The wrestling community is tight knit, and Jack Jones was a notable member of that community in Franklin County and Western Massachusetts for over four decades. 

Jones began refereeing in 1958, and his life has led him through a career as a teacher, coach, athletic director at Eaglebrook School and ultimately a wrestling commissioner. 

For all he did for the sport of wrestling, Jones was awarded the 2022 Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award by the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. 

“I was surprised and honored,” said Jones, who is retired and living in Brunswick, Maine these days. “I had a great four decades doing this and still have a lot of friends I made that I still keep in touch with.”

Jones’ interest in wrestling began in Maryland in 1952, where he helped start a wrestling team at his high school. He went on to wrestle at American University in Washington D.C., where he competed on the mat for three years. 

“I wasn’t good at basketball in high school,” Jones said. “When I went to American U, I didn’t think I’d have a shot at college wrestling. As it worked out it was a new program that had just started the year before so I was able to make it onto the team. We weren’t good. I never was a good wrestler but I enjoyed it. I just hated losing the weight to get ready for the matches.”

Jones then began his move up the East Coast after his college career. He earned a master’s degree from Temple before taking an administrative job at a school in Glastonbury, Conn. Not particularly enjoying that role, Jones was heading back to Glastonbury following a ski trip and on his way home, decided to make a stop and check out the Deerfield Academy campus.

While looking at DA, he saw a sign for the Eaglebrook School and decided to check it out as well. When he arrived on campus for the first time, he broke up a fight between a pair of students and decided it was a sign that he should head there. He interviewed at multiple prep schools before he taking a job at Eaglebrook, where he spent three years teaching and coaching before becoming the school’s athletic director. He spent the next 28 years running the school’s athletic program.

Dating back to his time in Connecticut, Jones was always interested in refereeing. He reffed matches there and continued to do so for nearly 50 years, refereeing bouts at the high school, prep and youth levels. Throughout the 1970’s and 80’s, Jones refereed New England collegiate matches.

A highlight of Jones’ career was being selected to officiate the 1982 NCAA Div. 3 Regional Championship at Springfield College, calling it “the best assignment I ever had.” 

He retired from refereeing in 2011, his last match taking place at Pioneer Valley Regional in Northfield. 

“I wouldn’t call myself the greatest ref in the world,” Jones said. “I was able to have a great mat relation with both coaches and kids, though. I was able to build great relationships with people which helped me a lot.” 

Jones earned the respect of his peers, coaches and athletes alike, something that won over the Hall of Fame voters. While still officiating himself, Jones was commissioner of the Western Massachusetts Interscholastic Wrestling Officials Association for over 20 years. 

“Mr. Jones epitomized what it means to be an educator, coach and official,” Massachusetts official Ed Henry noted to the Hall of Fame. “He was first-class in all respects: as a sportsman, as a person of integrity, and as an educator who earned the respect of everyone with whom he came in contact. Jack had a unique ability to defuse potential unsettling situations with grace and ease. It was not unusual for coaches and wrestlers to walk away with a smile. He helped uphold the honor and dignity of his profession.”

Don Gordon, a former wrestling coach at Frontier Regional, confirmed the strong character Jones showed while officiating. 

“Jack loved the sport of wrestling and it was evident in how he related to coaches, wrestlers, spectators, and school officials,” Gordon told the Hall of Fame. “One could count on him being consistent in applying the rules and making judgment calls. He was always willing to discuss a match or situation and explain his reasoning. Jack was confident and even-tempered, with a good sense of humor. My one word to sum up and describe Jack would be ‘gentleman.’”

Jones always managed to find a way to stay on the mat officiating, no matter the circumstances going on in his life. In 2002 he was diagnosed with colon cancer, yet Jones continued to get out there and ref high school matches. 

In 2005, he regained the strength to once again officiate tournaments.

“Since I was the commissioner I was able to let myself keep reffing low key matches,” Jones said. “I didn’t have the energy to do tournaments but I could ref some matches even while going through treatment and chemo. Things worked out in the end and I came back with a vengeance once I regained my strength.”

Jones was honored at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough this past fall, giving a speech in front of the Hall of Fame committee in addition to a crowd of 200 people. 

“When I made the speech at the Hall of Fame, I noted that the most important thing I got out of all of it was the association with the sport of wrestling and building relationships with the kids, the coaches and the other referees,” Jones said. “I made a lot of friends throughout my long time reffing and still keep in touch with them. I had a great four decades doing this and I got to hear from a lot of people after being honored by the Hall of Fame. It means a lot.”

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