By Rob Sherrill, W.I.N. High School Editor

North Carolina is improving as a wrestling state, but wrestlers from the Tar Heel state still have a challenge establishing themselves on the national stage.

            Jon Burns of Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons High started with an advantage — getting his wrestling start as a member of the famous Harvey Twisters club in Chicago’s south suburbs — and has parlayed that, athletic ability and confidence into performances that have established him as one of the nation’s top 145-pounders.

            In the fifth grade, Burns’s father, Al, who works for Ford Motor Co., was transferred to Jonesboro, Ga., taking Jon’s wrestling career in a brave new direction. He continued his wrestling education in the successful Union Grove club. In his eighth grade, his family moved north, this time to the Triangle regional of North Carolina.

            Burns won his first state title in North Carolina last year with a perfect 61-0 record, but the best was yet to come. He breezed to the NHSCA National Juniors Championships title at 140 pounds with one of the age group’s most dominating performances, winning each match by five points or more.

            Earlier this month, Burns added the 145-pound title at the prestigious Walsh Jesuit Ironman Invitational at Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, stunning top-ranked Mario Mason of Blairstown (N.J.) Blair Academy by overcoming a 4-0 second-period deficit to post a 7-4 semifinal victory that lit up the capacity crowd of 2,000-plus.

            That evening, Burns sealed the deal with a 4-1 finals victory over two-time Ohio champion Ben Jordan of St. Paris Graham High, giving him back-to-back convincing victories over standouts from two of the nation’s top three programs in the most pressure-packed of situations.

            Also an outstanding student, Burns boasts a 3.7 GPA, scored over 1500 on the combined SAT and is a member of the National Honor Society. Ivy League schools figured prominently in his college plans until a home visit by coach Mark Manning and a visit to Lincoln, Neb. made up his mind. Burns signed with Nebraska during the early signing period.

            Recently, W.I.N. caught up with Burns for this candid interview.

            WIN: First of all, congratulations on winning the Ironman. You competed as an unattached individual. How did that come about?

            Burns: My coach, (Cardinal Gibbons coach) Randy Dennis, let me know earlier this year that I would be in the Ironman.

            WIN: What was your reaction when you found out you were in?

            Burns: I was really excited. A lot of the tournaments and the duals I have in North Carolina aren’t really that challenging, so this was going to be a great challenge.

            WIN: Now the tournament you’re going to be in this weekend (Dec. 15-16), the WRAL (in Raleigh, at Athens Drive High) is pretty challenging, isn’t it?

            Burns: Yeah, it’s a pretty good tournament. There’s a lot of tough competition. But I don’t think it’ll be quite the same level as the Ironman.

            WIN: When the Ironman seeding came out at your weight class and you looked at it for the first time, was your first thought, ‘Where’s Mario (Mason)? Am I on the same side as he is?’

            Burns: I was actually looking forward to wrestling him at that tournament. I was really excited for the opportunity. That’s really what I focused myself on doing.

        My father and my brother were telling me that they actually had watched a couple of videos of him wrestle, and they kind of boosted my head, saying they didn’t feel there was any reason I wouldn’t be able beat him. And since he was ranked No. 1 at the time, I wanted to knock him off.

            WIN: Talk about that match and how it played out.

            Burns: The first period was just us doing hand fighting, and he took a couple of shots at my leg, but he wasn’t able to finish. The second period, he started on bottom, and they called me for fleeing the mat, pushing him out.

            It was a questionable call — I knew I didn’t do that, I didn’t push him out — and they booed the ref for that. So they gave him a point for that. And then I cut him after that. He took me down one time and I got out. It was 4-1.

            (The third period), I got out, and it was 4-2. He took some injury time. He looked tired to me, or at least that’s what I thought. And then maybe 15 or 20 seconds later, I took him down and put him to his back, and got a three count, and now it’s 7-4. I rode him out for the rest of the period.

            WIN: What did you hit him with?

            Burns: It was kind of a pancake. I just ran through him. He took kind of a weak shot and didn’t recover fast enough, and I rushed him, knocked him off his balance, and put him on his back.

            WIN: The crowd must have been going nuts…

            Burns: Oh yeah, it was crazy. It was pretty wild. Everybody was cheering for me. I was really excited about it.

            WIN: How difficult was it to maintain your focus, knowing you still had your final against Jordan, who’s very tough?

            Burns: I would say I did a good job of staying focused the whole tournament. Going into the (final) match, I really wanted to beat him. But I just wanted to get out of that gym for awhile. It was hot in there. That whole day, I really tried to get my mind off wrestling. I had a chance to get back to the hotel, chill, relax, take a nap. Then I got back on track and I was focused.

            WIN: Winning a prestigious tournament like the Ironman really puts a bulls-eye on your back for the rest of the season. How do you make sure you’re always ready when you go out on the mat from now on?

            Burns: Pretty much like I’ve been doing. I’m staying focused and not taking anybody lightly. My coaches say my name’s out there now, and everybody’s going to try to come get me. I just try to stay focused and if I wrestle my match, not let anybody take control, I should be fine.

            WIN: You’ve signed with Nebraska. What did you like the most about them?

            Burns: Well, it was kind of funny, because when they started sending packets of information to my school, I didn’t know anything about it. When I thought of Nebraska, I just thought cornfields. But coach Manning came out to visit, and he’s a great guy, he told me a lot of things about the school that I never knew.

            And then I went out on my trip, the first weekend of November, and I was amazed. I was blown away by everything. I loved the facilities, all the people were really professional. I talked to the academic counselor, and all the people showed they really cared about the students. I talked a lot with (wrestler) Jordan Burroughs, and still do to this day…looking at everything there, I felt that’s where I was supposed to be.

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