Clayton Jack wants a national title

He's 12th in Oregon State school history in wins, eighth in pins, and if he has anything to say about it, Clayton Jack will be the ninth wrestler in school history to win an individual national championship.

Despite the senior's remarkable career, in which he started all four years at heavyweight and accumulated 115 wins and 39 pins, Jack hopes his greatest achievement is yet to come.

"Winning a national championship is all I care about; it's all I want," Jack said. "It would mean everything. It would complete my career to go out as number one."

When Jack arrived at Oregon State University, it was clear the Beavers had recruited someone special.

Jack has been consistent throughout his career, earning a 23-12 record as a true freshman, 35-11 as a sophomore, and 25-11 as a junior until exploding this year with a record of 32-1.

Jack, ranked fifth in the nation for his weight class, is currently having his best season as a Beaver, recording 13 pins in addition to his massive win total. His improvement is especially impressive considering he's coming off a year where he finished first in the Pac-10 Tournament.

His consistency has been more than enough to earn his coaches and teammates' confidence that he can get over the hump and win a national title.

"He just has to wrestle within himself," said head coach Jim Zalesky. "In the past he's gotten too worked up or too nervous and hasn't wrestled his best at nationals. This year, he's been wrestling his best, and if he keeps doing what he's doing, he can win it."

If Jack were able to win a national championship, he would undoubtedly go down as one of the all-time greats in OSU history. Regardless of the outcome of the national tournament, Jack hopes to have left an impression on his school.

"I just want to be remembered as the guy who had fun and who made his mark here at Oregon State," Jack said. "I just want to be one of the greats. I want my picture up on the wall in Gill so that I can be remembered."

Jack is following in the footsteps of his father, who was a heavyweight wrestler for Cal Poly. Jack credits his dad for getting him started and helping him fall in love with a sport that isn't as popular with young kids as other team sports.

Listed at 6-foot-5 and 285 pounds, Jack is big even for heavyweights standards. He excelled at both wrestling and football at Vacaville High School in California before enrolling at Oregon State.

"I first started wrestling in kindergarten when my dad got me into it," Jack said. "My dad wrestled at Cal Poly and he loved it. He was a heavyweight too, and he wanted me to start young. I probably could have played football in college, but wrestling's always been my first love."

Jack is one of three seniors and is a member of Zalesky's first recruiting class. Lucky for Oregon State, Jack chose wrestling over football and chose Corvallis as his home.

He credits his early relationship with Zalesky as his reason for joining the Beavers.

"Jim did a really good job of recruiting me," Jack said. "He was the only personable coach that I met with. He'd ask me how sports and school were going. He'd always ask me about football and just how I was doing. It was a much more personal level with Jim that I liked right off the bat."

The duo of Jack and Zalesky has brought excitement surrounding the wrestling program back to Corvallis. On paper, the No. 16 ranked Beavers look like a lock to win this weekend's Pac-12 Tournament. OSU also hopes to make noise in St. Louis at the NCAA Championships, which take place March 15-17.

While Jack has contributed greatly to the Beavers' success on the mat this year, his contributions off the mat are arguably just as important.

"Clayton's a great teammate," said redshirt freshman 184-pound Taylor Meeks. "He's always motivating you in a positive way, never negative. He's kind of the funny guy on the team, and you can always go to him and he'll cheer you up."

"He brings that loose feeling where he gets guys laughing," added Zalesky. "He's kind of the clown of the team. He's one of those guys that you hope will stay around next year and help these other guys train."

If Oregon State is able to finish high at nationals, Jack will certainly be a key contributor, and OSU hopes when Jack finally walks off the mat for the last time, he walks off as a national champion.  

Andrew Kilstrom, sports writer

Twitter: http://twitter.com/andrewkilstrom

sports@dailybarometer.com