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TR South's Clagon Completes State Title Quest

Indians junior wrestler become first state champion since 1984; Theobold finishes second, Corrigan takes fifth

BJ Clagon sat by himself, behind the stands where the wrestlers and coaches sit, talking to no one, the hood of his sweatshirt up, iPod playing, his body language telling everyone around him to leave him alone.

The finals of the NJSIAA Individual Wrestling Championships were barely under way, and the Toms River South junior still had more than an hour before he would get to step on the mat in Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on Sunday for his bout against Tyler Hunt of South Plainfield.

“I was nervous,” Clagon said. “I think it helped me have more focus.”

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If anyone doubted Clagon’s focus, they had to be convinced fairly quickly as he went after Hunt in his usual aggressive fashion, scoring a takedown and catching Hunt off-guard in the process. He worked Hunt into a cradle, then finished off the pin with a double grapevine that Hunt was unable to escape, becoming the first Toms River South wrestler to win a championship since Darnell Myers did it in 1984, and just the sixth state champion in school history.

“This is unbelievable,” said Clagon, who was voted the outstanding wrestler of the championships. “It’s everything I’ve worked for since I was a little kid.”

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Clagon has been focused on that moment for weeks. After Toms River South was edged out of the sectional tournament by Timber Creek at the beginning of February, Clagon — who was a state runner-up in 2011 — talked about wanting to bring home a state title. It was a feat that started with the District 24 tournament three weekends ago, then continued with winning Region VI last weekend.

Actually completing that quest — surviving a field of 24 wrestlers at the 138-pound weight class in Atlantic City -- brought a huge emotional rush, as Clagon jumped into the arms of assistant coach Paul Sternlieb and hugged head coach Ron Laycock. He continued to grin for quite a while after the match.

“Tyler Hunt is a tough kid,” Clagon said, noting the South Plainfield senior hadn’t lost a bout all season in going 42-0 coming into the final. Getting the first takedown of the match helped, Clagon said, as it allowed him to wrestle the match the way that suited him.

 “After I got that takedown I felt like I was going to win,” said Clagon, who finished the season 41-0 and is 111-6 overall in his high school career. He placed seventh in the state as a freshman. “Now I just have to place first again next year.”

It completed a roller coaster day for Laycock, who has been at the helm of the Indians’ program for 14 years. The championships opened with the 145-pound weight class, where Clagon’s teammate, Ken Theobold, was pinned in 54 seconds by Alexander Richardson of St. Peter’s Prep.

Laycock, who coached the semifinal matches of Clagon and Theobold back-to-back on Saturday – “It was good because I had no time to think or worry (between them)," Laycock said on Saturday – had to wait nearly three hours between Theobold’s match and Clagon’s on Sunday.

“That was the longest 13 matches of my life,” Laycock said.

Having a state champion is something coaches dream of, he said, but it takes a combination of a talented wrestler and some luck for that to happen.

“When you do have talent and you see it come to fruition, that’s what makes it special,” Laycock said.

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. Wrestling in the first bout of the finals added some pressure, he admitted.

“It was tough being first, starting the tempo for the state finals,” he said.

 “I was going to try to get the first attack,” Theobold said, but a scramble ensued in the opening seconds of the bout and Richardson caught Theobold off-guard, locking him up in a tight cradle, and Theobold couldn’t get out.

“He got me real tight,” Theobold said. “He’s a strong kid.”

Richardson said he went over the match repeatedly in his head before he and Theobold stepped on the mat, and felt he needed to pin Theobold to beat him.

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.”

In other results:

Lacey senior Lex Knapp fell to Phillipsburg’s Brandon Hull in a 5-2 decision at 220 pounds.

“He’s as strong as an ox,” Knapp said. “I was beaten by a better wrestler today.”

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.

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