By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
On X @GDsullysays
When Runnemede resident Sammy Spaulding decided to attend Camden Catholic High three years ago, he had his sights set on becoming a four-time New Jersey state wrestling champion. He was a dominant force on the youth circuit, so naturally he expected that success to continue once he got into high school.
But he found out quickly that wrestling 18- and sometimes 19-year-old kids is a whole different ballgame than taking on a fellow eighth-grader.
As a freshman, he cut down to 120 pounds and won a region title, but his dream of winning a state title ended in the pre-quarterfinal round with a loss to Holy Spirit’s Max Elton, who went on to wrestle at the University of Buffalo. Spaulding spent much of his sophomore season between 126 and 132 pounds, but got sick the week of states and lost again in the pre-quarterfinal round.
Things were not going as planned.
Spaulding took that loss hard. He was the top seed, after all.
“I thought I was going to be a four-time state champion, I’m not going to lie. But, obviously, I had to go through a lot of obstacles and a lot of tribulations. I’ve always had high expectations. I knew I was going to a good room with good coaches, so I was expecting the best. I got a region title, but I definitely didn’t perform the way I wanted to, so that only fueled me the next year — and that next year, falling short, only fueled this year,” Spaulding said. “I had a tough freshman year. I was coming down from 145 pounds to 120, so I was depleted. That was definitely the hardest thing for me. That year, just making weight three times a week took a big toll on me. And I realized there is a big gap because I was performing on the national level in middle school, but then you take a big step into high school and you’re 15 years old going against kids who are 19 sometimes. There’s a big difference in that jump, so I knew I was going to have to adapt. It was a struggle freshman year, but I was able to push through.
“I only had two losses going into states, so last year was a great year. I was feeling great, competing great, and then the week of states I woke up and had chills. I tried to practice, I was laying on the locker room floor. I was like four pounds under weight, had the flu,” he explained. “So that was tough, seeing those guys get to the spot on the podium and I wasn’t feeling my best. I knew I could win, but the fact that I was sick was so defeating. I went into a little bit of a slump, got chunky, eating my depression away. I was up at night thinking about how heartbreaking it was, that everything I was hoping for was shattered. But it didn’t leave my mind for 365 days because no matter what, I didn’t want to feel like that again in Atlantic City.”
Spaulding made sure he didn’t feel that way again this year. He finished 46-3, winning the state championship for the first time in his career by beating third-seeded Ryan DeGeorge of Delbarton, 9-6, in sudden victory overtime at 132 pounds.
“All my workouts, all my practices, all my extra stuff — anything I did to better myself, I had that in the back of my mind and that bad taste in my mouth, and I didn’t want to feel that way again. Mentally, it took a month or two. It took a toll on me because I knew I had it, I was in position to win and just fell short. But once I got back on my feet I felt different — like I had a chip on my shoulder. I needed to prove something. I needed everyone to know that I’m here and I’m going to be competing until the last second,” Spaulding said. “I had a lot to prove. I wanted to get my name out there more for colleges. I was practicing five or six times a week (in the offseason). Summer is a big training time for me. I go to Pennsylvania a lot, North Jersey. I like to get different looks and wrestle different guys. Anything I could do to better myself.”
“We definitely thought there were some areas he needed to clean up after reflecting on last year. There are a lot of things he improved upon, and I think that helped him break through this year and win the state title. Last year, he was the top seed and took fourth. Going into the state tournament he cleaned up a lot of things, technically, and in my opinion had a much better game plan on how to get after his opponents,” said Camden Catholic coach Bill Heverly. “I always say that confidence comes out when you know your stuff is going to work. Confidence comes out of a kid believing in himself. He has to believe in himself, his coaches, his work ethic, the way he goes about his business. I think Sammy realized that this year. He can dictate a match because there are certain things that he can do, and he has a gas tank. He has a motor on him that is really second to none. If he’s tired in a match, we realize the kid he’s wrestling is equally as tired — or worse — because we know it’s hard to wrestle Sammy. It’s almost a given that if he’s tired, that other kid is dead tired.”
It’s crazy to think that this is a kid who won just one match when he started wrestling as a young tot. More than a decade later, he’s on top of the world as a reigning state champion.
“I knew there was a lot of pressure on me, not only for myself, but I felt like I had all of South Jersey on me, so I knew I had to get it done,” said Spaulding, who was the only wrestler from the traditional seven South Jersey counties to win a title this season. “I try not to get in my own head too much and just stay calm and relaxed. If you’re able to push that pressure off you can channel that and do great things. The pressure I felt — I wanted that pressure. I was the No. 1 seed and I wanted everyone to know I was the best kid in New Jersey at my weight. I wanted everyone to know that this year wasn’t a fluke and I should have been on that podium (as a sophomore). I had to make up for it this year.”
Heverly said it was all about having just a little bit of a different approach — trying to grind an opponent down rather than dominate him.
“We told Sammy he doesn’t have to do all that rolling around to win matches. Sammy always felt like he needed to dominate matches and really beat people up, even pin them, to feel good about winning,” Heverly explained. “I think that was one of the biggest differences this year — and it’s going to be a big difference going forward — is realizing that just because you’re the top seed or because you’re really good doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. He knows there are kids out there that can take you out. He knows it’s going to be hard and it’s not always going to be easy to get pins and just dominate kids. This year, his region final (against Williamstown’s Jackson Slotnick) was really, really hard, and in the second match of states he had the Brian Little kid from Don Bosco Prep. That kid was tough as hell and gave Sammy everything he could handle (in a 5-1 Spaulding win). It took until the last 15 seconds of the match for him to prove that he was outworking him.”
Spaulding’s road to the title certainly was a grind. He scored a pin in the opening round, then had to fend off Little in the pre-quarterfinals. Next up was a rematch with Slotnick, which Spaulding won, 5-1. In the semifinals he ran into St. Joseph Regional’s Vincent Paino and escaped with a 2-1, tiebreaker win. The state championship match against DeGeorge came down to a sudden victory overtime period. He was trailing 6-0 to a defending state champion in that match. Spaulding had one of the toughest draws of any top-seeded wrestler in the tournament.
“A lot of people talk about the state final, but the semifinal (against Paino) was every bit as good as the final,” Heverly said. “He fought harder in that match than any other match and at the end there was a lot of mutual respect between those guys. He’s had a long rivalry with that kid. A lot of kids would have given up a takedown and lost that match, but Sammy wanted it and worked really hard for that match. He knew it was going to be really hard, and he was ready for it this time.”
Spaulding said it was a surreal feeling, winning a state championship at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. And he’s ready to do whatever it takes to win another one before he graduates next spring.
“The adrenaline was crazy, but after it just felt fake, like I was in a dream, living the best possible moment of my life that I could. Just to be able to spend that moment with my family, coaches and teammates, I’m so blessed. It’s something I dreamed about since I was 4 years old. It was everything I could ever ask for, I had the whole crowd chanting my name. I was happy, just to have that goal that I’ve been chasing my whole life. It feel great knowing nobody can take that away and I have my name etched in stone forever. But I think two-time state champion sounds even better,” he said. “Now it’s about going back to the lab, working, getting better, perfecting things. At the end of the day, every time I step on the mat I expect to win. Anyone that’s put against me is my equal — they weighed in the same as me, they’ve been wrestling, they know the rules. I just have to work on bettering myself and getting better in every aspect of my game. I’m going to be really tough to beat, I’m going in with that mindset. No pressure, just get better every day.”
