winning national championships.