Lacey's Knapp Takes Home Silver

Lex Knapp looked at the plastic case in his hand, running his thumb over the clear top that covered the silver medal inside.

This was not the ending he’d dreamed of.

The Lacey senior, who was bidding to become the Lions’ first state champion since Russ Witt won the title at 119 pounds in 1997, fell to Brandon Hull of Phillipsburg in a 7-2 decision in the 220-pound final at the NJSIAA Individual Wrestling Championships at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on Sunday.

Hull, a senior, became Phillipsburg’s first champion since 1996.

“I’m proud of myself, but I feel like I didn’t complete the task,” Knapp said, after the awards had been presented to his weight class. “I came in with 42 wins. Forty-three is what I wanted.”

Hull scored a takedown in the first 10 seconds of the final, and while Knapp quickly escaped, Hull controlled the tempo, scoring an escape and a reversal in the second period to take a 5-1 lead and adding another takedown in the last 45 seconds to seal the victory.

“I just got beat by a better wrestler,” Knapp said. “Hull is as strong as an ox.”

That didn’t make the loss any easier, especially with Witt, who’s now the coach at CBA, in the stands cheering him on.

“When I was on the podium I saw him clapping in the stands,” Knapp said, tearing up. “Coach Witt is someone whose name has been in my mind. He’s been a big name in this town since I was a kid.”

 “I just wish I was up there (at the top of the medal stand) with him,” Knapp said.

Witt, who had two wrestlers in the morning consolation rounds, said he had been keeping an eye on Knapp all season.

“I couldn’t be more proud,” he said Sunday morning. “It fills me with so much pride to see a Lacey singlet out there.”

 “It’s exciting to get to the finals,” he said. “You wrestle your whole life for this, and when you finally get it, you embrace it.”

“I just wish my dad was alive to see this,” Witt said, describing his father, Russ, who died in 2008, as the biggest Lacey fan ever, and someone who would have appreciated Knapp’s accomplishment. “Win or lose, I’m going to tell him (Witt’s dad) about it.”

Knapp said that when he has time to reflect, “I’ll be proud to say I left it all in Atlantic City.” But as he looks ahead to the national high school tournament and to college, he plans to use the loss as motivation.

“I’m going to keep this feeling inside to keep pushing me to be better,” Knapp said. “I don’t ever want to feel this way again.”

In other results:

Toms River South’s BJ Clagon became the first Toms River South champion since 1984 when he pinned South Plainfield’s Tyler Hunt in 1:37 to win the title at 138 pounds.

“This is unbelieveable,” said Clagon, a junior who finished the season 41-0 and was voted the outstanding wrestler of the championships. “It’s everything I’ve worked for since I was a little kid.”

Clagon’s teammate, Ken Theobold, was pinned in 54 seconds by Alexander Richardson of St. Peter’s Prep in the 145-pound final when Richardson caught him in a cradle.

While finishing as runner-up was a disappointment for Theobold after he upset T.J. Miller of Camden Catholic in the semifinals on Saturday, the Indians’ senior acknowledged that finishing as a state runner-up was an accomplishment.

“I made it to the state finals, which not a lot of people can say,” Theobold said.

Toms River South’s Kevin Corrigan, the Indians’ third wrestler in Atlantic City, finished his trip with a 9-1 major decision over Christian Innarella of Delbarton during Sunday mornings consolation finals to take fifth place at 113 pound..

“I wanted to finish on a positive note,” Corrigan said. “I feel accomplished. It’s great to say I could place here, because this is the best of the best.”

Toms River East’s Richard Lewis beat Manchester’s Jesse Meaney in the fifth-place bout at 132 pounds, 5-4, when Meaney was issued a stalling warning with 14 seconds left and then penalized for stalling seven seconds later to break a 4-4.

Lewis, who had been wrestling from the bottom the entire third period, had nearly escaped several times and felt confident he was going to escape for the victory anyway.

The pair had wrestled twice in the last three weeks, with Lewis defeating Meaney for the District 24 title and beating him again in the semifinals of the Region VI tournament.

“He’s one of the toughest kids I know,” Lewis said.

The stalling penalty “was a questionable call,” Lewis said. “I was definitely pushing the pace and I was 100 percent expecting to get out.”

He has high expectations for next year, too.

“Next year I expect nothing less than to win a state title,” he said.

Brick Memorial’s Matt Moore finished seventh at 195 pounds with a 3-0 decision over Nicholas Gaeta of Nutley.

“It feels good after being out with an injury early in the season,” said Moore, who missed all of December and half of January with a broken collarbone. “It’s great to get something out of the season.”

His teammate, sophomore Joe Ghione, fell to Joe Trovato of Paramus in a 1-0 decision at 106 to finish sixth.

Central Regional’s Jalen Ramos finished eighth at 126 pounds after he was pinned by Nick Anderon of Delbarton at the 3:23 mark.