Camden Catholic Shut Out of Wrestling Title Picture

It was a tough end for Camden Catholic’s two championship hopefuls, as Chad Walsh and Jeff Miller both went down in defeat in the finals of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) individual wrestling tournament in Atlantic City Sunday evening.

Both wrestlers faced off against the same foes they saw at the end of the Region 7 tournament, but nothing broke the Irish’s way this go-round.

Walsh, who had defeated Northern Burlington’s Wayne Stinson to capture the 152-pound region title, fell behind early—Stinson hit an early takedown to open, and built a 4-2 lead by the end of the first period.

Though Walsh battled, Stinson ran off three more points before Walsh was able to answer with a reversal in the second period to make it 7-4 heading into the final two minutes.

That’s where things really went wild—after Walsh escaped Stinson, the two scrambled for late points, as Walsh nearly scored a takedown to tie it, only to see Stinson slip loose and score the two instead.

That put it at 9-5 with less than 30 seconds in the match; Walsh would manage two more points, but couldn’t get the big bonus he was shooting for, and had to settle for second place.

Jeff Miller, meanwhile, had a sedate match at heavyweight by comparison. Facing Alex Thompson, of Haddon Heights, Miller fought through the bulk of the first before getting taken down near the end of the period, then saw Thompson push that to a 3-0 lead with an escape early in the second.

It stayed that way into the third, when Miller scored his first point on an escape, but that’s all either wrestler could manage, and Miller had to take silver, as well.

Earlier in the day, T.J. Miller took bronze at 145, pinning his way through the consolation bracket after losing in the semifinals. He took down Mike Marotti, of West Essex, and Jason Gaccione, of High Point, in matches that were nearly carbon copies, with pins in 3:15 and 3:16, respectively.