DONNIE JONES
SCHOOL: Greensburg Salem.

WHO IS HE? A junior and one of the top wrestlers in the state.

LAST WEEK: Jones lifted his record to 33-0 with a pin against Hempfield. It was his 22nd pin of the season.

CENTURY CLUB: Jones recently won his 100th career match and his record is 105-5. Jones won a PIAA Class AAA title at 135 pounds last year.

FAMILY OF WINNERS: Jones has two brothers who also won 100 career matches. Greg was 139-8 and wrestles at West Virginia, where he won an NCAA championship two years ago. Oldest brother Vertus was 144-11-1 and is an assistant coach at North Hills.

The Jones boys got their start in wrestling in their father's youth wrestling club, which was run out of the Jones' basement.

"We still have mats there," Donnie Jones said. "My brothers and I didn't wrestle that much at home growing up. There was more fighting than wrestling, We all get along a lot better now."

PERFECTIONIST: Jones had two losses last season. "I'd like to go undefeated this year. If I could do that and win the state again, I'd be the only two-time state champ at Greensburg Salem."

-- By Mike White

SUSAN PERICH
SCHOOL: Center

WHO IS SHE? A 5-foot-7 guard on the girls' basketball team.

THE PAST WEEK: Perich scored 21 points in a 46-39 loss a week ago to Beaver.

CAREER: A senior, Perich is among the WPIAL scoring leaders at 21.4 points per game. She has started for four seasons and has 1,236 points, reaching 1,000 Dec. 18 against Riverside.

DIAMOND GIRL: Perich is an outstanding softball player, too, a third baseman who led Center to the PIAA Class AA championship game last year. She has started for three years and was a Post-Gazette all-star in 2003, when she batted .487 (38 for 78) with 7 home runs, 40 RBIs and only 1 error. She also played varsity tennis the past two years and lettered in soccer as a freshman.

GOOD SOLDIER: Center basketball coach Pete Pietrandrea was at the fall sports assembly when "Susan caught me by surprise. She was in this uniform." Perich said a faculty member recruited her to be the football team's mascot, a Trojan soldier replete with large helmet. "I ran around the stands, carrying this flag," Perich said. "It was fun, but I don't know if I'd do it again."

FUTURE: An honor roll student, Perich is unsure which sport she will play in college. She might not have to choose. "I might have more college opportunities in softball," she said, "but I'd really like to play basketball at Pitt. I have opportunities to play both at smaller schools."

-- By Rick Shrum