Chase Martino’s view was much better this time around.
The Camden Catholic High School sophomore was an eighth-grader sitting up in the stands the last time the Irish won a wrestling state championship at Rutgers University in 2023. Two years later, he was sitting up high again. Only this time, he was propped up on the shoulders of his teammates and carried off the mat.
Martino came through with a pin in the final match to lift Camden Catholic to a come-from-behind 32-20 victory over Pope John XXIII Regional High School in the Non-Public B State Championship on Feb. 16.
Ever since he was a spectator, he imagined this scenario.
“Every day, I thought about what this would be like,” Martino said with a big smile. “It’s a dream come true.”
Only in Martino’s wildest dreams could he have imagined the Irish completing an undefeated season — because it had never happened before. It was the Irish’s 19th state championship, but it was the first time they had ever done it without a loss. Camden
Catholic finished 17-0 in dual meets.
“[The team] … had kind of noticed that pretty early and they thought they could do it,” Camden Catholic coach Bill Heverly said. “It’s a little different when you choose tournaments over dual meets and try to get less forfeits for my good guys. The schedule just kind of came together the way it did.”
The state final match started at 126 pounds, meaning Martino would wrestle last at 120. “I was thinking the whole time, ‘Man, I’m the last match. I guess we’ll see what happens.’ You never know,” he said.
Lazarus Joyce sparked the Irish with a first-period pin at 126; Sammy Spaulding followed with a 4-1 decision at 132 to put Camden Catholic up 9-0. The Lions won the next two bouts and tied it right back up. Michael Craft (9-3 decision) and Kage Jones (technical fall) put the Irish back up, 17-9.
“Even when we were losing, I still had 100 percent faith that my team was going to pull it off,” Jones said.
The Lions took four of the next weight classes to build a 27-20 lead, with Jaden Simpson’s 10-4 decision standing as the only Irish victory during that span. A forfeit at 106 gave Camden Catholic six crucial points before the Lions eked out a decision at 113 to lead 30-26. It was all up to Martino, who not only needed to win, but also secure bonus points.
“I said [to Martino] that I had six on this on paper the whole time, so you should be fine,” Heverly said of his pep talk to Martino before he took that mat. “He just went out and got it done.”
Martino took control early and pinned Matthew Reilly in 1:51 to earn the walk-off pin in a state championship meet.
“It feels amazing,” Martino said. “I love my teammates who support me every day in the room, working hard. All these years we’ve worked, we deserve it.”
The Irish have won four of the last six state championships in Non-Public B and a total of 19 state titles in the last 30 years. It includes a run of 10 straight crowns from 2004 to 2013. A loss last year to Saint John Vianney in the state final certainly left a hunger to return to the winner’s circle.
“It feels great,” Jones said. “Especially being undefeated state champs and the first one in Camden Catholic history. It really means a lot to us.”
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