2013 All-American
2012 All-American
2010 All-American
2012-13 Ended his collegiate career with a record of 115-43 which ranks as 10th best in school history ... Earned his third All-America honor, placing seventh at the 2013 NCAA Championships ... First three-time All-American since Mike Poeta achieved the feat in 2007-09 ... Went 5-2 during the national tournament including victories over No. 5 Josh Asper of Maryland and No. 9 Nathaniel Brown (Lehigh) ... Out-performed his No. 6 seed at the Big Ten Championships, finishing fourth at the Big Ten Championships ... Finished career with 29 pins, which is tied with B.J. Futrell for the third most in program history ... Finished the second 27-12 overall and compiling a 3-5 Big Ten dual record with wins over Chad Welch (Purdue), Cheney Dale (Indiana) and No. 6 Mike Evans (Iowa) ... Placed third at the Midlands ... Finished third at the Harold Nichols Cyclone Open ... Selected to compete at the NWCA All-Star Classic.
2011-12 Earned his second All-America honor, placing fourth at the 2012 NCAA Championships ... Went 5-2 during the national tournament including wins over No. 4 Logan Storley (Minnesota) and No. 5 Ryan DesRoches (CalPoly) ... Placed fifth at the Big Ten Championship, automatically qualifying for the NCAA Championships ... Placed third at the Midlands ... Was one of 20 wrestlers in the country to compete at the NWCA All-Star Classic ... Went 30-9 this year.
2010-11: Went 6-3 before suffering a back injury and seeing his season end after the Purdue dual on Dec. 19 ... Placed fifth at the Las Vegas Invitational, going 4-2.
2009-10: Earned his first All-America honor, placing fifth at 174 pounds at the 2010 NCAA Championships ... Out-performed his No. 10 seed at the NCAA Championships by going 5-2, including a pair of wins over No. 7 Ben Bennett (Central Michigan) ... Qualified for the 2010 NCAA Championships by placing third at the 2010 Big Ten Championships, out-performing his No. 5 seed by defeating No. 10 Dave Rella (Ohio State) in overtime and No. 5 Luke Manuel (Purdue) 10-1 ... Started the season 6-0 and 10-1 ... Went 5-3 in Big Ten duals ... Placed second at 84 KG/185 lbs at the 2010 Asics University National Championships freestyle tournament, qualifying for the University World Team Trials.
2008-09: Qualified for the 2009 NCAA Championships, earning an automatic berth with his fourth-place finish at Big Tens ... Went 0-2 at NCAAs ... Placed second at the Missouri Open, fifth at Midlands and seventh at the Las Vegas Invitational ... Earned Big Ten Wrestler of the Week honors after registering two pins and an injury default in the ACC/Big Ten Clash, his first collegiate tournament ... Wrestled up at 197 against Northwestern and defeated John Schoen 11-4 ... Led team with eight pins
HIGH SCHOOL: Three-time Illinois state champion, winning the 171-pound Class AA title in 2008, the 160-pound Class A title in 2006 and the 152-pound Class A title in 2005 ... Also placed second in the 171-pound Class AA bracket in 2007 ... Held a final 2008 national ranking of No. 4 according to W.I.N. Magazine ... Cadet National All-American ... Two-time Junior National All-American ... 2008 Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association Class AA Wrestler of the Year ... Compiled a 152-1 career record, with his only career loss coming in the 2007 state title bout ... Four-time Big Northern Conference champion.
PERSONAL: Born on Oct. 6, 1989 ... Parents are Jack and Stacey Blanton ... Enrolled in the general curriculum ... Full given name is Jordan Mitchell Blanton ... Has an older brother, Jake, and a younger sister, Grace ... His biggest thrill in sports was winning his third state title in 2008 ... Lists Michael Phelps as his favorite athlete ... Former Illinois national champion Steve Marianetti was his Fighting Illini hero growing up.
Blanton's Career RecordYear W L F Big Ten NCAA2008-09 27 11 8 4th DNP2009-10 25 9 6 3rd 5th2010-11 6 3 02011-12 30 9 9 5th 4th2012-13 27 12 6 4th 7th
Total 115 43 29
