ARLINGTON — Through his senior season, Boston Jones only lost once at 138 pounds. But he decided to cut weight to 126 pounds heading into the post season.

“Before sub-regionals, Gavin (Rork) and I were deciding which weight we were going to go,” Jones said. “We didn’t want to wrestle the same weight because we’re really good friends.”

Now at his lighter weight, Arlington wrestling coach Rick Iversen says that Jones has a lot of potential to “shock” his post-season competition. He has been injured most of high school with ankle issues.

But despite the long layoff, Jones dominated sub-regionals Feb. 6, championing in the 126-pound weight class and qualifying for regionals this weekend at Marysville-Pilchuck High School. As a result, he is the Marysville Globe-Arlington Times Athlete of the Week.

“What he does is a surprise to everybody else,” Iversen said, pointing to his athletic ability and his unorthodox wrestling style. “Every turn, he is doing the unexpected.”

Seeded No. 1 at sub-regionals, Jones felt confident, after a first round bye. He went through his next two opponents easily, until he met Eli Croy of Ferndale in the finals, an opponent Jones’ coaches thought might give him trouble.

“I went in, and I didn’t know what to expect,” Jones said.

But he went out and tied up his opponent, his preferred attack. “I’m usually better at taking down kids that way, and he tied up right away, and I was able to take him down,” Jones said. “And I caught him on his back and pinned him.”

“He’s not afraid to put himself at risk,” Iversen said. “Someone’s going to go on their back, but Boston always seems to come up on top.”

“What he has is God-given talent,” Iversen said. “He’s so fun to watch on the mat because he always moves in the right direction. He does it, as fast as a cat, and as strong as a bull.”

Boston always wrestled, but not his first three years in high school because of injuries to his ankle. He broke his tibia his freshman year, and then again as a sophomore, both in his first matches of the seasons. In his junior year he chose to sit out.

“He looked like a superstar both his freshman and sophomore year,” Iversen said. “And then the third year he was still worried about that ankle.”

Even the years he wasn’t wrestling, Jones wanted to be. He lifted weights and joined camps to stay in shape during his layoff.

But after putting much thought into his senior year, he made the decision to return.

“I thought I’d give it my all,” Jones said. “I spent a lot of my life wrestling in the past, so I thought I might as well try and finish strong.”

He’s glad he’s done it so far.

Though he had tremendous success at sub-regionals, Iversen doesn’t want to put too much pressure on Jones to win state, but he’s confident that he could place in the top five.

If he does win, “It would be a shock to this whole state. Besides sub-regionals, no one really knows who Boston is,” Iversen said. “There’s no question he’s going to surprise some high-ranking kids.”

It was Iversen’s intention to have Rork go down in weight, but Boston took the initiative.

“And at the last moment, Boston said, ‘I can go all the way down to 126,'” Iversen said.

It turned out 126 was Jones’ natural weight. “So he was wrestling two weights over his weight all year long and was still beating everyone,” Iversen said. “So at 126 we think he is going to place high.”

If Jones didn’t miss his first two years, “He’d be going right now for his second state title at least,” Iversen said.

“I would probably be in a different position right now,” Jones said. “But I try not to think about that.”