Anthony Knox’s dream of joining Nick Suriano and Anthony Ashnault as four-time undefeated state champions is over.
But the St. John Vianney freshman said there’s still plenty for him to shoot for in what he hopes will be one of the best careers in New Jersey state history after his first high school loss at the Escape the Rock Tournament Sunday. There are only four four-time state champions in New Jersey - Delbarton’s Mike Grey and Bound Brook’s Andrew Campolatanno were the others - and that goal, among others, remain.
Knox suffered a stunning 6-4 sudden victory loss to Delaware Valley’s Zach Jacaruso in the 113-pound final. The freshman immediately walked off the medal stand and threw his second-place plaque in the trash.
“I don’t want anything to remind me of (the loss) right now,” said Knox. “I’ll get back in the gym and I’ll be back.
“It’s tough to take in, but you know the goal is to be the best ever and one high school loss won’t do much to that. I will win four high school state titles. I will win a world title at the end of the year. I just need to stay the course, trust my coaches and keep competing.”
Jacaruso took Knox down for a 4-3 lead with 20 seconds left in the third period, but a stall call with a second on the clock forced overtime. About 15 seconds into the extra frame, Jacaruso put Knox down to his back with a double-leg takedown to stun the country’s No. 1-ranked wrestler.
“I didn’t wrestle well, it wasn’t my day,” said Knox. “Zach executed the game plan he wanted to execute, and he came out with the win. I attacked the whole time, I shot him out five times. Maybe that would be stalling in college or New Jersey, but we’re in Pennsylvania. It wasn’t the way the ref saw it, so I agree with the ref and I lost the match.”
Knox had to rally from behind in the semifinal when he was turned at the end of the first period and trailed Faith Christian’s Gauge Botero, 5-2, at the end of one period and 6-5 in the third period before rallying for an 9-8 victory.
Knox has been dealing with a sprained ankle that prevented him from wrestling at the Beast of the East, and he took most of his injury time with 30 seconds remaining in his semifinal match.
“The sprained ankle comes back a little bit easier every time you sprain it,” said Knox. “It had no bearing on the finals match.”
CLOSER BUT NO BELT: St. Joseph (Mont.) junior Jimmy Mullen earned a second chance at Malvern Prep (Pa.)’s Nick Feldman after losing the first matchup of the top two heavyweights in the country, 13-0, at Powerade.
The margin was closer the second time, but Feldman still dominated the Escape the Rock 285-pound final, winning 10-2.
“He was getting to a lot more of his offense than I would have liked, he didn’t turn me on top this time, I was thankful for that,” said Mullen. “I don’t know that I improved (from the last time). I just have to get back in the room and get ready for counties and states.
“Feldman’s a (heck) of a wrestler, so fast, so strong. There wasn’t much I could do. I was snapping and standing straight up, and he would take perfectly timed shots.”
Feldman, a freakishly strong and fast heavyweight who has drawn comparisons to gold medalist Kyle Snyder, kept reaching Mullen’s legs and taking him down. The Ohio State commit essentially dominated Mullen the way the St. Joseph (Mont.) junior and cadet world medalist treats most of his opposition.
Feldman, who earned Most Outstanding Wrestler, said he felt the national 1-2 ranking was legitimate.
“I think he’s a beast and he deserves to be ranked that high,” said Feldman. “A kid that good you have to be clean with your attacks, clean wrestling and just wrestle smart. I was a little too defensive the first time, so my focus was to get to my leg attacks.”
IRISH BATTLING INJURIES: Camden Catholic registered eight wrestlers for the Escape the Rock Tournament, but only four made it to the mats this weekend because of injuries.
Martin Cosgrove, a state champion who was seeded first at 215 pounds, and other seeds Angelo DiPol (113), Chase Casey (145) and Jonathan Graham (285) withdrew before the tournament. Then Jackson Young (120) medically withdrew Sunday morning after reaching the quarterfinals and clinching a top-eight finish.
“Martin’s feeling great, wrestled the other night, brought him here, went right down to the scale and decided not to,” said Camden Catholic coach Bill Heverly. “Ang wasn’t ready yet. Chase has had some bang-ups and same thing with the heavyweight. These guys go hard, sometimes things happen.
“Jackson was more of a preventative thing. If it was regions, states we could go, but we had to make a choice on what’s more important. He was not happy, but we made the decision for him. When we get everybody back together it will be a pretty solid bunch.”
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