Amani Jones named USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week
by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
Amani Jones (Ola, Ga./North Central College) has been named the USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week on December 14, 2023.
Jones won the title at 123 pounds at the North Central Open, held at North Central College in Naperville, Ill. on Sunday, December 10. The event is one of the toughest women’s college open tournaments. Jones helped lead North Central to the team title in this 29-team tournament, which featured top teams from the NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA women’s wrestling.
Jones, ranked No. 1 in the NCAA and a 2023 NCWWC runner-up, scored a 10-0 technical fall over Iowa’s Ava Rose in the finals. As the top seed at 123, Jones won all five of her matches with bonus points, including three falls and two technical falls. She scored pins over Kivah Cavallero of the University of Providence, Karla Topete of Carthage College and Cali Leng of Iowa (in the semifinals.) Her other victory was a 10-0 quarterfinal technical fall over Isabelle Silva of Indiana Tech.
Jones is junior at North Central. In addition to her 2023 NCWWC second place, Jones placed fifth at the 2022 NCWWC Nationals. She was a 2023 U20 World bronze medalist for the United States at 55 kg. She won the 2023 U20 World Team Trials, and was fifth at the 2023 U.S. Senior Open. In 2022, Jones won the Pan American U20 Championships. A graduate of Ola High School in Georgia, Jones was a 2019 16U Nationals champion and fifth at the 2021 Junior Nationals.
To nominate a wrestler for this honor please email the athlete's name, wrestling program, weekly accomplishments, and career accolades to communications@usawrestling.org.